Real-Life Math
It will take you days to get the grin off your face. You have been
chosen to become the new ambassador for the United States in Spain. You will
be replacing the outgoing ambassador when he retires at the end of the year.
You rush home to tell your family.
Part of your training will include
a one-week trip to Spain. The government assures you that it will reimburse
you for all expenses and even give you a meal allowance. It warns you that
it will not reimburse you for any expenses that are not accompanied by a receipt.
When
you finally get home, you enter your den to see what kind of mail you got.
Waiting for you, in the fax machine, is an expense reimbursement request form
with a note that directs you to fill it out and mail it, with all your receipts,
to the accounts department as soon as possible.
To complete the form,
you have to figure out your expenses for the trip. The government allows you
to claim all travel costs and business-related expenses that you incur during
your trip.
To complete this form, remember to include the price of
your meals. Complete your meal allowance section first, then the transportation
section, and then the expense section. These are your figures (all of these
figures have already been converted to American dollars):
Permitted
Meal Allowance: breakfast $30, lunch $50 and dinner $75
| Monday: | You arrive in Spain
at night, so you missed breakfast and lunch. Dinner cost you $50. |
| Tuesday: | Breakfast $28, lunch
$50 and dinner $60 |
| Wednesday: | Breakfast $30, lunch
$100 (you ordered wine), dinner $75 |
| Thursday: | Breakfast $30, lunch
$50, dinner $75 |
| Friday: | Breakfast $28, lunch
$50, dinner $80 |
| Saturday: | This was the banquet.
You had a light breakfast that cost $20 and skipped lunch. Dinner was at the
banquet. |
| Sunday: | Breakfast at the airport
$40, lunch and dinner provided on the plane |
Transportation Costs (average of all costs,
including taxi, train, etc.)
| Monday: | $30 |
| Tuesday: | $35 |
| Wednesday: | $32 |
| Thursday: | $40 |
| Friday: | $30 |
| Saturday: | $0 (You walked to get
breakfast and got chauffeured to the banquet.) |
| Sunday: | $30 |
Other Expenses
You bought a disposable
camera so you could take pictures at the banquet -- it cost $15.
Figure
out the costs for each section, add them together and mail it to the office
with the receipts.