Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most common questions. Something missing? Contact us.
Basics
- What is Travel Money?
- An Android app for groups who travel together. It records what everyone spends, in any currency, and shows who owes whom.
- How does it work?
- For every expense, one person pays and the others share the cost. The app adds up what each person paid and what each person used. At any moment you can see who is owed money and who owes money.
- What is the easiest way to use it?
- Take turns: a different person pays for the whole group each time. At the end of the trip, open the Debts tab. It shows the smallest number of transfers that settle everyone.
- Is it free?
- Yes. The free app tracks up to 50 payments per trip. If you need more, the paid Travel Money Unlocker app removes the limit for all your trips. Nothing else changes, and all your data stays.
Trips and participants
- How do I create a new trip?
- Open the side menu (tap the app icon at the top left) and tap the plus button.
- How do I add participants?
- On the Participants tab, tap the add-participant button in the top bar.
- How do I share a trip with my friends?
- Open the side menu and tap the share button. Send the invitation link by email or messenger. Anyone who opens it on a phone with Travel Money installed joins the trip. Everyone then sees the same payments, and anyone can add new ones.
- Do I need an account?
- Only if you share a trip or use more than one device. You can sign in with Google or with an email address. A trip you never share stays on your phone and is never uploaded.
- Can one participant pay a bigger share, for example a couple or a family?
- Yes. Long-press the participant and choose Cost split ratio. A couple with a small child could use 2.5, for example.
- Can I remove a participant?
- Long-press the participant and choose Hide. If they still owe or are owed money, the app asks you to settle first. You can bring hidden participants back in the settings.
- Can I leave someone out for a while?
- Long-press the participant and choose Deactivate. They stay in the list but are not included in new expenses until you activate them again.
- How do I delete a trip?
- Select the trip, open the side menu and choose Delete trip. If other people share the trip, the option is called Leave trip and only removes it from your account. The others keep it. The app always keeps at least one trip.
Payments
- How do I add a payment?
- On the Participants tab, tap the person who paid. Or open the Payments tab and tap the plus button. Enter the amount, currency, category and who shares the cost. The amount field also accepts simple maths, for example
3*12.50. - Can two people pay for the same thing?
- Yes. In the payment screen, use the add-payer button to add another payer with their own amount.
- How do I change the date or time of a payment?
- Open the payment and tap the date or time field at the top.
- Someone gave cash to someone else. How do I record that?
- Long-press the person who gave the money and choose Give money.
- Can I change the categories?
- Yes. In the category list, long-press a category to rename it or change its icon, or tap the plus button to add a new one.
Currencies and exchange rates
- Where do the exchange rates come from?
- From Open Exchange Rates. They are updated once a day. The app refreshes them by itself every few days; tap the refresh button on the Currencies screen to update them now.
- Do old payments change when the rate changes?
- No. Each payment keeps the rate from the day you entered it, so your totals do not move afterwards. If you change a payment's currency, it takes the current rate.
- How do I change my home currency?
- On the Currencies screen, tap the currency button at the top right and choose another one.
- My currency is not in the list.
- Tap the plus button on the Currencies screen and add it with your own rate. Custom and offline currencies are never changed by a refresh; update them by hand.
Statistics and export
- What do the statistics show?
- Total spending, and totals per day, per category, per currency and per person. Use the filter to narrow it down by participant, category or date.
- How do I get my data into Excel?
- On the Statistics tab, tap the mail button. The report is attached as a CSV and a PDF file. Open the CSV in Excel with comma as the separator. If accents look wrong, choose UTF-8 as the encoding.
- Where did the map go?
- Google started charging for every map request, which would have cost far more than the app earns. The map was removed in version 2.5.0.
Help
- Can I help translate the app?
- Yes, gladly. Contact us.
- How do I delete my account and data?
- See Delete account.