{"id":30518,"date":"2020-02-06T08:11:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T13:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=30518"},"modified":"2025-01-06T12:21:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T12:21:53","slug":"how-to-effectively-track-and-budget-travel-expenses-free-printable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2020\/02\/06\/how-to-effectively-track-and-budget-travel-expenses-free-printable\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Effectively Track And Budget Travel Expenses (Free Printable)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>8<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no point in budgeting for your holiday, no matter where you go, if you fail to track your travel expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spend Less And Travel More By Tracking Your Travel Expenses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my mailbox this week was an email from a young lady who will be traveling for a month to Madeira, Portugal<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Mr.CBB,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m a 25-year-old woman who still lives at home with her parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been planning a month-long trip to Madeira, Portugal, where my best friend lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good part about visiting a friend overseas is that I have accessible accommodations which save me money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could plan and budget for the plane tickets, which cost me $5147 for an economy fare with Air Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see why I’m excited that I don’t have to pay for somewhere to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there I will be paying for everything I purchase, including food, eating out, and any shopping I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you suggest is the best way to track my travel expenses so I don’t spend more than my $2000 budget?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mila B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toronto, Ontario<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for your question, Mila, I’ll do my best to answer it below from my personal travel experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prioritize Your Travel Expenses Before You Travel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How do you keep track of travel expenses?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two ways you can track travel expenses, both of which I will discuss today and the importance of each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are travelling for work, your employer should have some sort of travel expense report that you can fill out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the form, you can document your gas mileage, per diem expenses, or daily expenses, which include eating out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk to your Human Resources department and also make sure you know how much you can expense ahead of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you work for yourself, you can use my form to track your business travel expenses for income tax purposes and budgeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/strong> How I Tracked My Travel Expenses For Work Trips<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Your Travel Destination<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you are travelling for leisure, you still need to plan and it doesn’t hurt to research food costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the years when I used to travel from the UK to places such as Thailand, Portugal, and Iceland, I always researched where I was going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time I was on holiday you might find me sightseeing or backpacking the country-side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meant I needed to pack food and drinks to keep my strength up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It only took minutes of my day to go to Google restaurants, hostels, hotels, and grocery stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By doing so, I could gauge my meal allowances to set a realistic travel expenses budget<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good thing about travelling years ago from the UK was that it was cheap, but that is a distant memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never Guesstimate Your Travel Expenses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was a penny pincher back then, and although I didn’t track my expenses, I manually added my travel expenses in my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although that worked for me, PLEASE don’t try that on your holiday as it’s the WORST thing you can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learn from our mistakes, and although I didn’t overspend, I could have quickly done so and put myself into debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you’re stuck with the debt if you don’t have savings at home to pay for the extra expenses you incurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don’t want to create debt while you are away on a holiday or a road trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of going away for most people is leisure, so why add financial stress to your plate when you return home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracking Travel Expenses<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Travel<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Becoming an expert traveler<\/strong><\/a> takes time and experience, as does learning how to budget your money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most important things you should do when travelling is to get your receipts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve pretty much justified the importance of receipts<\/strong><\/a> whenever you exchange money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot track your travel expenses or maintain a proper budget without a receipt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are away from home, having a simple way to track travel expenses will help keep you on budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two things travelers fail to do most often and then regret it;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Create a travel budget<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Track your travel expenses<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We can honestly say we were these people when we went on holiday a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Although we had a travel budget, we got so caught up in the holiday that we did not track travel expenses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the other hand, we collected every receipt<\/a><\/strong> from our trip, but we were shocked when we got home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It would be best if you didn’t make the same expensive mistakes we did, which is why I created this free travel expense printable<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Believe it or not, our plan for any road trips or holidays that we take is to bring along our monthly budget binder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It easily fits in a suitcase or travel bag,, making budgeting much easier while away from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I know the task seems tedious, but a few minutes a day can save you a substantial financial hassle when you get home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How To Track Travel Expenses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    As you will notice from the screenshot above from our travel expenses form<\/strong><\/a> (which is free to CBB subscribers), it’s simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I’d suggest bringing an envelope, pouch, or zip bag to place your receipts in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Many 3-ring binders may have a pocket or area where you can store your receipts, which works as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once you get back to where you will be sleeping, take 10 minutes to review your travel expenses receipts and input the data into your form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Just remember, if you used cash and did not get a receipt because it was unavailable, you must include this expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I know many street food vendors and markets don’t have receipts available to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is a simplified travel expense form where you will need to include the following items;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Where did you make your purchase?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. What was the date of your purchase?<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Detail what items you purchased.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. How much did the purchase cost you? Currency exchange rate and running total.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      I didn’t add an end total for travel expenses because I wanted to ensure we worked with a running total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Finding out at the end of your trip that you’ve spent too much money is defeating the purpose of tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      As you go along, add what you spent from day to day so you can adjust your starting budget amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For Mila, she is working with a $2000 budget, which I’m not sure is in Canadian dollars or Euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Whichever currency you are using as your starting amount, this is where you would deduct daily travel expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n