Per Diem Q Forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
-
- Posts: 428122
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Per Diem Q
On second of 3 callback trips. First host firm had defined meal expense guidelines of 15-25 for breakfast, 15-25 for lunch, 40-50 for dinner. Second host firm (in different but no less expensive city) says "reasonable meal expenses." What the hell is reasonable? Can I use the first firm's guidelines as a touchstone for what constitutes "reasonable" or should I aim to be more conservative? Will I be fine with like $35 for a dinner?
-
- Posts: 739
- Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:21 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
I don't care what city you're in, there's no way that 100 dollars is "reasonable" for a day of eating. Jesus. If they say reasonable, don't spend more than 7 on breakfast (panera bread costs the same in every city), 10 on lunch (so does subway, or panera bread again) and 20 on dinner. Gasp, you could even get a damn good dinner for under 10 dollars.
-
- Posts: 3019
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2011 11:34 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
Agreed. Why would you need to spend 35 for dinner? Just grab a sandwich and spend 10 bucks. You ged fed for free, plus it is most certainly a reasonable meal expense. Just because they allow you to spend up until a certain point doesn't mean you have to spend that amount.
Last edited by kaiser on Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Posts: 428122
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Per Diem Q
if 2nd city is la, the legal recruiting coalition from the big firms there defines this relatively similarly to the above, but with dinner capped at, iirc, $30.
- IAFG
- Posts: 6641
- Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:26 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
Geist13 wrote:I don't care what city you're in, there's no way that 100 dollars is "reasonable" for a day of eating. Jesus. If they say reasonable, don't spend more than 7 on breakfast (panera bread costs the same in every city), 10 on lunch (so does subway, or panera bread again) and 20 on dinner. Gasp, you could even get a damn good dinner for under 10 dollars.
There's no reason to live like a poor student on CBs. Firms are not going to be impressed by your frugality.
Want to continue reading?
Register now to search topics and post comments!
Absolutely FREE!
Already a member? Login
- rayiner
- Posts: 6145
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:43 am
Re: Per Diem Q
+1.IAFG wrote:Geist13 wrote:I don't care what city you're in, there's no way that 100 dollars is "reasonable" for a day of eating. Jesus. If they say reasonable, don't spend more than 7 on breakfast (panera bread costs the same in every city), 10 on lunch (so does subway, or panera bread again) and 20 on dinner. Gasp, you could even get a damn good dinner for under 10 dollars.
There's no reason to live like a poor student on CBs. Firms are not going to be impressed by your frugality.
Unless you charge $100 for dinner, literally no-one will notice what you spent. Some administrative assistant in the recruiting department will punch the numbers into the system and will forget it literally as soon as she's typed it in.
-
- Posts: 739
- Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:21 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
I can't imagine a world where 40 bucks for a day of food "living like a poor student." You're right, they won't be impressed; they won't be annoyed either. Go ahead spend 80 bucks on food. Maybe they won't care, maybe they will. Are cafe sandwiches and coffee so unpalatable to be worth the risk (no matter how slight)?IAFG wrote:
There's no reason to live like a poor student on CBs. Firms are not going to be impressed by your frugality.
-
- Posts: 332
- Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:26 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
You can always wait to submit it until you hear back. Can't you?
- IAFG
- Posts: 6641
- Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2009 1:26 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
Assuming we are talking about a big firm, there is no risk at all. No one with decision-making power fusses with receipts and reimbursements for even a moment.Geist13 wrote:I can't imagine a world where 40 bucks for a day of food "living like a poor student." You're right, they won't be impressed; they won't be annoyed either. Go ahead spend 80 bucks on food. Maybe they won't care, maybe they will. Are cafe sandwiches and coffee so unpalatable to be worth the risk (no matter how slight)?IAFG wrote:
There's no reason to live like a poor student on CBs. Firms are not going to be impressed by your frugality.
-
- Posts: 428122
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Per Diem Q
The average cost of a meal at your hotel's restaurant will be 'reasoanble'.
-
- Posts: 557
- Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:49 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
This. Also, think about it from the firm's viewpoint -- most allow unlimited summer lunches for SAs, with an average per person limit of $40-50. They absolutely will not think twice if you spend $35 on dinner. The fact that you could eat for significantly cheaper doesn't mean that you have to, since the firm will not care.IAFG wrote:Assuming we are talking about a big firm, there is no risk at all. No one with decision-making power fusses with receipts and reimbursements for even a moment.
- YourCaptain
- Posts: 721
- Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:26 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
The guidelines are there to make sure that you don't mortgage the firm's reception furnishings trying to pay for a meal and hotel.
On a CB, I think I just always get a bagel and coffee, a sandwich for lunch, and then a dinner. Unless you normally shell out $50 for dinner, just eat the way you normally would and little chance of breaking that $100 ceiling.
On a CB, I think I just always get a bagel and coffee, a sandwich for lunch, and then a dinner. Unless you normally shell out $50 for dinner, just eat the way you normally would and little chance of breaking that $100 ceiling.
- paratactical
- Posts: 5885
- Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:06 pm
Re: Per Diem Q
FWIW, these are about the rates that the Boston firm I worked for used for meal reimbursement and is substantially lower than what the NYC firm I worked for used. I think it's a pretty fair guideline as long as you're in a city and would doubt that anyone would give you issues if you stuck with that.Anonymous User wrote:On second of 3 callback trips. First host firm had defined meal expense guidelines of 15-25 for breakfast, 15-25 for lunch, 40-50 for dinner. Second host firm (in different but no less expensive city) says "reasonable meal expenses." What the hell is reasonable? Can I use the first firm's guidelines as a touchstone for what constitutes "reasonable" or should I aim to be more conservative? Will I be fine with like $35 for a dinner?
Register now!
Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.
It's still FREE!
Already a member? Login