Create a Travel Budget Vacation Cost Worksheet

Dreaming of an epic summer road trip? How about a relaxing day lounging on the beach soaking up the rays? If you have plans to travel, you should use my travel budget vacation cost worksheet to find out how much you need to save for your trip.

Then you can use any or all of my 12 ideas on how to save for a vacation and travel with peace of mind knowing your trip won’t be putting you into debt!

You may have seen my post about the average vacation cost, but this worksheet (linked at the bottom of this post) will help you dial in what your actual estimated costs will be. Perhaps you need more room than the average traveler, or maybe you eat more? Whatever your preferences are, this travel budget vacation cost worksheet will help you dial into your estimated average vacation cost.

Let’s look at the categories:

Transportation

Here you can figure your costs whether you decide to fly or drive. If you fly then you can total your airfare, baggage fees, parking, and destination car rental or transportation. If you choose to drive then you can estimate your fuel expense by using a MPG/miles driven calculation. This doesn’t take into account the wear on your car or any maintenance you’ll need to perform before traveling.

Lodging

Whether you stay at a hotel, B&B, rental home, or campsite, input your nightly rate and number of nights. Don’t forget to include the taxes that will be added to your lodging as they can often add around 10-15% to your room rate.

You should also consider budgeting for bell services if the hotel has that amenity as well as planning on tipping your housekeeper. A good rule of thumb is $1 per person per day, depending on mess or service needs. Many hotels are starting to charge daily resort fees or fees for parking and internet, so be sure to budget for any of those add-ons if needed.

Activities

Do your research online about what attractions you want to visit and what the admission fees are for them. You can also typically find parking fees listed on the attraction’s website if you’re planning to drive and park. Decide what your souvenir budget is and make sure you inform your kids. We like to give our girls a flat amount and they can choose to spend it whenever they want, but once it’s spent, it’s gone.

Food

This is a hard section to help you budget for because we all have different feelings about food. If you happen to book a hotel with free breakfast, you can save some money in this section. Also, if you’re eating at nice restaurants or theme parks, these estimated amounts might not be enough.

I’ve tried to give you a ballpark figure so you can still have an idea of what to budget. If you’re wanting to eat at nice restaurants each evening, just bump up your dinner total. If you’re going to buy groceries and cook your own meals each evening, you’ll save on dinner costs but need to include grocery expenses.

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