I thought I'd start a thread for Per Diem travelers.

What are your best tricks for making money off of Per Diem?
Some of mine:
- Eat dinner at a grocery store (also much healthier)
- Choose fast casual restaurants
- Eat off happy hour menus

How much do you "make" off per diem each year? What do you do with that extra money?
I make between $900 and $1,300 per year off of my per diem savings, depending on the year. I put this toward travel excursions while I'm on work trips (such as visiting the zoo in San Diego when I was there for work recently) or toward my personal travel budget.

Also, what are some ethical considerations of Per Diem?
My organization, for example, has written into our policy that, if the hotel or conference provides meals, you must deduct those from your per diem. So, for example, if there is breakfast at the hotel, you have to mark in our system that you had breakfast provided and it deducts it from your per diem allowance for the day. The only exception is if the conference or hotel serves food you can't eat, then you can take the per diem and buy something you can.