Keep a trip or a project apart from everyday spending
A week in Lisbon or a kitchen renovation should not wreck your groceries budget. In Tavala an expense is either everyday or part of a trip or project, and the month shows both lines.
A trip is a date range
Create it with a name and dates. Expenses on those dates can go to the trip in one tap, in whatever currency you paid.
Everyday stays clean
Spending for the month is everyday plus each trip, shown separately. Your everyday budget does not take the hit for a holiday.
Projects work the same way
A renovation, a wedding or a move is a project: a named bucket with a total you can follow to the end.
Free on every plan
Trips and projects are part of the free app, not a paid add-on.
Inside the everyday budget, not in a separate app
A trip is a name with dates. Every expense dated inside those dates joins it on its own, in whatever currency you paid, and its spending is set apart from everyday spending: budgets and spending insights do not count it, while Spending, Money out and your balances still do, because the money really left. Separate trip apps such as TravelSpend or Tricount keep the trip and leave your month to guess.
A project is the same thing without the date rule: a renovation, a wedding, a move. Its span is longer than 60 days or open, and it takes only what you attach, plus new entries from a merchant it already holds.
The rules that decide what joins
Your choice always wins: an entry you attach stays, and one you mark Everyday stays out even if the dates cover it. Income, transfers between your wallets, loan interest and bills from a recurring rule never join by date, though you can attach most of them by hand. If two trips cover the same day, the shorter one takes the entry. In a shared space, a trip takes matching expenses from everyone in it.
A Set aside amount can sit on a trip as a fact ("€1,300.00 of €1,500.00 set aside"), never as a limit. If you want a limit, that is what a budget is for.
Free, on purpose
Trips and projects are part of the free app on every plan. Tracking a holiday is how many people start tracking at all, and charging for it would charge for the one moment people are most willing to write things down.
A month with five days in Lisbon
The help center's example: a €400 Food & Dining budget, groceries at home, dinners in Lisbon.
| Where | Reads | Shows |
|---|---|---|
| Food & Dining budget | Everyday | €62.40 spent, "Lisbon €180.00 outside budgets" |
| Reports, Spending | Everything | €242.40: Everyday €62.40, Lisbon €180.00 |
| What's Left | Your wallets | Lower by €242.40 |
Trips in other budgeting apps
A trip abroad needs its own currency, a signal you may not have and often a second person. How each app handles that.
| What | Tavala | Splitwise | YNAB | Monarch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Currencies | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | 100+ currenciesKept apart; converting is Pro | One per planIts advice for several: a separate plan for each | No conversionShows every amount as $; USD or CAD accounts advised |
| Works offline | Every screenChanges sync when you are back online | Add expenses offlinePer its App Store listing | Advertised"even offline!" on its features page | Not stated |
| Sharing | Up to 6 people per spacePart of Plus; people you invite never pay | Groups of any sizeSettles who owes whom | Up to 6 peopleYNAB Together: one subscription, a login each | Household members freeEach with their own login |
| Price | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | Free; Pro paidPro prices are not on its site | $109 a yearor $14.99 a month; 34-day trial | $99.99 a yearor $14.99 a month (Core); Plus $199.99 a year |
Questions about trips and projects
- Can I see what a trip cost in total?
- Yes. Each trip shows its total in your main currency, with the rate locked for each entry on the day you paid.
- Can a trip be shared with friends?
- Yes. Put the trip in a shared space, or open a Group pass for a short-lived group of up to six people.
- Does a trip need its own wallet?
- No. A trip does not hold money. You can set a Spend from wallet so the capture bar starts on it, and pay from any wallet in any currency.
- Can I export a trip?
- Yes. Reports split Spending into Everyday and each trip, and the CSV export has a Trip or project column.
- Does Tavala split costs between friends?
- Tavala keeps one shared ledger for a group in a shared space, so everyone sees what the trip cost. It does not settle who owes whom, as Splitwise does.
Go further
- Multi-currencyEvery trip entry keeps the rate of its day.
- Shared spacesA Group pass for a trip with friends.
- Offline-firstLog the taxi with no roaming.
- Trip budgetsJapan in cash, a road trip, a work trip paid back.
- Trip budget calculatorA daily budget in the local currency.
- Budgeting for freelancersWhat one client cost you, as a project.
Also in Tavala
- Ask Tavala AI AgentQuestions answered from your ledger, and changes you confirm.
- Multi-currencyThe rate from the day you paid, kept on every entry.
- Offline-first and privateEvery screen works with no connection and no account.
- Shared spacesOne ledger for up to six people, each on their own phone.
- Budgets, bills and forecastWhat is left, and what is safe to spend before pay day.
- Debt payoffSnowball or avalanche, and the month you are debt-free.
- Bank sync (US and Canada)Read-only import from US and Canadian banks, through Plaid.
Start with what you spent today.
There is no account to create and no card to enter. Pick your currency, add what you paid, and Home shows what is left.