Currency Budget Calculator
Convert a travel budget into a foreign currency and split it into a daily allowance.
A budget in your own currency is not a budget you can spend. What matters abroad is the local figure, the daily amount it allows and how much the exchange rate and the fees take before you start.
Enter your budget, the exchange rate and what the conversion costs you, and this calculator gives the usable local amount, the daily allowance and the effect of the fees.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Budget in your currency, Exchange rate (local units per unit of your currency), Fixed fee per conversion, Percentage fee, Days of the trip, Travellers, Daily amount you expect to need
- What you get
- Local currency available, Local currency per day, Daily allowance against what you need, Days the budget covers, Budget needed for the whole trip
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Currency Budget Calculator
- 1 Enter Budget in your currency
- 2 Enter Exchange rate (local units per unit of your currency) - How many local units one unit of your money buys.
- 3 Enter Fixed fee per conversion
- 4 Enter Percentage fee
- 5 Enter Days of the trip (days)
- 6 Enter Travellers (people)
- 7 Enter Daily amount you expect to need (local units) - A rough daily figure for meals and local transport where you are going.
- 8 Press Calculate. You get Local currency available, Local currency per day, Daily allowance against what you need, Days the budget covers, Budget needed for the whole trip, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 9 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
$2,500 changed for a two week trip
Two travellers converting at 17.20 with a $6 fixed fee and a 2.5% fee.
You enter
- Budget in your currency
- $2,500.00
- Exchange rate (local units per unit of your currency)
- 17.20
- Fixed fee per conversion
- $6.00
- Percentage fee
- 2.50%
- Days of the trip
- 14 days
- Travellers
- 2 people
- Daily amount you expect to need
- 1,200 local units
You get
- Local currency available
- 41,824.38
- Local currency per day
- 2,987.46
- Daily allowance against what you need
- 1,787.46
- Days the budget covers
- 34.85 days
- Budget needed for the whole trip
- $2,009.58
The fees cost $68.35, which leaves 41,824.38 in local currency at an effective rate of 16.73 rather than the quoted 17.20. That is 2,987.46 a day for the group and 1,493.73 for each traveller, which is 1,787.46 above the 1,200 a day you expected to need. The money covers 34.85 days at that target, and funding the whole 14 days at 1,200 a day for two people would need a budget of $2,009.58. The fees are worth 1,175.62 in local currency.
$800 changed for a five day trip
A single traveller changing a small amount at 0.92 with a $4 fixed fee and a 1.5% fee.
You enter
- Budget in your currency
- $800.00
- Exchange rate (local units per unit of your currency)
- 0.92
- Fixed fee per conversion
- $4.00
- Percentage fee
- 1.50%
- Days of the trip
- 5 days
- Travellers
- 1 people
- Daily amount you expect to need
- 120 local units
You get
- Local currency available
- 721.34
- Local currency per day
- 144.27
- Daily allowance against what you need
- 24.27
- Days the budget covers
- 6.01 days
- Budget needed for the whole trip
- $666.11
The fees are $15.94, or 14.66 in local currency, so the amount received is 721.34 against the 736.00 the quoted rate alone would have given, an effective rate of 0.90. The daily allowance is 144.27 against the 120 you expected, so you are 24.27 a day ahead, and the money covers 6.01 days at that target. A budget of $666.11 would have funded the full five days.
Guides that go with it
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Frequently asked questions
Is the fixed fee taken before the percentage fee?
Yes. The fixed fee comes off first and the percentage is charged on what remains. A $2,500 budget with a $6 fixed fee leaves $2,494, and a 2.5% fee on that is $62.35, so the total cost of converting is $68.35 and $2,431.65 is converted at the rate you entered.
The order matters, because the percentage never applies to the fixed fee itself. Providers describe their charges differently, so read the fee schedule rather than assuming the two are calculated the way this page does.
What is the effective rate, and why is it lower than the quoted one?
The effective rate is the local currency you actually received divided by the money you budgeted, so it includes the fees. Because the fees are deducted before the conversion, the same quoted rate delivers fewer local units per unit of your money. In the first example the quoted rate is 17.20 and the effective rate is 16.73.
Its purpose is to compare two ways of getting the money. A card with no visible fee and a poor rate can cost more than one with a clear fee and the market rate, and the effective rate is the figure that shows which is which. Check both the rate and the fee before choosing.
How is the daily allowance split between travellers?
The local amount is divided by the days of the trip, which gives the daily total for the whole group, and then by the number of travellers, which gives the daily figure per person. In the first example that is 2,987.46 local units a day for two people, or 1,493.73 each.
Prices you look up on the ground, such as a meal, a museum ticket or a train fare, are usually per person, so compare them with the per person figure. Use the daily total when you are looking at something the group pays for once, such as a hire car or a hotel room.
What does the budget needed for the whole trip tell me?
It reverses the calculation: your daily target multiplied by the days and the travellers, grossed back up through the fees and the rate, plus the fixed fee. In the first example a target of 1,200 a day for 14 days for two people needs a budget of $2,009.58, which is less than the $2,500 available, so there is room.
The difference between that figure and your budget is the margin for everything that is not daily spending: transfers, a hire car, insurance, a deposit. It is safer to treat the daily target as covering food and local transport only.