Travel Budgeting Like a Boss + FREE Template!

I say it all the time on this site, but travel does NOT have to be expensive! In fact, I only travel to places where I know I can stretch my dollars pretty far. I like to coin myself as a “luxury budget traveler”. The only time I went against that title is when I went backpacking through South East Asia last Fall. I mean, let’s face it ‘backpacking’ is not exactly glamorous with fancy hotels and lavish meals. Even still, I traveled for 3 months through Asia and only spent $2500!

>> RELATED: FREE Travel Budget Template

Anyhoo, I wanted to share with you all how I budget all of my trips! Let me preface and say, budgeting is LIFE! I am a pretty frugal individual in general, but when it comes to trips I like to plan accordingly. At the bottom of the post is a link to the exact budget template I use for my expense planning.

As far as my trips are concerned, the destinations choose me, I typically do not choose them! Like the example I will be showing you, I snatched a deal to Brazil for $273 round-trip!

Here Are Is The Process & Way I Go About Budgeting For Trips:

1. Destination Chooses Me! #Chose

   • In this case, I grabbed this roundtrip flight to Brazil for $273!

2. Decide on How Much I Want to Spend for the Entire Trip.

   • For Brazil, $1,000 would be more than enough. If not, I will make it enough!

3. Do Some Extensive Research On Things I Want to Do/See, Average Cost of Accommodations, Cost of Food, and Costs for Entertainment!

   • Some of my favorite sites for this is TripAdvisor, Yelp, Groupon, and Online Forums

   • Food will run me about $5-20/day (all meals)

   • I estimated all of the attractions to be ~ $150 (many of the things in Rio or free or very inexpensive)

   • We will be taking local transportation. In Rio, the metro is way cheaper than cabs

   • Accommodations for the entire trip total $91 (splitting with another person & rounded up to $100 on template below)

4. Once I have found my hotel/Airbnb/etc, estimated food and entertainment costs, and even factored in transportation, I plug it into my budget!

5. My Budget Template Calculates Everything For Me and I Can See Where I Stand!

Travel Budgeting Like a Boss + FREE Template!

Notes & Tips:

When I do my budget planning, I account only for myself. This way, I can really overestimate my expenses. Since I am traveling with a friend, a lot of the costs will be split (hotel, cabs, etc)

I rarely buy souvenirs (I was starting to end up with a bunch of crap!) for people or myself. I like sending postcards or getting something small and meaningful. This cuts costs and saves room in your luggage!

I love to eat local and authentic food! Not only does it taste so much better, but you get a real authentic experience and its a lot cheaper than eating in the ‘touristy’ spots.

So with a Budget of $800 for My Entire Trip to Brazil (including flight & hotel), Do You Think I Came Over and Under Budget?

Download This Budget Template to See How I Did It & Use It to Plan Your Next Trip!

>> Grab The Budget Template Here!

So tell me.

How do you budget for your trips?

Journey On.