Categorizing ordinary expenses during travel

[Deviliscious]

I have a dilemma. When I travel besides buying the tickets and lodging
expense, I continue to incur normal daily expenses like food.

What's a good practice? Do I categorize these ordinary expenses during
the trip as ordinary expense, eg food or should I create a subcategory
under vacation called food.

any suggestions?

[Chris Cowles]

Post by Deviliscious
I have a dilemma. When I travel besides buying the tickets and lodging
expense, I continue to incur normal daily expenses like food.
What's a good practice? Do I categorize these ordinary expenses during
the trip as ordinary expense, eg food or should I create a subcategory
under vacation called food.

My personal practice is to categorize it separately. That way I can compare
what I spend on vacation with what I spend during other comparable time
periods.

If I were pickier, I'd enter an adjusting transaction to reduce vacation
food expense by the non-vacation food expense normally borne during a
comparable period. (That requires either a journal entry account, or
revising existing vacation food expense.) The remainder would be the amount
attributable to vacation.

I'm not pickier, and don't bother. What I record provides adequate
information.

[William R Wood]

Post by Deviliscious
I have a dilemma. When I travel besides buying the tickets and lodging
expense, I continue to incur normal daily expenses like food.
What's a good practice? Do I categorize these ordinary expenses during
the trip as ordinary expense, eg food or should I create a subcategory
under vacation called food.
any suggestions?

Issues like this depend strictly on what information you want or need and
there is no "good practice" that applies to everybody.

I guess I am less picky than Chris in this area since I categorize all
expenses while we are on vacation in one big category - Travel. I don't
care what part of our total vacation expenses are food, fuel, lodging etc.,
I only care what the total per year is so I can budget accurately for this
item. Your example Food is a good one. Just ask yourself whether you want
or need to know how vacation food compares to ordinary food costs or whether
you need subtotals of the various vacation expenses for some reason. For me
that knowledge is useless but if I got reimbursed for it or could deduct it
or for some other reason needed the individual totals, then I would use
subcategories under Travel for the various expenses like airfare, food,
fuel, lodging etc.



Regards,

Bill Wood
Fountain Hills, AZ

[Art McClinton]

As has been pointed out, it all depends upon what information you wish
to recover later. I use normal categories and then use the
Classification of vacation:specific trip. Thus the cost of food whether
on vacation or not is captured and I can also take a specific trip and
see how the costs are broken down between various categories.

Art McClinton

Post by Deviliscious
I have a dilemma. When I travel besides buying the tickets and lodging
expense, I continue to incur normal daily expenses like food.
What's a good practice? Do I categorize these ordinary expenses during
the trip as ordinary expense, eg food or should I create a subcategory
under vacation called food.
any suggestions?

[Cal Learner]

Post by Deviliscious
I have a dilemma. When I travel besides buying the tickets and lodging
expense, I continue to incur normal daily expenses like food.
What's a good practice? Do I categorize these ordinary expenses during
the trip as ordinary expense, eg food or should I create a subcategory
under vacation called food.
any suggestions?

In addition to the other suggestions, you could use your regular
categories. Then customize a report to include the period of the
vacation.

Where that would not be quite right is when you buy the tickets in
advance, or have your utility bill paid during the vacation. So you
could probably work around that somehow.

The other methods give you better control, but this one would be
quick and could be done without prior planning.