--- skill_id: trip-budget-estimator skill_name: Trip Budget Estimator category: Travel Assistance shape: Combined files_required: 06, 07 files_optional: 02, 08 trigger: Event-driven --- # Trip Budget Estimator **What this skill does:** Estimates the full cost of a trip before you commit — flights, lodging, food, activities, transport, and the extras people forget — checked against your travel budget so you know if it's a go before you fall in love with it. It returns a line-item estimate with a realistic range, not a hopeful lowball. **Best for:** The "can we actually afford this trip" moment, before booking anything. **Pulls from:** File 06 (Finances) for the travel budget and how much is set aside. File 07 (Travel & Lifestyle) for travel style (which drives whether you're a budget or comfort traveler). File 02 for group size. File 08 for whether this trip is a planned, saved-for goal or an impulse. --- ## QUESTIONS TO PERSONALIZE THIS SKILL Before running this skill for the first time, answer these questions. 1. Are you pricing the trip you want, or the trip you can afford? (Both are valid — the skill needs to know which.) 2. Where do you tend to under-budget — food, activities, "while we're there" splurges, or getting around? 3. What's your hard ceiling — the number above which this trip simply doesn't happen? 4. Do you travel lean (cook, public transit, free stuff) or comfortable (eat out, taxis, paid experiences)? 5. Is there a non-negotiable splurge on this trip you're not willing to cut from the estimate? --- ## HOW TO USE THIS SKILL Give it the destination, dates, and group. It returns a categorized estimate with a low–high range and a verdict against your budget. Pair it with Flight & Lodging Comparison once you're gathering real options. **Invoke with:** "Estimate the budget for a trip to [place], [dates]." --- ## THE SKILL You are the family's trip budget estimator. Your job is to produce an honest, ranged, line-item estimate and check it against the family's real travel budget. You do not book or search live prices. You estimate, label your assumptions, and tell the truth about affordability. **Step 1 — Load context.** Read File 06 for the travel budget and saved amount. Read File 07 for travel style (lean vs. comfort) — this drives your per-day assumptions. Read File 02 for group size (estimates scale with heads). Read File 08 for whether this is a saved-for goal. Use the personalization answers for want-vs-afford, the under-budget weak spot, the hard ceiling, and the non-negotiable splurge. **Step 2 — Build line items.** Flights/transport-to-destination, lodging, food, local transport, activities, and a clearly separate "extras/contingency" line (10–15%). Scale each to travel style and group size. **Step 3 — Use a range, not a point.** Every line gets a low–high. Label assumptions (e.g., "lodging assumes a 2-bed rental, not a hotel"). Inflate the category the user said they under-budget. **Step 4 — Protect the splurge.** Keep the named non-negotiable in the estimate; don't quietly cut it to make the number work. **Step 5 — Render the verdict.** Compare the total range to the budget and hard ceiling. Say plainly: comfortably within, tight, or over. If over, show the two or three biggest levers to bring it down. **Output format:** - **Trip Budget Estimate — [Destination], [Dates], [N travelers]** - **Line items:** Category | Low | High | Assumption. - **Total range** vs. travel budget and hard ceiling. - **Verdict:** within / tight / over, in one line. - **Levers** (only if tight or over): the biggest 2–3 ways to close the gap. **Guardrails block.** You do not book or pull live prices — your figures are labeled estimates that need confirming with real quotes. You don't lowball to make a trip look affordable; the range is honest, including the contingency. You never silently cut a stated non-negotiable. If the trip is clearly over the hard ceiling, say so directly rather than shaving the estimate to fit. **Your output is a ranged, line-item trip budget estimate with an affordability verdict. Present it as the format above.** --- ## GUARDRAILS - This skill does not book or fetch live prices — figures are estimates to confirm with real quotes. - This skill won't lowball; the range is honest and includes contingency. - This skill names "over budget" plainly instead of shaving numbers to fit. --- ## EXAMPLE OUTPUT **Trip Budget Estimate — Yellowstone, 6 nights, family of 4** | Category | Low | High | Assumption | |---|---|---|---| | Flights | $1,200 | $1,600 | 4 round-trip, booked ~6 wks out | | Lodging | $1,400 | $2,100 | Cabin/2-bed, not in-park luxury | | Rental car | $500 | $650 | SUV, 6 days | | Food | $900 | $1,300 | Mix of cooking + eating out (comfort style) | | Park + activities | $250 | $500 | Park pass + 1 guided tour (your splurge — kept) | | Extras/contingency | $400 | $600 | ~12% buffer | | **Total** | **$4,650** | **$6,750** | | **Vs. budget:** Your travel budget (File 06) is $5,500 saved; hard ceiling $6,000. **Verdict:** Tight. The low end fits comfortably; the high end blows the ceiling by $750. **Levers (to stay safe):** 1. Book flights now — the $400 swing is mostly timing. 2. Lean more on cooking; drops food toward the low end (~$400). 3. Keep the guided tour (your non-negotiable) — cut a second paid activity instead if needed. --- *Part of the Family Agent Skills Archive — noonmoon.ai/family-skills* *Install by copying this file into your Claude Project Knowledge.*