Any app suggestions for expenditure tracking for splitting travel payments?
I’m thinking of logging travel expenditures with a group of people, where different ones can pay bills for the group (or maybe part of the group). It would be the best if you can see how much the group or a person spent, how much you need to pay whom back at the end of a trip.
Bonus if it is FOSS.
Bonus as well if it supports different currencies but if you can log just numerical values and create multiple tracks of record, it is also fine.
I use splitwise with my friends but I did zero research and just joined because they did. It works well and is super flexible when it comes to splitting expenses. I doubt it's Foss.
Thanks! I installed Splitwise and it seems to require a subscription to run? I think I'll just be using it for a trip or maybe two so subscription for it is a bit too much.
Huh, that's weird. Are certain features behind a pay wall? I definitely don't have a paid subscription and I'm using it right now to organize a trip. I use it like less than once a year for the last 5 years or so.
I assumed their business model was using their in-app money transfer feature and like taking a cut or hoping people forget to cash out or something. But you don't even need to do that, you can sync Venmo or even mark transactions as paid in cash
I've used KitchenOwl for this (I'm the developer), it's FOSS but doesn't support multiple currencies. It has an overview where you can breakdown costs by categories and see who ows whom.
I've been using Splitwise for years with my friends and my partner. It has a "simplify group debts" feature that gets everyone paid in as few transactions as possible. If Adam owes Eve $5 and Eve owes Seth $5, Splitwise just tells Adam to pay Seth. I pay for premium, which has some nice features like currency conversion and receipt scanning. Regardless of which app you use, I have a couple tips.
First, discuss ahead of time which expenses you'll be adding to the group expenses. On a cabin trip last summer, one friend brought $100+ worth of liquor, but only one or two people drank it. Several of us were annoyed at having to pay him back for something we didn't use.
Second, at the end of your trip you'll "settle up" by having the people who paid less reimburse the people who paid more. Wait a few days after the trip for everyone to add any final expenses. Sometimes people settle up prematurely, and then someone realizes they forgot to add a dinner that they paid for. This makes it confusing and creates a bunch of extra Venmo transactions. Just wait.
Really appreciate your elaborate sharing! I tried installing Splitwise but it seems to require a subscription to use or only allow me to add a few entries. I don't think I would be using it frequently enough to afford a subscription so I guess I will try out other alternatives suggested here.
I don't think it isFOSS, but the dutch 'Wiebetaaltwat' (translated: who's paying what) is doing this. I think they have an English app as well nowadays (called Splitser)
Shit, I'd just make a spreadsheet, but then again, I love spreadsheets. Not FOSS, but you could set up a Google Forms to collect the entries in a more user friendly format.