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▶Travel Planner
Type the dates, the people and the bookings as you make them. The countdown, the total, the split and the savings plan keep themselves.
Ask four people what their trip is going to cost and you get four guesses. This spreadsheet gives one answer, and keeps it current as you book.
- A trip total that can only surprise you upward: each category is the larger of your plan and what you have actually booked and spent
- Every booking with total, paid, balance, due date and confirmation number; overdue turns red, the Dashboard lists the next payments due
- Settle Up: what each person paid, their fair share of everything shared, their own costs, and a net column that adds to zero
- A savings plan that divides what is still to fund by the paydays before you leave, with the schedule that shows the payday it reaches zero
- Expenses in either currency at the rate you type, a packing list by person, a pre-trip checklist with do-by dates, and a passport check against the return date
Overview
Type the dates, the people and the bookings as you make them. The countdown, the total, the split and the savings plan keep themselves.
Ask four people what their trip is going to cost and you get four guesses. This spreadsheet gives one answer, and keeps it current as you book.
You type the dates, the people and the bookings as you make them. The file keeps the countdown, the day-by-day itinerary, what the trip is going to cost, what is paid, what is still owed and when, what each person owes the others, and how much to set aside from each paycheck so the trip is paid for before you leave. In the shipped sample four travelers are 34 days from eleven days in Italy: the trip stands at $11,348, which is $2,837 each, 45 percent of it is already paid, $2,584 is still due on things already booked, and $593 from each of the two paydays left has it paid for before departure.
What's Included
One workbook, 13 connected tabs, in four color editions:
- One ZIP with the workbook in four color editions plus the three-color bundle
- A two-page Quick-Start PDF: the four things to do first, what every tab is for, and the honest warnings
- A START-HERE file naming which file to open and how the colorways work
- A worked sample trip in every tab, so nothing is blank until you replace it
- A link to the narrated video tutorial that walks every tab of the real file
Key Benefits
Why this one
The Budget tab shows planned against booked against spent for eight categories, and the estimate for each is the larger of the plan and what you have committed. So the moment a hotel pushes lodging over its plan, the trip total says so in red, while there is still time to move money between categories. In the sample, lodging is $34 over and the trip is $48 over, and the file says so without being asked.
Every booking carries quantity, price, total, what you have paid and a due date for the rest. Overdue turns red, two weeks out turns amber, and the Dashboard lists the next payments due, soonest first, with who is paying. Status is Researching, Booked or Paid, so a quote you are still thinking about is never counted as money you owe.
What each person paid, on bookings and on expenses. Their fair share of everything marked Everyone, divided equally, plus everything marked Just me. Net is paid minus share, and the column adds to zero, always. In the sample Alex booked the flights and is owed $2,644 by the group. The argument, settled.
The trip, less the bookings already paid, less what you have spent, less what you have set aside, divided by the paydays before departure. One number to put away each payday, and a schedule that shows the payday the remaining balance reaches zero. Come home to nothing on a card.
The Itinerary reads dates from the departure date, so if the trip moves, every day moves with it. One line per day at the top names the first plan, how many plans, and what they are expected to cost; the hour-by-hour list underneath carries the confirmation numbers.
Before You Go turns weeks before departure into do-by dates and flags what is overdue and what is due this week. The Packing List counts what is packed by category and by person. Documents and Contacts checks every passport against the day you come home and says Renew now when it matters, and puts the numbers to call on one printable page.
Who It's For
Built for
- Couples and families who want to know what the trip actually costs before they go
- Groups of friends splitting a trip who would rather not have the argument on the last night
- Anyone who has come home from a vacation to a card balance they did not expect
- Planners who want the itinerary, the bookings and the money in one file that opens anywhere
How It Works
Up and running in minutes
Open Trip Setup and type the dates, who is going, the currency where you are going and its rate, and how often you are paid. Five minutes, once.
On Budget, type a rough planned number for flights, lodging, transportation, food, activities, shopping, insurance and other.
On Bookings: quantity, price, what you have paid, the due date for the rest, and the confirmation number. Mark it Booked or Paid.
Days to go, the trip total, per person, paid so far, still to pay, and what to set aside each payday.
Log the expenses in either currency, say who paid, and the Settle Up tab says who owes whom.
Why It's Different
Not another template
The shelf sells travel planners that are itineraries with a budget page, most of them Google-Sheets-only or built for Excel 365. This one does the money properly: a total that cannot understate what you have committed, the next payments due, a settle-up that adds to zero, and a savings plan by payday, in plain formulas that open in Excel 2016, Google Sheets and Numbers.
Delivery & Compatibility
Instant, and it opens in what you already use
As soon as your order is complete you get instant access to download the ZIP: the workbook in four color editions, the three-color bundle, a two-page Quick-Start PDF and a START-HERE file.
One ZIP, instant download. Portable formulas only — no macros, no add-ons, no account and nothing to cancel. Opens in Microsoft Excel (2016 or later, Mac or PC) and Google Sheets; to use Sheets, upload the .xlsx to Drive and open it with Sheets. Apple Numbers opens it too. The four colorways are the same workbook: pick one and stay in it.
FAQ
Questions, answered
One trip per file?
Yes. Save a copy for each trip and keep them all. Everything on every tab reads the dates and bookings of the one trip in that file.
Other currencies?
Any one. Type the currency code and what one unit of it costs you in dollars on Trip Setup; expenses convert at that rate. Your card will use its own rate and differ by a percent or two.
How many travelers?
Up to eight, each with a fair share and a settle-up line. Shared costs split evenly; mark anything uneven as Just me.
Will it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Every formula is portable. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and open it with Sheets; formulas, dropdowns and conditional colors carry over.
A planning and record-keeping tool that calculates from the numbers you enter. It is not travel, financial or legal advice, and nothing in it is booked, held or refunded. Shared costs split evenly and the savings schedule shows the next twelve paydays; the How the Math Works tab says so in full. The workbook ships with an invented sample trip so every tab has something in it; delete it and type your own.
