You’ve made the decision to take a trip, now you need to figure out how much it’s going to cost you. Budgeting for a trip is an essential part of trip planning, and because I’m weird it’s a part that I actually love – maybe you’ll like it too!
You’re going to have to do a little bit of research to figure all the numbers out, but hey, researching your destination just makes it all the more exciting. So, before you start the next steps, you need to know where you’re going. If you still need help figuring that out, you can check out this post to get you on your way. If you’re still reading then you know your destination and you’re ready to figure out the numbers.
How much your trip is going to cost will vary from person to person depending on your travel style and ‘must haves’ vs ‘could skips’. So to make sure that you figure out what the trip of your dreams is going to cost you early on so that you can either tailor down expenses or start saving more.
I am not a travel blogger that gets paid for blogging, so the way I budget for trips is the exact same that you would. I travel a like a normal person according to the money that I have in the bank. If you’d like to see my thought process when thinking about a family trip to Ireland, you can check it out here. You can use it as a guide to help you plan your trip too. Now, on to the budgeting. Download my travel budgeting spreadsheet from the resource library to easily keep track of your travel expenses.
Let the Travel Budgeting Begin
FIRST
The first thing I look at when budgeting for travel is how I’m going to get there. I am lucky enough to be in a situation where no one in my family is particularly tied down to specific travel dates. My kids aren’t in school yet, I’m not in a seasonal job, and neither is my husband. So, I look at getting to my destination first because I pretty much will just choose the cheapest time of the year to get there. I typically get this big picture pricing through Skyscanner.
If you aren’t like me and have a very specific timeline, then this piece is more important for you in the budgeting realm because it will likely be the most expensive piece of your trip (it could also be accommodations).
So, step one – look for flights, buses, trains, car rental, gas, or whatever else you may be using to get you to your location and write it down in the spreadsheet.
Note: If you're traveling with more than one person, make sure you do the quantity for as many tickets as you'll be needing to purchase.
If you are getting to your destination by plane AND renting a car when you get there, you can factor in the rental car and gas in at this time too. If you’re going to multiple cities/countries, make sure you factor in the cost of getting to those destinations as well.
STEP TWO
The next thing I do is search for where we’re going to sleep. Honestly, I can get to a place and have absolutely nothing planned for what we’re going to do or where we’re going to eat, but I always have to have a place sleep. Now that I have kids, wandering the streets looking for a hotel or hostel just isn’t my idea of a good time. (Yes, I have traveled that way before).
So, you need to decide on what type of accommodation you want to stay in then look up pricing for a couple different options (you don’t need to find the exact place you want to stay in now, we’re just looking in general to get an idea of pricing for your budget). Take the average of what you’re seeing, multiply it by how many nights you’ll be staying. Then jot that number down in the travel budgeting spreadsheet.
STEP THREE
Finally, we’re at the part containing food! Unfortunately, food is the expense that will vary the most. Fortunately, it’s an easy place to cut back on if you need to cut back on travel expenses later.
You have to know yourself/ your family to estimate your food budget. Are you people that are okay with eating local street food or cooking for yourself? Or are you the type of person that wants a high end dining experience? Maybe you are somewhere in between and more like the average traveler when it comes to food when traveling.
Once you decide what type of person or family you are, you can look at the average cost for meals for the location you are going and either add some money for a better dining experience, take some away for a more budget friendly option, or just use what the average of what you’re finding.
To do this I will typically just look up the average food cost in a guide book like Rick Steve’s or Lonely Planet, or just Google “Average meal cost in…..”. This should give you a good basic idea of costs (remember these estimates don’t include alcohol).
When I’m traveling with my kids who are old enough to eat adult food, but don’t eat an entire meal of their own, I typically take the average number that I came up with for myself and half it. You can also just add .5 per kid in the travel budgeting spreadsheet for each meal.
STEP FOUR
After the biggest items are taken care of, it’s time to plan for fun. To do this accurately, you may need to do a little bit of trip-planning and have an idea of the types of things you want to do. Maybe it’s a major tourist attraction like a museum, maybe you want to do an adventure like ziplining, maybe you want to see a play on Broadway, maybe you want to take a walking tour, or maybe you want to get scuba certified. Whatever your idea of fun is, you want to budget for it. Go online and look up the cost for the specific thing you want to do and write it down on your travel budgeting spreadsheet.
If you have kids with you, remember to factor in the cost for potential babysitting too. If there is an activity that you want to do with your significant other without the kids, you may have the option of leaving them at a kids camp or hotel provided kids care. You could also switch on and off with your partner.
STEP FIVE
The next thing I do when budgeting is factor in the ‘spending money’. This would be things like postcards and souvenirs, taxis or public transportation once your on the ground, any shopping you might like to do, snacks or bottles of water etc…
Do a little bit of research on what these extra things might cost you in your destination and write that number down in your budgeting spreadsheet. This number doesn’t typically end up being much for me. We typically don’t shop much once we get where we’re going.
STEP SIX
The last couple things that I do depending on the situation or trip is budget for travel insurance and/or cushion money. To be honest, I typically don’t buy travel insurance, but that might be something that you really want. If it is, make sure you budget for it.
If your budget is really tight, and you cannot afford to go over, then make sure to add some contingency into your budget. Something always comes up when traveling that you didn’t plan for, so having a little wiggle room (around 10%) will save you unwanted stress and breaking the bank later.
If these are things you want to take into consideration, make sure to add them to your travel budgeting spreadsheet now.
Analyzing Your Travel Budget
Once you have your numbers written down, it’s time to take a look at the total. Is that number something you can handle? Look at what you already have saved for your trip and see if the balance is something feasible to save by the time your trip comes. If so, then you’re in luck and can start planning all the details. But remember that you will likely change your mind on some things as you go along, so this travel budget is just a reference. My travel budgeting worksheet will help you keep track of your budget when you change your mind, you can get it for free here.
If you’re not so lucky and your estimated travel budget looks like something you’ll never be able to obtain, then it’s time to start making some adjustments. Food, activities and accommodations are going to be the easiest places to cut back. Being flexible with dates or travel times can also save you money. Sometimes leaving one day earlier or one day later can make the difference of $50-$500 per person.
There are usually so many free things to do in cities in you just look. I did a completely free day Paris by getting crafty. Buying your tickets in advance could also save you some money.
The Key to Travel Budgeting
In my opinion, one of the most important things about traveling is to make sure that you are doing so within your means. You do not want to spend more than you can afford to pay back. It is stressful and will start you on a debt journey (or get you deeper in to debt).
With that being said, if you can learn to balance your everyday life to make travel happen it is said that your happiness will grow over time. And for me, that happiness, time with my family, and new experience is worth WAY more than the new smart watch, pair of shoes, or a lazy dinner out.
If you want to see a real life example, you can check out my post Travel Budgeting Example – Going to Ireland here.
Tracking your Spending
When it’s actually time to take your trip, I would definitely recommend tracking your spending. If you’re using a credit card it will be easy to look at the statement after your trip and categorize where you did your spending. If you are using cash, I like the Toshl Finance app because of all the different currencies it can keep track of.
If you can figure out where your money was spent on your trip, it will help you budget for future trips much easier because you’ll see what your spending habits really are.
I hope this is helpful in estimating your travel budget for your next trip. Let me know in the comments where you are going and if you have any questions or different ideas that helped you!