Trip Budget Spreadsheet?

[FabFive24]

Hello! I've seen a few members mention having trip budget spreadsheets, especially those who use gc and rewards programs. I'm intrigued to know at the end what we actually "saved" on our trip but I'm not sure how to begin a spreadsheet. Does anyone have any tips to share?

Thank you!

 

[AgentMama]

I keep a spreadsheet for all travel. The spreadsheet itself doesn't help with savings. It does help me keep track of what we've spent, things we're considering doing, what we've booked (airfare, lodging, excursions, etc). It also tracks any final payment dates.

I also have a tab that tracks travel deals that I've found that I'm interested in and might want to come back to.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I also have a spreadsheet for actual costs of the vacation. My first step is to set up a budget for the main costs I need to cover (hotel, airfare, tickets, food ) then I track the actual costs on the spreadsheet. This allows me to determine if my initial budget was reasonable for a certain vacation. A budget for a cruise is not the same as a budget for WDW. My only "savings" is the tracking I do for the Disney GC when I get them on sale.

 

[_19disnA]

A disney vacation is expensive compared to most other choices and not sure having a complicated spreadsheet will make it any cheaper. I think some people enjoy the 'planning' as much as the actual vacation and this is one way to do that. We enjoy going on vacation without having to plan every minute of the day. It seems less like a vacation and more like a job when it involves all that planning.

 

[FabFive24]

Thank you for the replies. I have seen a few people mention they use spreadsheets to keep track of discounted gift cards or rewards points earned which is more of what I'm looking for. I do know how to make a basic budget spreadsheet. I may just stick to my current method of writing down any rewards redeemed or discounted gift cards instead of a more complicated system. Thanks again!