New York City is probably one of the best places in the world where you can get a terrific dinner for $25 or less. I can think of a ton of places and my mouth is watering already.

For my company, your expenses have to be "reasonable" and if you exceed $25, you need a receipt.

In the private sector, per diems don't always make sense .. what makes more sense is a reasonable set of guidelines that you can expect people to follow on a broad basis, so if somebody has a good reason to spend $50 on one dinner with colleagues, they can perhaps offset it by saving some money on other meals, so you average out within the guidelines.

Personally, I try to keep my meal expenses and incidental expenses to a reasonable rate when I travel, because I want to be able to keep traveling without breaking anybody's budget.

-David


[This message has been edited by LIH Prem (edited 02-21-2001).]