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Split holiday costs fairly with friends
Track shared trip spending in a simple sheet that shows who paid what and who owes whom at the end.
When to use it
Before and during a group trip
Step by step
Create a shared sheet
Make a Google Sheets file with columns: Date, What, Paid by, Amount, Currency, Split between. Share it with everyone on the trip.
Log spending as you go
Whoever pays adds a row straight away. Post the link in the group WhatsApp chat so it's easy to find.
Settle up at the end
Copy the rows into your AI assistant with this prompt, then double-check the totals in the sheet.
Prompt to copyHere's our shared trip spending: [paste rows]. Convert everything to [home currency] at [exchange rate]. Work out each person's fair share, given that some costs were only split between some people as shown. Then give the smallest number of payments needed to settle up, as 'X pays Y [amount]'. Show your working in a table so we can check it.Share the result
Paste the settle-up list into the group chat and mark each payment as done.
What you get
Total: 1,284. Fair shares: Ava 341, Ben 341, Cara 301 (skipped the boat trip), Dev 301. Payments: Ben pays Ava 96. Dev pays Cara 52. Dev pays Ava 41. Done in 3 payments.
Tips
- Agree before the trip whether drinks and individual meals are shared, to avoid awkward conversations later.