Temporary Accommodation and Meals Cost Log

Who this is for

What the time between homes cost. Each stay gets a line with its dates, nightly rate and who paid, and meals and extras go on a second list, so the household has a total and a set of records ready for any reimbursement claim.

Households living in hotels, holiday lets or with family between moves, people relocating for work whose employer may reimburse costs, and anyone claiming alternative accommodation from an insurer.

What this helps you track

• Each place stayed, with check-in and check-out dates and nights
• The nightly rate, the total for each stay and who paid
• Meals and extras bought while away from a kitchen
• Which costs have a receipt kept
• The grand total and the average cost per night

How to use it

1. Write why you are between homes, the dates the gap covers and how many people are staying.
2. For each stay, enter the place, the check-in and check-out dates, the nightly rate you were charged and who paid.
3. Record meals, laundry, travel and other extras on the second list with the date and amount.
4. Tick receipt on each line once the receipt is filed, so a claim is not held up by a missing one.
5. The nights, totals and summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, count the nights and add down each list.
6. Check what your employer or insurer will reimburse before you claim, and send the log with the receipts.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Will my employer or insurer pay for this?

That depends on your contract or policy, which the log cannot know. It gives you a clear record of what was spent and whether a receipt exists; what can be claimed is for your employer or insurer to say.

How are the nights counted?

The number of days from check-in to check-out, so arriving on one day and leaving the next counts as one night. The total for each stay is the nights times the nightly rate you enter.

What goes on the meals and extras list?

Anything you would not normally spend because you are away from home: meals out, laundry, extra travel, parking. Groceries you would have bought anyway can be left off, or noted separately.

What is the average cost per night?

The grand total, accommodation plus meals and extras, divided by the total nights. It is a quick figure for comparing the cost of the gap with other options.