Vacation Cost Splitter

Split group trip expenses fairly — different rooms, meal opt-outs, activities, and custom amounts.

Trip Setup

Add up to 10 people to split expenses with.

Add Expense

$

Add people first.

Per-Person Totals

Add expenses to see per-person breakdown.

Trip Total $0

All Expenses

Total: $0

No expenses added yet. Use the Trip Splitter tab to add expenses.

Minimum Transactions Settlement

Who owes whom — minimized to fewest payments possible.

Add expenses and people to generate settlement instructions.

How to Split Group Trip Expenses

1

Add Everyone

Enter each person's name in the Trip Setup. Up to 10 people supported.

2

Add Each Expense

Enter a description, total cost, and select who participated. Expenses can be split equally or with custom amounts.

3

Review Per-Person Totals

See exactly what each person owes across all shared expenses. Check the Expense Log for a full itemized view.

4

Get Settlement Instructions

The Settlement tab shows the minimum transactions needed — "Alice owes Bob $45" — for the cleanest payback.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you split a vacation fairly when people have different budgets?

Use proportional or selective splitting: assign lodging by room (couples share a room cost equally, singles pay their own). For activities, only those who participate pay. Meals can be split equally or itemized. This calculator handles all these scenarios — just select the participants for each expense.

What is the settlement algorithm?

The calculator computes each person's net balance — total owed minus what they've already covered. It then greedily pairs the largest creditor with the largest debtor until all debts cancel out. This minimizes the total number of transactions needed to settle the trip.

How should couples split vacation costs?

Couples typically share one room and appear as two separate people in the group. For lodging, select both members of the couple and the cost splits equally between them. For couple-only activities, select just the two of them. For group dinners, select everyone.

What if someone paid for a group expense upfront?

Add the expense normally with the total cost and all participants. The Settlement tab will show who owes money back to the group. You can note "paid by Alice" in the description so everyone knows she fronted it — the settlement instructions will show others paying Alice directly.

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