I am a single 25 year old guy and I budget for around $80-100 a week when I am not on the road.

I buy a pretty decent mix of food: soup, pasta, Lean Cuisines, veggies, salad, lunch meats, yogurt, milk, Gatorade, meal replacement shakes, chips/salsa, cereal, chicken (or burgers or hot dogs depending on my mood) etc. I take my time and make sure I am getting the most for my money i.e. buying bulk or generic branded foods if they are cheaper. If I have to take the extra time to whip out my cell phone calculator and make sure I'm getting the best deal I do. Spending the time on math saves me a good amount of money a year and gives me more of an opportunity to observe the locals feeding at the self-serve candy kiosks.

When I'm on the road I take advantage of the free breakfasts and fill up, but other than that I rarely make an attempt to budget my meals. I just spend what I need (within the limits of my per diem) to to eat, drink and be merry when time permits. I figure if I have to be away from home for 21 days a month I may as well do what I can to enjoy it, but that's just me.

I have seen guys bring a spare bag with soups, granola bars, Raman noodles and slimfast in an effort to pocket as much per diem as they can. There is nothing wrong with it, to each his/her own.

I can't attest to what most of the guys I work with do at home, but almost all of the guys I work with have the same philosophy regarding eating on the road.

Hopefully that is a decent comparison for you. I am pretty interested in everyone elses' spending habits as well.