How to use the foreign currency purchase tracker
- Enter your home currency code, such as USD.
- Add a row for each purchase with a short description, the currency code, the amount, the rate to your home currency and the card fee percent.
- Use a negative amount for a refund.
- Read the total in your home currency, then the totals by currency and the cost of each purchase.
Formula
before fee = amount x rate, rounded to the cent
fee = before fee x fee percent / 100, rounded to the cent
total = before fee + fee
The rate is how many units of your home currency one unit of the foreign currency costs. You enter it. Rounding each purchase first means the rows add up exactly to the totals.
A trip with two currencies
A hotel at 420 EUR with a rate of 1.08 and a 3% fee costs $453.60 before the fee and $467.21 with it. Dinner at 86.50 EUR costs $93.42 plus a $2.80 fee, or $96.22. A train ticket of 64 GBP at 1.27 costs $81.28 plus $2.44, or $83.72, and a museum visit of 25 GBP costs $31.75 with no fee.
The trip totals $678.90 in all. Before fees it is $660.05, so card fees come to $18.85, or 2.86% of the before-fee total. By currency, the euro purchases cost $563.43 and the pound purchases cost $115.47.
Where the rate comes from
The page does not look anything up. Enter the rate shown on your card statement or an exchange rate you trust for each purchase. If your card applies the rate on the posting day, the final charge can differ from the purchase day. Use the statement rate once the charge posts to match your bill.
Using the totals
The currency table helps you see how much you spent in each country, and the fee line shows the cost of using a card abroad. Compare the markup against other options with the Currency Exchange Markup Calculator, convert one amount with the Currency Converter with Manual Rate, or plan a whole trip with the Trip Budget Planner.
Assumptions and limits
- Rates and fees are exactly as you type them. Nothing is fetched and nothing leaves your device.
- Each purchase is rounded to the cent before totals are added.
- A fee is a percent of the converted amount. Flat fees are not modeled.
- Currency codes are three letters. They are not checked against a list.
Frequently asked questions
What does rate to home mean?
It is the number of units of your home currency you pay for one unit of the foreign currency. If one euro costs 1.08 dollars, enter 1.08 for a euro purchase.
How do refunds work?
Enter the refund as a negative amount. It reduces the total for its currency and the overall total, and the fee is also refunded in proportion.
Are my entries saved or shared?
Descriptions are not included in share links, and nothing is uploaded. Amounts and rates can be included if you use the share link, so share it only with people you trust.
Why does a total differ from my card statement?
Banks may use a different rate on the day a charge posts and may round differently or add other fees. Use the statement rate for each purchase to match more closely.