Hey,
Doing a little research. With the cutbacks and whatnot, what is everyone's late night meal allowance and what time does it start on weeknights? Weekend policy?
Thanks guys.
Transportation Services & Meal Allowances
Allowances for meals vary from firm to firm. However car service seems to standard across most banks.
- The average expense for lunch is 10 dollars
- Average expense for dinner is 25 dollars
- Car service usually available after 9 on weekdays
- Car service available anytime on weekend
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BB NYC - $20 for dinner, $75 total for the weekend. Taxis are for 10pm or later and anytime on the weekend. Dinner is usually acceptable after 9pm.
BB NYC - $25 for dinner, $50/day for weekends. Car service after 9; dinner can be delivered whenever, but you have to work past 8pm.
I don't see that across the board...
Most places I know are still $25 and $10 for lunch/$25 for dinner on weekends. There are, of course, variations.
$75 dollars for the weekend? Jesus.
I'm at a boutique. We get lunch to $12, dinner to $17. I don't know what the standard times are, I order dinner whenever, as early as 6PM. Our pantry is typically stocked with snacks, microwave meals, fruit, drinks, candy etc... even ice cream sometimes.
Car service is the same... whenever, but I typically dont think its warranted earlier than 9 PM.
MM (NYC HQ) Branch Location - $25 for dinner if you stay later than 6pm (could be wrong about time). $70/day if you're ever out on the road. It's the same across the firm regardless of location though. Not sure about the firm's taxi/car service policy in NYC.
@ Marcus - the lunch credit is pretty sweet
previous BB: $25 dinner, $50 wknd, cabs after 9pm.
This was mine when I worked in banking. Cabs after 10:00 now.
Im curious to know what the perks are in PE?
MM
Dinner Max: $15, have to work past 9pm Car: after 10pm
Weekends: $15 per meal every 4 hours, daily cap of $40 Weekend car: Any time
note: not NYC
It depends on the PE shop. Some bigger places (like Kelson) have their own chef who cooks lunch and dinner. Other places (like my shop) don't have anything by way of meal credit or cars. I think it's mostly because 1) you make enough money to afford that stuff and 2) you're not in the office that much on a consistent basis. When I first got here, I was spending a great deal of time in the office on some new projects. I asked about dinner allowance and got laughed at by some of the more senior associates.
We do, however, have a stocked kitchen/cafe area with tons of drinks, snacks, breakfast bars, etc.
...Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but I've never heard of Kelson PE shop. Know of Kelso & Co., but not of the former. But their own chef, that's pretty cool. How big is the firm exactly?
@MoneyKingdom - yeah, it did get pushed back to 10pm. I also heard $25 became $20 but I never bothered to get that confirmed.
Kanon, good catch. Mis-typing on my part. I think it's about 20-25 investment professionals.
www.kelso.com
What's interesting about that particular firm (and i've only worked along side them on a few deals) is that the principals invested a significant chunk of their 8th fund. I forget the exact number exactly.
BB - NY
Meal Allowance: $25 if delivered after 7pm during the week. On the weekends, we get $20 for a meal before 3pm and then another $20 for a meal after 3pm.
Car Service: During the week it's available after 9pm (after 8pm for some locations). At all times on the weekends.
Pantries: Limited. I just started recently, so I don't really know how much has been cut back, but there really isn't much. There's the obligatory Flavia machine and milk & cream is available. Although, I overheard one of the assistants saying there was talk in the past about charging for use of the machine. Vending machines/shops/drink bars are stocked well, but at a cost.
Multiple on-site restaurants Free snacks, juices, smoothies, ice creams, you name it Comprehensive breakfast Xbox, Wii, massages chairs Taxi service
... Google
Multiple on-site restaurants Free snacks, juices, smoothies, ice creams, you name it Comprehensive breakfast Xbox, Wii, massages chairs Taxi service
FYI, as far as i know, the taxi service is only to be used as a last resort if you miss the last shuttle. it's not to be used on a regular basis.
They allow xbox at google?
This is just for the Mountain View office right ? Not the Manhattan one ?
bump
All offices I've been to offer that kind of perks. But I'm off-topic.
At a boutique consulting firm
$10 for lunch on weekends $25 for dinner if work past 8pm
Honestly where can you buy lunch for $10 other than subway? Even a Chipotle burrito with a drink will exceed $10. Not that it's such a big deal but I think $15 would make more sense.
Boutique IB: -Lunch is occasionally paid for (about once a week) -Dinners after 7 and up to $20 (although I was never given a limit) -Taxis after 9 -We have to pay for vending machine drinks, bullshit
During the week:
$25 for dinner taxi rule is technically after 8pm but never get questioned if its before
Weekends:
$50 per day taxi whenever
Pantry isn't stocked other than one of those Flavia coffee machines and some packets of soup.
You guys are lucky all I get free is water (not even bottled- tap).
Lunch- $0 Dinner- $0
Weekends/ Weekdays
Cab: None at any time
Transit- -$3 all the time
Thats because Canada sucks my friend.
Nooe! we have multiculturalism! thats always free at any job here! :P
Since when does Canada have minorities?
That is a mighty good point there.
I was going to say the one thing Canada has that the US doesn't is socialized medicine, but the way the current regime...er, administration is fucking things up, we will be there in no time.
Regards
Anyone find that people will dick around and stay late, not that there's work that cannot be done in a timely matter, but because they want to milk the car ride and dinner out of it? I know someone who will go in for a couple hours on a weekend, just to get lunch. This isn't necessarily a conscious decision, just the culture. Also to "get ahead" it seems like everyone's into face time. Even if you're not working hard, it looks good if you're the last person left in the office.
Midnight Meal Allowance (Originally Posted: 02/22/2015)
Anyone get a bonus midnight meal allowance that can be spent if you stay extra late (ie second dinner)? Heard GS does.
Had this at my EB. I think it was around $15 or so after 12
My friends at PwC and MBB got their midnight meals taken care of.
Meal Allowance: how much, strategy getting most out of funds (Originally Posted: 01/13/2010)
How big are your meal allowances?
What is your strategy (spend/eat the full amount to get "the most" out of it, buy tomorrow's lunch along with dinner, only spend as much as you need to avoid become fat)?
Depends on my mood, depends on the day. Don't make hard and fast rules
about 35.
thought about buying dinner/next day lunch together, but i dont because: a) no one else does it, so I dont want to look like the oddman out, and b) a lot of the stuff that is ordered in is pretty expensive, eg, last night mine was about $25 for a decently health thai meal + a soup.
What does about 35 mean? The limit is not a round number?
I have friend in MM with an allowance of $20. It doesn't seem like very much.
Can't tell you how many times a colleague has made himself/herself look really bad by trying to "optimize" allowances.
I know it sounds awesome as a college kid to get $35 for dinner but keep in mind that people notice things. As Mezz said, you don't want to be the odd man out and it's a really stupid thing to be judged on.
ya 35 is the hard limit, dont think anyone orders that much though,
20 is doable.
£15.
As to how far it goes depends on what I order. For example, I can gorge myself on 4 boxes of gamey sushi and wash it down with 1.5l of Coke, or I can have a nice (somewhat haute cuisine) healthy chicken salad and a can of OJ.
$35?? Not at a US BB. The standard now is $25. (Used to be $35 in 2007, I think JP still does $30). Regional offices have $20 limit. Most of the time, no one cares if you bill it to a client.
Dude I'm tired of seeing you interns and 1st years and even some 2nd years try to max out the $25 ... are you really that broke?
It just shows a lack of class .... buy what is needed and don't skimp on your own comfort but quit acting like the guy who hangs out in the subways and horde food .... its extremely silly and makes others think wtf is up with you.
Everytime someone has done that in my office, it's made them very disliked
JP got bumped back to $25 from $20. Goldman (last I checked) is still at $20. Maybe they should bump it up before they start losing people to Citi (which, despite their government crutches, stayed at $25 through the whole crisis).
^^^ really goldman is still at $20?
According to the paperwork that came with offer letters, yes.
What about LONDON rates?
^ Depends on the bank and how they do things. Some allow you to hand in receipts, some only do vie urbanbite/seamless web, and others do both. Usually, for receipts the limit is lower than for online orders - discounts I figure.
But the general range of the banks I've heard of was £10-20.
LOL @ optimizing meal allowances.
BB Car service (Originally Posted: 02/09/2011)
Do SAs get to use the car service late at night and if so how poorly is that looked upon?
I ask because I will be an SA with a BB, but I will not be moving into the city. I live with my fiance in NJ and I am literally a 3min walk to the ferry .....total 25min to the BB. The issue is the ferries do not run after midnight.
yes you will be able to use it, everybody does.
an SA with a fiancée? so you'll be married once you start FT? congrats and good luck.
Thanks, took a different path to IB than most. Served in the military before undergrad so I am 26 and will be married when I am FT.
No hours are worse than 7 months apart
Very true
Typically, 12 am is a good time to take the car service and people are cool with it. But I think in your case it's fine regardless since you live in NJ. Most analysts live in NYC.
Meal allowance (Originally Posted: 04/11/2007)
How do the meal allowances work? If it's $30 a day, and you only spend $15, do you just lose the other $15?
yes
... you just pig out, and order the most expensive shit on the menu.
LOL! Unless you're pigging out on the "most expensive shit on the menu" at McDonald's, your $30 isn't going very far. Tax+tip, etc.
The places you order at know who their clients are and what their allowances are like. Prices are adjusted accordingly so you can eat quite well, but no way you'll have a feast unless you add names to the receipt. Then when you eat a lot you can't get back to work.
how does the meal allowance work?
do you charge the meal to a corporate card?
or...do you buy it on your own and get reimbursed later?
Also, aren't you liable for the tax portion of the reimbursement? I've interned at a big 4 and I was taxed on my meal reimbursements because it was considered an employee benefit.
Although it may be just a few dollars, something to think about I guess.
I'm assuming you can order with a few people to save on tip. 3 people, $75 you can get a good meal.
Haha, most normal people will calculate tip based on percentage of the bill, so I don't know if this will work hotshot.
either corporate card or seamless web corporate account...or you get receipts and get reimbursed
my first few months on the job i used to max out my allowance to the last cent.
shit gets old real fast. now i'm happy with just a burrito.
Chipotle by GCS? I live there...though I buy 2 (for lunch the next day).
I normally don't tip by % of food if its delivery, that seems to me to be a rule for eating in. ie if I order 30 bucks of food, ill give 5 bucks tip, if I order 75 bucks of fool, id give 7 bucks tip. Ill increase it, but not at the same % In dinning generally, the amount of service you receieve and therefore pay for is pretty proportional to sales, but delivery is delivery. I don't think its more work really for more food.
Seems like it would make more sense to tip by weight. $1 for every pound over 5. Or make people tip more for things that are not square. Or really hot. Or so delicious that it is torture to not eat it in the car on the way over.
Can't you spend your full allowance and then take home your leftovers and eat them the next day for lunch? That way you are pretty much getting 2 meals? Or do they frown on that or something?
How often do you guys eat at your desks vs. eating at the restaurant?
delivery or take out my friend.
eat in only on the rare occasion. plus in the uk you technically aren't supposed to eat in cos banks like to claim back VAT. but the assistants who do the expenses don't mind as long as its the exception rather than the norm.
NYC over here. Ate at the desk half the time, other half ate with full times when I was a summer. We would just take over the conference room/ recently moved md's office and eat together for 20 min or so.
Luke77, no one frowns on that. If they do go tell them to suck it. Although, I am not sure you will have much food for the next day. I know I ate my leftovers 3-4 hrs after dinner.
Some co's have subsidized cafe where you can get a quick sandwich for $4 that is actually decent. That's what I did for lunch each day.
If you get a chance, use someones seamless if you know they aren't eating. Stock up on Voss water baby...j/k. Seriously grab some water/snacks with someone's unused seamless.
If it were me, I'd eat everything I could possibly get my hands on. I would order out everyday and eat a ton of gummy bears with whatever left over money I have.
Do this everyday. Become a fat fuck. No guys/girls want to fuck you anymore. Life sucks. Eat a salad.
$25 is enough for a 30 min session.
I think i would need about $30
What about bringing your lunch to work from home (ie packing a lunch)and then ? Does anybody do this to save money or does everyone order takeout or go out?
Would you actually want to waste your time in the morning packing a lunchbox or doing something more important, like sleeping an extra 15 minutes?
wow.
why take a shit in the morning? if you don't, you can get an extra 2 mins of sleep.
Yep, that's why you take a dump once you have arrived at the office and shown your face. It's all about time management.
Daily meal allowance (Originally Posted: 05/23/2007)
So as I understand it, you have $25 a day to spend on food. If you want to order something for $30, would you just pull out 5 from your wallet and pay the difference?
...
no you find somebody who left early or is traveling and you use their allowance. or you use your MD's seamless
You pay $5 if your admin bugs you about it, but if she likes you she'll find someway to sneak that $5 through
Its funny because its only college students who would care. We're so broke all the time $25 seems like a fortune.
Because we all know, if a situation like this ever comes up in the workplace, you damn well better be prepared for it and know exactly what to do.
Don't you have some more important questions on your mind? Like, oh, I don't know, what is the name of that hot broad that works in operations?
Meal Allowance (Originally Posted: 06/26/2008)
Any analysts out there no if the BBs have reduced meal allowances yet? More specifically, does anyone know what the meal allowance plan is at Credit Suisse? Thanks
$75/week
damn =/
Not yet. It's tough to eat for less than $25 in New York. WHat they are cutting down on though is early ordering and using multiple seamless accounts for one person.
If you're talking about $25 a day, then yeah that's tough, but for dinner alone $25 is very reasonable. All a cut back from that means is people will no longer be able to load up on beverages.
$25. Where are they giving $75 at?!
he said 75/week...not 75/day :)
.
still at 30 here. Also get 20 for lunch on weekends in addition.
Yeah most of the time the allowance is too generous in terms of just dinner since people buy other stuff for the following day (drinks and sometimes something I can eat for breakfast since I'm a cheapskate). I can't imagine them cutting down on stuff like that too much though since it really doesn't affect the bottom line in comparison to md's taking private jets whereas it will piss off a lot of vp's and downwards.
I can't think of one instance in which an MD took a jet, other than for roadshows, which are paid for by the client.
at MBB its a 120 per diem (or at least the one I'm at)
I've got $25 for dinner, plus $25 for breakfast/lunch on weekends.
120 per diem? do you mean while you're on the road? we have 100 per day when we are on the road. i think people are referring to how much they get to spend per night on seamless. 25 here
don't think that's exclusively for on the road.
i was at a boutique consulting firm and we had a very generous limit (more than twice as much as the numbers being bandied about here) for dinner every day, even at the office or client site.
i think on the road we could expense lunch and breakfast as well.
"Yeah, that's my per diem, so who do I give it to?"
Vince Vaughan is a genius
"120 per diem? do you mean while you're on the road? we have 100 per day when we are on the road."
Yeh on the road and after 7 pm in the home office. Since there isn't work on Fridays, its pretty much just Mon-Thursday evening. But I think you can pretend its after 7 when you leave and still expense.
i'm getting fat on 25 dollars a day in the office after 8pm. i can't imagine what would happen if i ate 100 per dinner.
hehe you'd probably eat a lot more sushi :)
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