Free travel budget template
A travel budget you can keep honest: every cost by category, what's paid versus still owed, and per-person and group totals that both add up. Quotes you've been given but haven't booked sit in their own table, so an estimate never quietly becomes a number you're counting on. Copy it straight off this page, or download it as a PDF or an Excel spreadsheet that opens in Google Sheets. No email required, no account, no watermark. Below it, the same structure filled in for a real twelve-day trip.
- Free forever
- No email required
- Per-person and group totals
- Print-friendly
What's in the template
The same structure Golarko's cost summary and quote tracker use, flattened onto one page.
- Trip header
Dates, number of travelers, budget target, currency and the rate you converted at.
- Costs by category
Ten standard categories, with estimate, actual, paid and still-owed columns side by side.
- Per-person and group totals
The group total and the divided figure, so nobody has to work it out in their head.
- Quotes and estimates
Prices you've been offered, with an expiry date and a status — kept out of the running total.
- Daily spending allowance
Food, local transport and incidentals per person per day, multiplied out.
- Deposits and due dates
What's due, how much, and by when — the part that catches people out.
The template, filled in: 12 days in Cologne, Zürich and Rome
Real figures from a real trip — two travelers, three cities, flights in and out, trains between, three hotels and a dozen paid activities. Personal details have been stripped; the numbers haven't.
Costs by category
- Flights
- 47%$2,474
- Lodging
- 34%$1,828
- Activities & tours
- 15%$803
- Trains
- 4%$210
- Trip total
- $5,315
Quotes and estimates — not in the total above
Example prices collected while planning. Nothing here counts until it's booked and moves into a category line.
- Local walking tour operatorOld town and cathedral walking tour, 2 hoursQuoted$96
- Rail operator, first class upgradeCologne → Zürich, upgrade from standardPassed$148
- Mountain railwayDay trip up the mountain, return tickets for twoChosen$210
- Apartment near the centre4 nights, alternative to the hotelExpired$720
- Skip-the-line museum ticketsTimed entry for two, morning slotQuoted$84
Example figures for two travelers. Swap in your own numbers.
Blank budget you can copy
Same structure, nothing filled in. Copy it to your clipboard and paste it into Notes, Google Docs, Word, or a spreadsheet.
TRAVEL BUDGET TEMPLATE TRIP: ____________________ DATES: ____ / ____ – ____ / ____ TRAVELERS: ____ BUDGET TARGET: $__________ CURRENCY: ______ EXCHANGE RATE USED: ______ -------------------------------------------------- BOOKED AND PLANNED COSTS CATEGORY ESTIMATE ACTUAL PAID STILL OWED Flights $________ $_______ $______ $________ Trains $________ $_______ $______ $________ Ground transport $________ $_______ $______ $________ Lodging $________ $_______ $______ $________ Food & drink $________ $_______ $______ $________ Activities & tours $________ $_______ $______ $________ Tickets & entry $________ $_______ $______ $________ Shopping $________ $_______ $______ $________ Fees & insurance $________ $_______ $______ $________ Other $________ $_______ $______ $________ ------------------------------------------------------------------ TOTAL $________ $_______ $______ $________ PER PERSON (total ÷ travelers) $_______ UNDER / OVER BUDGET TARGET $_______ -------------------------------------------------- QUOTES & ESTIMATES (not booked yet — keep these out of the total above) ITEM VENDOR COST QUOTE EXPIRES STATUS ____________________________ __________________ $_______ ____/____/____ quoted / chosen / passed ____________________________ __________________ $_______ ____/____/____ quoted / chosen / passed ____________________________ __________________ $_______ ____/____/____ quoted / chosen / passed -------------------------------------------------- DAILY SPENDING ALLOWANCE Food per person per day $_______ Local transport per day $_______ Incidentals per day $_______ x ____ days x ____ people = $_______ -------------------------------------------------- DEPOSITS & DUE DATES ITEM AMOUNT DUE DUE BY ____________________________ $__________ ____/____/____ ____________________________ $__________ ____/____/____ NOTES
Download it as PDF or Excel
Both files come out of the same export Golarko uses for real trips. The spreadsheet has a Budget sheet with the category breakdown and paid-versus-owed columns, and a separate Quotes sheet for estimates — so the download matches what's on this page. Take the PDF to print or send to whoever's splitting the cost; take the .xlsx if you'd rather do the sums yourself. It opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets (File → Import). Both are free, with no email step.
How to use it
- Set the target before the first line. Write the number you don't want to cross at the top. A budget with no ceiling is just a list of what you spent.
- Enter the big three first. Flights, lodging and inter-city transport are usually seventy per cent of the trip. Get those in and you'll know within a day whether the trip fits.
- Keep quotes out of the total. Put anything you've only been offered in the quotes table with its expiry date. Move it up into a category line the moment it's booked, and not before.
- Update the paid column as you pay. The useful figure isn't what the trip costs — it's what you still owe and when. Fill it in on the day, not at the end.
- Add a daily allowance for the rest. Food, coffee, local trains and the things you'll buy. Multiply per person per day rather than trying to itemise it; it's the only category you can't plan line by line.
Frequently asked questions
Is this travel budget template free?
Yes. Read it, copy it, and download the PDF or spreadsheet without an account, an email address, or a payment. No watermark, no limit.
What categories does it use?
Flights, trains, ground transport, lodging, food and drink, activities and tours, tickets and entry, shopping, fees and insurance, and other. They're the same categories Golarko uses to total a real trip, so a budget written here transfers straight across.
Why keep quotes separate from the total?
Because a quote is not a cost. Mixing prices you've been offered into the same total as things you've actually paid for is the single most common reason a travel budget drifts. The template gives quotes their own table with an expiry date and a status, and only moves them into the total once they're booked.
How do I split costs between travelers?
Each line has a total, and the summary divides by the number of travelers for a per-person figure. Costs that genuinely are per person — most flights and tickets — should be entered as the group total so the split stays honest.
Does it handle more than one currency?
The template has a currency and exchange-rate line at the top; convert as you enter so every figure in the table is in one currency. Keeping two currencies in one column is how budgets end up wrong by a third.
Do I need an account?
No. An account is only useful if you want the totals to update themselves as you book, rather than re-adding the column by hand.
More free templates
Same idea, different part of the trip. All free, all copyable, no email step.
Day-by-day plan with flights, hotels and activities, plus a filled-in 12-day example.
Categorised checklist you can copy or download, sized for a real multi-city trip.
A real Cologne–Zürich–Rome itinerary, day by day, with timings and what it all cost.
Let the total keep itself current
A budget spreadsheet is only right on the day you write it. In Golarko the cost of every flight, hotel and activity lives on the trip itself, so the category totals, the paid and owed columns and the per-person split all update the moment you book something — and the quote tracker keeps the estimates you're still deciding between out of the total until they're real. Free forever, with optional paid upgrades if you want AI drafting.
You'll get an empty budget with nothing filled in — none of the example figures above come with it.
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