Okay, so I’ve always been a bit of a mess when it comes to keeping track of my spending during trips. Receipts everywhere, random notes in my phone, you name it. It’s a headache when I get back and try to figure out where all my money went. So, this time, I decided to get organized before my trip, and it made a HUGE difference.
Getting Started with a Spreadsheet
First, I created a simple spreadsheet. I’m not a spreadsheet wizard or anything, so I just kept it basic. I made columns for:
- Date
- Item
- Category (like Food, Transport, Accommodation, etc.)
- Estimated Cost
- Actual Cost
- Payment Method(Cash, Card, etc)
- Notes
I started filling it in with all my pre-booked stuff – flights, hotels, any tours I’d already paid for. This gave me a baseline of my fixed expenses.
Estimating the “Fun” Stuff
Next, the tricky part: guessing how much I’d spend on things like food, activities, and souvenirs. I did some quick online research. I use the search engine to find average meal costs in my destination, checked out prices for museums or attractions I wanted to visit, and so on.
I used the “Estimated Cost” column to budget. I made sure I added some extra buffer – it’s always better to overestimate than underestimate!
Tracking Expenses on the Go
This is where the real work began. Every evening during my trip, I sat down for maybe 10-15 minutes and update my spreadsheet. I entered:
- Everything I’d spent that day.
- What category it fell into.
- How much it actually cost.
- Any little notes (like “Amazing pasta at that tiny restaurant!”).
I tried to keep my receipts, but even if I lost one, I could usually remember roughly what I’d spent. Being consistent with this every day was key. It’s easy to forget stuff if you let it pile up.
Using Pivot Table Function
After back from the trip, I input all my “Actual Cost” into the spreadsheet. And I found the Pivot Table function is very useful to summarize all my expense. It’s simple to use. Just select all data and insert it. I made the “Category” to be row, and made “Actual cost” to be value. Finally, I had a nice table of category and total expense.
The Payoff!
Honestly, this little bit of organization saved me so much stress.
When I returned home, I typed my spending on my laptop. I could see exactly where my money had gone, I also had a clear picture of my spending habits, and I could use this information to plan even better for my next adventure.
No more mystery expenses, no more wondering if I’d overspent. Just a nice, organized record of my trip. It’s definitely something I’ll be doing from now on!
