Living Expenses on TDY
2010 January 20
It’s only been a few days and I have already started getting a good idea on the type of expenses I will accrue during TDY.
There are some biggies and small ones that will be free. They include:
- Lodging – Pretty nice one bedroom type hotel room with full-sized bed, tall cabinet, desk & chair, television w/ cable, three 4-drawer plastic dressers, rugs, mirror, sink, and air conditioner/heater. I have a bathroom that I share with one housing mate.
- Meals – Buffet style food basically throughout the day and at three different locations. Food is damn good compared to home. There is the classic meat and potatoes (sometimes steak and lobster), salad bar (sometimes avocados), soda/juice bar, milkshake bar, cereal post, ice cream section, other desserts section, fruits section (peaches, apples, oranges, etc…). Not only this, we get another $3.50 per diem everyday if we want to get something else to eat. Not a lot but an extra ~$100/month is nice.
- Utilities – Water and electricity at work and at my lodging. No gas since we don’t cook here.
- Transportation/Fuel – Get a leased car that can be gassed up at any free gas station.
- Laundry – Can drop it off with a TCN (third country national) and they will wash and iron for you! Just pick it up two days later. I was amazed by this service.
And there will be some expenses that I accrue:
- Calling Card – So I can call home when I am not available to Skype.
- Skype – So I can call home when I am not at work.
- Internet – Around $35 a month in order to get service in my lodging area.
- Personal Laptop – Sucks that the one I shipped broke down the second day I got here.
- Name Brand Food Stands – I’ll eventually get semi-sick of the meals they provide and get homesick for food back home. In that respect, I might spend some money on the Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Carl’s Jr., etc… stands they have sprinkled throughout the area I am staying.
- Misc. Junk and Useful Stuff – Though I try to save money I will more than likely spend some money on things that range from useful stuff (shampoo, power converter, tissue boxes) to misc. junk I might not even send home (mink rugs, iffy jewelry, shiny new things).
So far it looks pretty good. This TDY seems to agree with my checkbook. And making loads of money from overtime doesn’t hurt either.
Related posts: