Group trip budget template (printable, with a per-person cap)

How to use this template

Fill in the estimate column before anyone books anything, and the actual column once the trip is over. The tables below can be printed or copied straight into a spreadsheet. For the reasoning behind each line, read how to make a group travel budget everyone agrees on.

1. Agree on a per-person cap and a headcount. Decide the most each traveler is willing to spend and who is coming before you price a single line.
2. Estimate each line. Use the listing price for lodging and a quote or a rough number for the rest. Divide each estimate by the number of travelers to fill the per-person column, or let the trip cost per person calculator do it.
3. Add a buffer. Hold back a percentage of the subtotal for lines that come in high. The example uses 10 percent.
4. Check the total against the cap. If the per-person total is over, change a line (a cheaper house, fewer paid activities) and recalculate before anyone books.
5. Fill in the bookings table. Write who books each cost, the deposit and the date it is due.
6. Fill in the actual column after the trip and compare it with the plan.

Example: six people, four nights

Say six friends rent a house for four nights and drive there in two cars. They agree on a cap of $750 each.

Line item (EvenOut category)	Estimate	Per person	Actual
Rental house with fees (Hotel)	$2,100	$350	$2,100
Car ferry, two cars (Travel)	$240	$40	$240
Gas (Fuel)	$150	$25	$175
Local rides (Transport)	$90	$15	$120
Three dinners out (Food)	$540	$90	$610
Groceries	$360	$60	$340
Drinks	$150	$25	$207
Six tickets at $45 (Entertainment)	$270	$45	$270
Subtotal	$3,900	$650	$4,062
Buffer, 10% of the subtotal	$390	$65	$0
Total	$4,290	$715	$4,062

The planned total of $4,290 is $715 each, which is $35 under the cap. After the trip the lines had run $162 over their estimates (gas, rides, dinners and drinks up, groceries down), the buffer absorbed it, and the group spent $4,062, or $677 each. That is $228 under the plan.

For bookings, Maya books the house with a $600 deposit ($100 per person) due eight weeks before the trip. Luis books the ferry and pays it in full at booking ($40 per person).

The template

Print the tables or copy them into a spreadsheet. In the first table, the per-person cell is the estimate divided by the number of travelers.

Costs, planned and actual

Line item (EvenOut category)	Estimate	Per person	Actual
Lodging (Hotel)
Getting there (Travel)
Gas and tolls (Fuel)
Getting around (Transport)
Restaurants (Food)
Groceries
Drinks
Activities (Entertainment)
Subtotal
Buffer, agreed percentage
Total
Per-person cap

Bookings and deposits

Booking	Who books	Deposit	Due by

After the trip

	Planned	Actual	Difference
Total
Per person

What to agree on

• The cap. A number that everyone said yes to can be checked against the total. A cap that lives in one person’s head cannot.
• Who books. The person who books pays first and is repaid, so name them on each line. Share the bookings around.
• Deposits. Put a date on every deposit and say when each person sends their share, so the booker is not waiting on the group. A refundable hold, such as a damage deposit, is not part of the cost. EvenOut can save it as a “Pending payment”, which is not counted in balances until you confirm the final charge.
• Tracking. During the trip, log each payment as it happens in a group trip expense spreadsheet, so the actual column is a copy and not a memory.
• Fares. If people leave from different places, keep each fare out of the shared total and say whether the cap includes it.
• The buffer. Decide before the trip whether unspent buffer is split back equally or rolls into the next outing.

If the group logs the trip in EvenOut, the free plan has no daily expense limit and no ads, so every dinner, ride and ticket goes in the day it happens, even offline, and syncs later. Each expense can use any of five split methods (“Equally”, “Exact amounts”, “Percent”, “Shares” or “By item”), which covers a house where the rooms are not the same size. EvenOut guesses a category from each description, and the group’s free Spending charts show spending “By category” to read against the Actual column. Make the group a Trip, add the dates, and use “Add a guest” for anyone who is not on the app yet.