budget and money
Travel Budget Calculator
Put in what you expect to spend in each category and get a total trip cost, the cost per person and the daily budget you need to hold to. Costs are per person unless the label says otherwise.
Your trip
the damage
Your trip · 7 nights
Add ten percent on top as a buffer. Something always costs more than the plan.
How to use the travel budget calculator
Start with the numbers you can check. Flight prices are easy to look up, insurance quotes take two minutes, and accommodation prices are visible before you book. Those three are usually more than half the trip. Then estimate the daily lines: food, local transport and activities. If you have no idea what those should be, use the regional figures in the trip cost calculator first.
Food is charged per day rather than per night because you eat on the day you fly out and the day you fly home. Accommodation is charged per night. That small distinction is why a lot of spreadsheets come out low.
What realistic daily costs look like
Across nine years of receipts, a hostel dorm, market food and public transport in Eastern Europe worked out around 35 pounds a day. A private room, one restaurant meal a day and a paid sight came in around 60. In Vietnam and Cambodia the same three levels sit near 25, 45 and 85. Western Europe is roughly double the Balkans for the same style of travel. Those figures are the basis for the presets here.
Once you have your total, sanity check it against the real trip receipts published in the budget countries guide and the guide to travelling cheap without giving up comfort.
Questions people ask
+How much should I budget for a week abroad?
In Southeast Asia, a week costs roughly 175 to 315 pounds on the ground plus flights. In Eastern Europe budget 245 to 420 pounds. In Western Europe budget 385 to 665 pounds. Flights sit on top of those figures.
+What do most people forget to budget for?
Airport transfers at both ends, checked bag fees, city tourist taxes, tipping, laundry, data SIMs and the first taxi when you land tired. That is what the everything else line is for.
+How big should my buffer be?
Ten percent for a short city break, fifteen to twenty percent for a long trip or a region where you might change plans. A buffer is not spending money, it is the reason a delay does not end the trip.
+Is the calculator per person or per group?
Every input except travellers is per person. Accommodation is your share of the room, so a 90 pound twin room split two ways is 45 pounds.
+Does it store my numbers?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. Copy or download the result if you want to keep it.