Originally Posted by
braslvr
Please re-read my post. I am assuming you would be eating at home when you are home. It still costs money to eat at home. I believe that a small per diem is in order to help pay for the extra cost of being forced to eat out, not the total cost.
No reason to re-read, I understand what you are saying, I just don't agree with it.
When I am out of town I still have to provide for my family to eat, they are still going to make the same things we make when I am there in a smaller portion that you really can't relate to an actual savings.
Then, when I eat on the road, I am paying often triple what it would cost me to make it for my family along with drinks, taxes and tips...
Take for instance, I love making Fajitas. We pay around $28 for our family of five, so about $5.60 a person. If my wife makes them when I am gone you are talking about a savings of maybe $3 or $4. There is usually never any left over.
So if I go to Chili's and get fajitas, they cost what, $16, plus $2 for a drink, tax and tip you are looking at around $22 maybe? How do you logically decide what per-diem rate to enforce that would take all of this into account? How do you determine what my cost would be ($5.60) and apply it to three meals a day?
I am paid to do a job and expected to focus on getting that job done on time and to the satisfaction of the client which is what actually makes us money, not nickle and dimming our own employees to save $15 a day..