On this page
Picture the end of a planning evening: six pieces shortlisted, one delivery quote open in a tab, a discount notice you have not read properly, and a total that you calculated by adding whatever you could remember. That total is not a budget, it is an impression. Splitting it into parts takes ten minutes and changes what you do next.
Four columns, one currency
Record everything in pounds, because that is the currency you will pay in and the one you can compare without mental arithmetic. If a listing shows another currency, convert it once, and write the rate and the date beside the converted figure — not in a separate place you will forget.
- Item cost. Quantity multiplied by unit price, for rows you would actually buy. This is the only column that is fully under your control.
- Known service charges. Anything a seller states as a fixed charge: a handling fee, a gift-wrap charge, a named delivery service with a published price.
- Shipping estimates. A carrier or platform quote you have actually seen, kept as an estimate with its source and date. Never overwrite this with a guess.
- Unconfirmed. Everything you cannot yet price: an import charge, a surcharge for a remote postcode, a discount that depends on a condition you have not verified. Leave the amount blank and write the question.
An example budget in GBP
Every figure in this table is illustrative and was written for this guide. No price, fee or delivery time below has been verified with a seller or carrier.
| Row | Item cost | Known charge | Shipping estimate | Unconfirmed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merino jumper, qty 1 | £48 (example) | — | — | — |
| Trousers, qty 1 | £54 (example) | — | — | Inside leg not confirmed |
| Walking shoes, qty 1 | £82 (example) | — | — | Width not stated |
| Day bag, qty 1 | £64 (example) | £4 gift box (example) | Quote seen 22 Oct 2026 | Remote postcode surcharge? |
| Delivery service | — | — | £12 estimated (example) | Not a promised date |
| Subtotal | £248 | £4 | £12 | Open questions: 3 |
The subtotal is £264 in illustrative figures, and the honest reading is "£264 plus three unanswered questions". That is far more useful than a single £264, because two of those questions could add cost and one could remove a whole row.
Currency, rate and the date
If you are converting from another currency, write three things: the original amount, the rate you used, and the date you saw the rate. Exchange rates move, and a conversion without a date cannot be checked later. It also helps to note the source of the rate — a bank, a card provider or a public rate page — because they do not all agree.
What belongs in "unconfirmed"
Anything that would change your decision if it turned out badly. Tax and duty treatment depends on the destination, the value and the category, and the rules that apply are the current ones published by the relevant authority — not a rate you remember from a previous order. Rather than writing a number you cannot support, write the question and where you will check it.
The same applies to delivery. A carrier's published transit time is information, not a guarantee, and it says nothing about how long an item takes to leave a warehouse. Two dates, recorded separately, are more honest than one optimistic estimate.
Rules that keep the total honest
- Never add an unverified discount into the budget. Record it separately until the conditions have been read.
- Never fold delivery into an item price; you will lose the ability to compare two sellers fairly.
- Keep one row per purchase, not one row per wish. Duplicate consideration creates duplicate spending.
- Re-date the estimate whenever you look again, and keep the older figure if it was different — the change itself is information.
- Set a ceiling and treat it as a decision rule, not a target to fill.
The planner on the home page does the item side of this for you: quantity times unit price, in pounds, with a budget ceiling you can enter. It deliberately does not estimate shipping, because it has no quote to base that on. The guide on estimating shipping from a quote shows how to fill that column from something real, and recording coupon conditions explains why a discount stays out of the total until it is verified.