Imagine that your exciting journey is over and you are already in your home slippers drinking coffee from a Spanish local market. Visiting another country was a truly enriching experience. You got to know the locals and their incredibly friendly approach to foreigners, learnt new funny words in their language, tried traditional food and drinks (oh, those locals know how to enjoy their life!), made all the typical tourist photos and visited most of the must-see points. Wandering around various places, you lost a few kilos, though your wallet got thinner, too. Now it is time to take a breath and reflect on the financial side of your adventure. What could you do to track your expenses while travelling?

As experienced travelers, we’d love to share some simple hints with you. This piece of advice can make your journey easier and less stressful, and you can keep your travel expenses under control.

Create a budget for your trip

First of all, define your budget before you go on the trip. For instance, you plan to visit Valencia (Spain) for one week. It could be very useful to calculate an approximate budget amount in advance and set it in Toshl app as a one-time budget. To do so:

1. Open the Toshl app, go to the Budgets section in the main menu.
2. Add a new one by tapping the “+” button.
3. Name your budget (e.g. My Awesome Travel Plan).
4. Select the time period: one-time budget, and enter the dates of your trip.
5. Set an amount that you are going to spend.

When the budget is set, you can check the daily amount you are able to spend within your budget limit. For that, just go back to Budgets and check your one-time budget graph.

Keep a track of your expenses

When everything is ready for the trip, and the departure day arrives, make sure that you take your smartphone, tablet or laptop. Please be kind to Toshl monsters, and they will assist you on your way. To do so, just keep in mind to add your expenses to Toshl app whenever you make a purchase or pay for a service.

If you use Toshl Medici and have set a bank connection, your bank / financial service transactions will be added automatically to your expenses. In this case, don’t forget to enter your cash expenses though.

ATM withdrawals

In case you withdraw some amount from an ATM, it could be set as a transfer in Toshl app. The transfer will be composed of an expense on the bank account and an income on the cash account. For Toshl Medici subscribers that have set a bank connection, the expense part will be imported automatically from the bank account. The income part on cash account will need to be added manually.

Attach receipt photos

If you are Toshl Pro or Toshl Medici user, don’t forget that you can take a photo of the receipt and attach it to your expense. It is very convenient if you go on a business trip and need to save some receipts for reporting. It could be also useful when you want to save a bill to split an expense for lunch or dinner with your friends. Or perhaps, you’d like to take a photo of the souvenir (or the receipt for it) that you have just bought at the city museum… Using the handy photo feature, you don’t need to carry a bunch of paper bills in your backpack anymore! Yay!

Currency calculator

The currency converter feature can be really useful if you travel to a country with a different currency. In Toshl Finance you can use practically any currency you want. We support 200 different currencies from around the world with hourly updated exchange rates. This means that you can travel or move anywhere and enter local expenses in any currency. There is no need to use a calculator: just add an expense in destination country’s currency in Toshl app. The preview in your main currency will be shown on every expense entry. Besides, you might create a budget or an account in foreign currency, customize the currency exchange rates (if using a particular rate at exchange office), or even change the main currency in which you use the app. Toshl monsters will take care of all the calculations.

Spending control

To control your spending flow every day, just check your travel budget. The graph will show the current status and how much is left to spend. No worries, hard-working Toshl monsters will notify you on overspending, so you can take care of your finances on time.

Keep an eye on your accounts

When you are not really sure whether to pay in cash or by card, you might want to check the amounts on your accounts (cash and bank) in Toshl app. For instance, this could be very handy when you need to make quick decisions and you don’t really remember how much money is left in your wallet or bank account. Toshl monsters will provide this information for you. In order to get it, just tap the Accounts button on the top right of the screen, or swipe anywhere from the right side of the screen.

Prepaid and temporary credit cards

In case you want to feel secure using bank cards on your trip, you might create an additional prepaid card at any bank before you go abroad. You may use a prepaid card when you withdraw some amount from an ATM or go shopping. For that, you have to calculate and put a relevant amount on this card before you go travelling. Just make sure you add the prepaid card to Toshl app and keep an eye on your spending. If the new card is with a bank you had already connected earlier, it will be added automatically.

All is well that ends well

It is possible to make your travel stress-free if you keep an eye on your finances at least a little bit. Toshl will try to make it as easy as possible. The reward will come in the end when you get the message from Toshl monsters that you have saved some money on this trip. Great job! Now you may finally enjoy a coffee from the Valencian market and draw some pictures of orange trees seen at the city gardens. It was a memorable, inspiring trip and you managed it well.