Budgeting · 6 min read
How much spending money do you need for a trip?
It's the question everyone asks before a holiday, and hardly anyone answers it well: how much spending money should I actually bring? Bring too little and you're rationing gelato by day three. Bring too much and you're walking around with a nervous amount of cash. The honest answer is "it depends," but it depends on things you can put a number on. Here's how.
What counts as "spending money"?
Start by being clear about what this number covers. Spending money is your daily, on-the-ground costs, not the big stuff you book in advance. It usually covers:
- Food and drink (the biggest variable by far)
- Local transport: metro, buses, the occasional taxi
- Attractions, tickets and activities
- Shopping, souvenirs and tips
Your flights, accommodation and pre-booked tours are a separate budget. Mixing them together is the classic mistake that makes a trip feel unaffordable when it isn't.
A realistic daily framework
Instead of one magic number, think in tiers based on how you travel. As a rough European guide for a mid-priced city:
- Budget (hostels, street food, walking): roughly €40–60 per day
- Mid-range (casual restaurants, a paid attraction daily): roughly €70–110 per day
- Comfortable (nicer dinners, taxis, spontaneous splurges): €130+ per day
Expensive cities (Zurich, Copenhagen, Reykjavik) can run 50–80% higher; cheaper destinations (much of Southeast Asia, parts of Eastern Europe) can be less than half. Spend ten minutes checking the price of a coffee, a casual meal and a metro ticket at your destination. Those three numbers tell you almost everything.
Tip
Set the number, then watch it live
PocketTrip turns your daily spending money into a live daily cap and tracks every expense against it, so "how much do I have left today?" is always one glance away.
Build your estimate in four lines
Turn the framework into a number:
- Pick your daily tier (say €90 mid-range)
- Multiply by trip length (7 days → €630)
- Add a 10–15% buffer for the unexpected (→ about €720)
- Round up to a comfortable amount you won't stress about
That's your total spending money. If it feels too high, the fix is to drop a tier or shorten the trip, not to pretend you'll spend less than you actually will.
Cash or card?
In most of Europe, North America and increasingly Asia, card and phone payments cover the vast majority of spending. Carry a small amount of local cash for markets, tips and small vendors, roughly one or two days' worth, and put the rest on card. Always pay in the local currency at terminals and ATMs. Letting the machine "helpfully" convert to your home currency almost always costs you more.
Don't forget the hidden extras
The costs that blow budgets are rarely the meals. They're the forgettable extras: airport transfers, baggage fees, city tourist taxes, data roaming, that one big activity everyone talks you into. List them before you go and fold them into your total, so they don't quietly eat into your daily cap.
The easiest way to stay on track
Estimating is half the job. The other half is not drifting once you're actually there. PocketTrip keeps your spending money honest: set a total or daily budget, log expenses in any currency (or scan a receipt), and see your remaining cap update in real time. For the full picture, pair this with our step-by-step guide to budgeting for a trip.
Ready?
Know exactly what you can spend
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Keep reading: How to save money while travelling: 15 practical tips →