I'm currently traveling for work, and while living in the local economy, I thought about the spectrum of how people use their per diem within the context of saving and spending. By virtue of being away from home and receiving per diem, it's likely that people would act differently than they do at home from a financial standpoint. I've seen people grab multiple packages of oatmeal from the hotel's complimentary continental breakfast to eat throughout the day and pocket as much per diem as possible. I've also seen people blow through their entire per diem and then some on the first day of the trip, determined to live it up on someone else's dime. Granted, most people fall somewhere close to moderate on this spectrum, but how would you balance saving versus living in such a situation?
Pre-covid, I was travelling 2 weeks each month with a per diem. Usually I had a modest breakfast and lunch, then a fancy dinne. Even then, I wasn't using the full per diem. It was easy to save extra money.
If you haven't already, try to get all the hotel & airline points in your own name even when company pays for them. My company allowed this and I earned enough for nearly-free vacations.
When it's first time visiting somewhere, I will splurge on one very nice meal from a local restaurant. For example: on a trip to NYC my co-worker and I went to Casa Nonna for dinner one evening and spent daily food per diem on a delicious dinner. Rest of the trip, we shopped grocery store & made food in hotel and it was like being at home. Saved $ and ate healthy.
I not travel, I try to protect my family.
I not travel, I try to protect my family.
Yes, we're living in a pandemic, but the world hasn't stopped. Traveling or not, there's added risk to just about anything we do. There's added risk just going to the grocery store or getting deliveries, but we still need to do them.
I've never had a job with a per diem but if I did I'd find out where the locals dine and save most of the $.
