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 share expenses - travelling together, sharing a flat, or splitting a weekend away. 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, open the Balances tab. It shows the smallest number of transfers that settle everyone.
- Is it free?
- Yes. The free app tracks up to 50 payments per group. If you need more, the paid Travel Money Unlocker app removes the limit for all your groups. Nothing else changes, and all your data stays. Google Play shows the price for your country.
Groups and participants
- Where did my trips go?
- Nothing disappeared. What used to be called Trips is now Groups, and the list moved out of the side menu into its own tab — the first one, before Participants.
- How do I create a new group?
- Tap New group — the button at the bottom of the Groups tab, or the same entry in the side menu.
- How do I add participants?
- On the Participants tab, tap the Add participant button at the bottom of the screen.
- How do I share a group 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 group. Everyone then sees the same payments, and anyone can add new ones.
- Do I need an account?
- Only if you share a group or use more than one device. You can sign in with Google or with an email address. A group 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 group?
- On the Groups tab, long-press the group and choose Delete group. If other people share the group, the option is called Leave group and only removes it from your account. The others keep it. The app always keeps at least one group.
Payments
- How do I add a payment?
- On the Participants tab, tap the person who paid. The button on the Payments tab brings you here too, because a payment needs its payer first. 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, tap Edit in the top bar. Every row then has controls to rename it, change its icon, mark it as a favourite, delete it or drag it into a new order. The plus button adds a new category.
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.
- The app covers around 170 currencies from Open Exchange Rates. Currencies added by hand with your own rate were removed in version 2.15. If you changed money earlier at a different rate, note that every payment already keeps the rate from the day you entered it, so those totals never move. You can also set the rate yourself on any payment: open it and choose Exchange rate in the top-right menu.
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?
- Open the side menu and tap Export. 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.