Then why ask the question?
Spin off on being poor/frugal
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Then why ask the question?
seashoreCM
All around nice guy.
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Who wants to buy groceries and bring them to the office and stay late and use the microwave on a few evenings?
Heck, you could even fire up a computer and go on The DIS while eating.
On my last Disney trip I had dinner in the hotel room every other night (there was a hot plate). The in-room dinners tended to be more healthy than the eat-out dinners.
Heck, you could even fire up a computer and go on The DIS while eating.
On my last Disney trip I had dinner in the hotel room every other night (there was a hot plate). The in-room dinners tended to be more healthy than the eat-out dinners.
Marionnette
Children see magic because they look for it
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OP, I got $30/day for meals and tips...
...20 years ago!!!!!
$25/day is too little to pay for someone who has to eat out 3X a day. I know that people on this board will point to how they can manage to do it at Disney. But let's face it, they aren't eating the most healthy meals. And they do a lot of creative meal preparation in the room. And they are doing it by choice.
When you send someone away on business, you owe it to them to provide them with an allowance that will cover decent meals.
...20 years ago!!!!!
$25/day is too little to pay for someone who has to eat out 3X a day. I know that people on this board will point to how they can manage to do it at Disney. But let's face it, they aren't eating the most healthy meals. And they do a lot of creative meal preparation in the room. And they are doing it by choice.
When you send someone away on business, you owe it to them to provide them with an allowance that will cover decent meals.
KennesawNemo
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As to OP's case, if your employees are fine with the per diem,then it's fine. However, to me, $25 sounds ridiculous. Unless the job rarely requires travel or pays a really good wage, I would not take it.
On a seperate note, one of my previous boss expected people to share hotel rooms when we travel. That is even worse than a low per diem. Fortunately I traveled only once and I told my boss I would pay my own room if she expected me to share with her. At the end she gave in and I had my own room. Oh, I was also traveling and working on a weekend, both days, without any OT pay...... No wonder I left the company soon afterwards.
On a seperate note, one of my previous boss expected people to share hotel rooms when we travel. That is even worse than a low per diem. Fortunately I traveled only once and I told my boss I would pay my own room if she expected me to share with her. At the end she gave in and I had my own room. Oh, I was also traveling and working on a weekend, both days, without any OT pay...... No wonder I left the company soon afterwards.
I worked for one company that asked us to share rooms only once. It was a nationwide employee conference in Bermuda and the hotel just didn't have enough rooms for us. The day before we were to arrive, my planned roommate (whom I had never met) took ill, so I had a private room. For whatever reason, the room was spectacular, on a corner, with a balcony overlooking the island and the ocean. When I mentioned how beautiful my room was, the VP thought I was being sarcastic - apparently, everyone else had been complaining, non-stop. I didn't want to brag because I found out that HE was sharing a room.
I have a friend that I go to conferences with now and we get a suite to split. It's fine for the Conference, but I really do prefer travelling by myself. I don't think companies should require that of employees, though. People need their privacy after a long day of work and travel.
I have a friend that I go to conferences with now and we get a suite to split. It's fine for the Conference, but I really do prefer travelling by myself. I don't think companies should require that of employees, though. People need their privacy after a long day of work and travel.
But they're not fine with it. In her first post she said they thought it should be raised.
I do think salary has something to do with it. People who are used to living on a budget probably do it without thinking that much about it. People who are used to spending as they please would be horrified at the idea they can't get whatever they want.
Although I did say $25 is low, I thought I could get by on it. I get by on that amount when I travel on my own. I'm all about living on a budget. There are people like me who don't really expect to eat better on the company dime than they would on their own. It'd be a great perk, but not really an expectation. I'd take what I was given and make it work. If I was given more, aside from an occasional splurge I'd probably still choose to use $25 if I could and bank the rest. I really am not interested in eating three full restaurant meals a day.
I don't eat steak at home and don't expect it when I travel. My PREFERRED eating style would be as follows: instant oatmeal for breakfast in the room, a piece of fruit for a snack, a 6 in subway sandwich with a glass of water for lunch, a granola bar snack, a basic retaurant meal- again with water to drink (between 9 and 12 dollars) for dinner. My husband would be the same except he does like to drink soda or tea with his meals - which might stretch the $25 a bit. Obviously from this thread, not everyone wants to eat this way, but I think it's more likely that someone with more of a budget lifestyle would be willing to.
It would be harder if I were staying in a fancier place, easier in a place where there are lots of budget options. Easier if I had a car, shopping near by, etc. harder if I was at a resort. Hopefully employers take this kind of thing into account.
When I work, I work in a field where people commonly pay for their own travel and training, so getting ANYTHING covered would be a thrill.
Although I did say $25 is low, I thought I could get by on it. I get by on that amount when I travel on my own. I'm all about living on a budget. There are people like me who don't really expect to eat better on the company dime than they would on their own. It'd be a great perk, but not really an expectation. I'd take what I was given and make it work. If I was given more, aside from an occasional splurge I'd probably still choose to use $25 if I could and bank the rest. I really am not interested in eating three full restaurant meals a day.
I don't eat steak at home and don't expect it when I travel. My PREFERRED eating style would be as follows: instant oatmeal for breakfast in the room, a piece of fruit for a snack, a 6 in subway sandwich with a glass of water for lunch, a granola bar snack, a basic retaurant meal- again with water to drink (between 9 and 12 dollars) for dinner. My husband would be the same except he does like to drink soda or tea with his meals - which might stretch the $25 a bit. Obviously from this thread, not everyone wants to eat this way, but I think it's more likely that someone with more of a budget lifestyle would be willing to.
It would be harder if I were staying in a fancier place, easier in a place where there are lots of budget options. Easier if I had a car, shopping near by, etc. harder if I was at a resort. Hopefully employers take this kind of thing into account.
When I work, I work in a field where people commonly pay for their own travel and training, so getting ANYTHING covered would be a thrill.
For the "easier if I had a car" thinking, in my experience sometimes that can make it cheaper but it's not a given. If you are in a city, what you pay to park can readily offset the $2 you can save on a cup of coffee by driving around to find cheaper dining options than what you can get at the hotel.
Marionnette
Children see magic because they look for it
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It's much easier to eat at home on $25/day than it is to do it when every meal has to be eaten in a restaurant. Personally, I had no desire to make breakfast in the room when I was sent out of town on business. And I didn't feel that I should, just to save the company a few dollars. If they were willing to pay me an hourly wage (portal-to-portal), plus last minute airfare, car rental and hotel, then a few dollars for breakfast was the least of their financial worries.
NotUrsula
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I will give the OP this: there is a difference between white-collar "business travel" and the sort of travel that you do with a manual labor crew that moves together from job to job. There is a different set of expectations in this world, so the usual norms for traditional business travel don't quite apply.
For one thing, there is no common carrier transit used. No planes, no trains, no cabs, no rental cars. They put 6 guys into extended cab pickup trucks that the company owns, throw their duffel bags in the back of the truck with the tools, and they hit the interstate. Very often they have to be at the jobsite so early that motels that have included breakfasts have not yet begun serving. Sharing rooms is the norm. not the exception.
As a general rule, the guys on these crews tend to be young and unattached, or they are in a situation where they need to put every dime they can into child support or the like. Taking a job like this means not having to foot the expense of maintaining your own household, so it has an upside for them in that situation. The OP has a point that generally they are not folks who are foodies; they are usually willing to eat whatever is cheap and filling, because that is the way that they were probably raised. They don't stay in expensive places, and very often they are working out in the sticks or in industrial areas where there are no nice restaurants to speak of.
However, what they do all day usually causes them to eat like horses. IME they can easily put away around 3000 calories in a day and not gain an ounce. That means big portions, so they are not likely to be sharing much unless it is a bucket of chicken or an extra-large pizza. You don't get portions like that without paying a bit more for them unless you are eating at a buffet (and buffets do tend to charge a bit more up front, exactly because they are so popular with people who have this kind of appetite.)
I don't know if the OP's husband is out there swinging a sledgehammer along with his work crew, but the fact that she herself can eat much more cheaply makes a whole lot of sense, because she is doing the desk work and doesn't need as much food as the guys on the crew.
My personal viewpoint is that her per diem is too low, but not massively so for the type of food expenses folks doing this kind of work are likely to encounter. Raising it by $10 or so should be plenty unless they are working a job in a high-cost city.
For one thing, there is no common carrier transit used. No planes, no trains, no cabs, no rental cars. They put 6 guys into extended cab pickup trucks that the company owns, throw their duffel bags in the back of the truck with the tools, and they hit the interstate. Very often they have to be at the jobsite so early that motels that have included breakfasts have not yet begun serving. Sharing rooms is the norm. not the exception.
As a general rule, the guys on these crews tend to be young and unattached, or they are in a situation where they need to put every dime they can into child support or the like. Taking a job like this means not having to foot the expense of maintaining your own household, so it has an upside for them in that situation. The OP has a point that generally they are not folks who are foodies; they are usually willing to eat whatever is cheap and filling, because that is the way that they were probably raised. They don't stay in expensive places, and very often they are working out in the sticks or in industrial areas where there are no nice restaurants to speak of.
However, what they do all day usually causes them to eat like horses. IME they can easily put away around 3000 calories in a day and not gain an ounce. That means big portions, so they are not likely to be sharing much unless it is a bucket of chicken or an extra-large pizza. You don't get portions like that without paying a bit more for them unless you are eating at a buffet (and buffets do tend to charge a bit more up front, exactly because they are so popular with people who have this kind of appetite.)
I don't know if the OP's husband is out there swinging a sledgehammer along with his work crew, but the fact that she herself can eat much more cheaply makes a whole lot of sense, because she is doing the desk work and doesn't need as much food as the guys on the crew.
My personal viewpoint is that her per diem is too low, but not massively so for the type of food expenses folks doing this kind of work are likely to encounter. Raising it by $10 or so should be plenty unless they are working a job in a high-cost city.
Not sure why you quoted me? I haven't seen anyone here claiming that they eat on $25 at home so should be able to eat on $25 on the road.You are talking about the kind of travel executives do. My whole point was someone who makes less money might find traveling on a budget more normal because that's how they're used to traveling.
I don't think there's a single person here who has tried to say $25 is generous or that they expect it to cover three nice meals out. It's more a matter of "is it possible this could subsidize someone's normal food budget enough to cover eating while on travel if eating frugally?" The OP started the post as a spin off of a poor/frugal thread. I certainly don't think that indicates executive travel.
disneymom3
<font color=green> I think I could adjust!! <br><f
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Yeah, my husband used to travel a lot and his per diem was $30 a day almost 15 years ago.
The per diem is an extra amount of money to cover meal expenses above what you would normally spend if you weren't traveling.
It's not an all-(food-)expense-paid trip, but it does give you a bit of extra cash to offset the costs of eating out.
Unless ... you negotiate that perquisite before you are hired. Managers and executives make their expectations clear up front as part of their compensation package. Is it a double standard? Maybe, maybe not. When I was in that position, I often ate working meals with my staffers or clients/coworkers and picked up the tab. That would put me over my one-person per diem, but the overage was attributed to business, so it wasn't aproblem.
Sales people are a completely different breed because they're expected to entertain clients regularly, so yes, there are different rules for different roles.
An ordinary office worker could try to negotiate their per diem, but in this economy, it might not go over well during the interview/hiring. Just saying.
It's important to recognize that per diem is not the limit on how much you can spend. It's just how much you can get reimbursed for after the trip. If you want to eat big meals three times a day, no one's stopping you, but the company sets the limit on how much they'll pay. That's mainly because the IRS sets a limit on how much they can deduct as a business expense. Most large companies follow the guidelines and set their own rules to keep spending in check.
It's not an all-(food-)expense-paid trip, but it does give you a bit of extra cash to offset the costs of eating out.
Unless ... you negotiate that perquisite before you are hired. Managers and executives make their expectations clear up front as part of their compensation package. Is it a double standard? Maybe, maybe not. When I was in that position, I often ate working meals with my staffers or clients/coworkers and picked up the tab. That would put me over my one-person per diem, but the overage was attributed to business, so it wasn't aproblem.
Sales people are a completely different breed because they're expected to entertain clients regularly, so yes, there are different rules for different roles.
An ordinary office worker could try to negotiate their per diem, but in this economy, it might not go over well during the interview/hiring. Just saying.
It's important to recognize that per diem is not the limit on how much you can spend. It's just how much you can get reimbursed for after the trip. If you want to eat big meals three times a day, no one's stopping you, but the company sets the limit on how much they'll pay. That's mainly because the IRS sets a limit on how much they can deduct as a business expense. Most large companies follow the guidelines and set their own rules to keep spending in check.
My dh usually gets $50. per day. When he was travelling to LA last year on a contract it was $75. I love per diems, they are tax free money!!! My dh eats the free breakfast and dinner at the hotel's concierge lounge (due to freqent stay status) and usually skips lunch (too busy to eat). That adds up to $800. per month, tax free fun money. With the per diem he is not required to turn in any receipts, it's just written into the contract with the client. The hotel room, airfare, rental car and parking are reimbursed at the actual rate.
I haven't read the other responses, but per diem covers other things besides meals normally. Things like tips for a bellhop or shuttle driver (maybe not needed if they don't fly) and any laundry needs. Even beverages such as coffees or sodas can add up.
If you go to www.gsa.gov you can see the per diem rates they use. It varies by city. Washington DC is going to be more expensive and a higher per diem rate than Milwaukee WI for example. Even if you elected to cut those rates by 25% or so, you would be giving a more realistic payment.
Sheila
If you go to www.gsa.gov you can see the per diem rates they use. It varies by city. Washington DC is going to be more expensive and a higher per diem rate than Milwaukee WI for example. Even if you elected to cut those rates by 25% or so, you would be giving a more realistic payment.
Sheila
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