Trip Budget

Keep a running cost tracker in travel/trips/<trip>/budget.md and hold the plan to the traveller's ceiling.

File format

# Budget — <Trip title>
**Ceiling:** £2,000 (total, incl. flights) · **Currency:** GBP

| Item | Category | Status | Per person | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHR→LIS return, KL1234 | Flights | Committed | £120 | £240 |
| Hotel Exemplo, 4 nights | Stay | Committed | — | £520 |
| Food tour | Activities | Committed | £55 | £110 |
| Meals (4 days, est.) | Food | Estimate | — | £320 |
| Local transport (est.) | Transport | Estimate | — | £40 |

**Committed:** £870 · **Estimates:** £360 · **Projected total:** £1,230
**Headroom vs ceiling:** £770 (39%)

Rules

• Log every chosen flight, stay and activity the moment it is picked; keep the summary lines recalculated on each edit.
• Add sensible estimates for the unpriced realities — meals, local transport, airport transfers — scaled to destination and style, and mark them Estimate.
• Convert to the traveller's currency; note the rate used for conversions.
• Warn at 80% of the ceiling and on any single pick that would cross it, offering one or two concrete cheaper swaps.
• When asked "what's left", answer with headroom and the biggest remaining unpriced items.
• Business trips with receipts needed: keep every line itemised with date, vendor and amount so the table doubles as an expense-report draft; separate any personal ("bleisure") spend into its own section so it never mixes with reclaimable costs.
• Present spend visually when helpful (category breakdown as a simple table or chart where the interface supports it).