Keep prepaid flights and hotels in the total cost of your trip. For an allowance based on money still available, deduct paid bookings once, set aside unpaid commitments and any reserve, then divide the rest by your travel days.
You paid for the flights weeks ago. The hotel is sorted too. Now you want a daily spending limit that helps you choose lunch, transport and a few things to do.
Start by separating the cost of the whole trip from the money still available. Both figures matter, but they answer different questions.
Keep two useful totals
Your total trip cost answers, “What did this holiday cost me?” Your daily spending allowance answers, “What can I still spend while I am away?” A flight paid three months ago belongs in the first figure. It does not need to come out of your available spending money again.
A hotel can belong in either daily calculation. If you want the average cost of the whole trip, include accommodation. If you want an allowance for meals, transport and activities after paying for your hotel, leave the paid room out of that allowance. Label the figure so you know what it covers.
Keep prepaid bookings in the full cost of your trip. Separate them when calculating money still available, rather than removing them from your records altogether.
A 10-day trip with bookings already paid
Suppose you set aside AUD 3,000 for a 10-day trip. You have paid AUD 800 for flights and AUD 400 for accommodation. You also want to keep AUD 200 available for unexpected costs.
| Item | Amount in AUD |
|---|---|
| Whole-trip budget | $3,000 |
| Flights already paid | −$800 |
| Accommodation already paid | −$400 |
| Reserve kept aside | −$200 |
| Available for daily spending | $1,600 |
| Daily allowance: $1,600 ÷ 10 days | $160 |
These amounts illustrate the method. They are not destination prices or a recommended reserve.
Dividing the original AUD 3,000 by 10 gives AUD 300 a day. That is the planned average for everything, including bookings and the reserve. It is not another AUD 300 you can spend each day after those costs.
If an unpaid hotel balance also needs to come from the AUD 1,600, reserve that balance before setting your daily allowance. The same rule applies to a booked tour, an upcoming train ticket or another committed cost.
Should your daily budget include accommodation?
It can. Choose a definition that suits the question you want to answer:
- For comparing trip costs: include accommodation in your daily average. Divide the relevant total by the number of travel days.
- For spending after prepaid bookings: calculate an allowance from what remains after those bookings and any reserve.
- For accommodation paid along the way: include it in your spending allowance, or reserve its expected cost separately.
Consistency matters more than the label. An AUD 80 daily budget that excludes hotels cannot be compared directly with an AUD 150 budget that includes them.
A payment date can also make one day look expensive. Paying for five hotel nights at once creates one large payment, even though the stay lasts five nights. You can calculate the average nightly cost separately without entering the purchase twice.
Count a booking deposit and balance once
A booking deposit is a part-payment when it is applied to the final bill. Suppose your hotel costs AUD 900. You pay AUD 300 before departure and AUD 600 at check-in. Together, those payments make the AUD 900 cost.
If you record both payments, do not also add AUD 900 as a third expense. A note such as “hotel deposit” and “hotel balance” helps you connect the two entries.
A refundable security deposit or a temporary card hold needs separate treatment. It is not automatically another room charge. Check the booking terms and whether the money was charged, held or returned before adding it to your spending total.
How to keep the figures clear in ExpenseTravel
ExpenseTravel lets you choose a whole-trip budget or enter a daily amount when setting up a trip. The app turns a daily amount into a total using your trip dates. Every expense recorded in that trip contributes to its spending total.
If you want the full trip cost
Set a budget that includes flights, accommodation and spending while away. Record each paid cost once, including bookings paid before departure. In the example above, the budget starts at AUD 3,000 and the two prepaid costs total AUD 1,200.
After those entries, AUD 1,800 remains in the budget. Your AUD 200 reserve still sits inside that figure. Keep it aside when planning what you can spend; the app does not reserve that money automatically.
If you want to track spending while away
Set the trip budget to the amount you want that record to cover. For the example above, an AUD 1,600 spending budget leaves the AUD 200 reserve outside it. Keep the AUD 1,200 prepaid bookings in a separate full-trip cost record.
If you then add those prepaid bookings to the AUD 1,600 spending record, they will reduce its remaining budget. The current app does not offer a separate “exclude from daily spending” switch.
Our budget and currency help explains the settings. Once the trip begins, use the guide to resetting your daily travel budget to check what remains.
Three checks before you leave
- Define the budget. Write down whether it covers all trip costs or only spending while away.
- List what is paid and what is still owed. Keep paid bookings out of the unpaid list.
- Use one currency for the calculation. Keep original prices in your records and convert totals consistently.
If a booking's converted amount differs from your final card charge, read why app totals and bank statements can differ. A difference in conversion is not a reason to record the same booking again.
Common questions about prepaid travel costs
Should flights count towards my daily travel budget?
Include them if your daily figure describes the average cost of the whole trip. Leave already-paid flights out of a separate allowance for money still available to spend, while keeping them in your full trip-cost record.
Should I spread a prepaid hotel across each night?
You can divide its cost by the nights stayed to understand the nightly average. That is a calculation, not another payment. Keep the expense recorded once unless your system deliberately splits one total into parts that add back to the same amount.
What if a hotel is booked but not paid?
The cost still needs funding. Deduct its unpaid balance when working out your flexible daily allowance. Once it has been paid and included in spending, remove it from the unpaid list.
Do prepaid costs affect my ExpenseTravel total?
Yes, if you record them in the trip. Every recorded expense contributes to spending, regardless of whether you paid before departure or during the trip.
Travelling together? share one trip and record each booking once to keep the group’s total clear.
Read How to reset your daily travel budget after overspending or browse the travel budget guides.
Sources and scope
These are original worked examples for personal travel budgeting. The sources provide background; each app may calculate daily figures differently.ExpenseTravel includes every expense recorded in the trip.