My logic for expensing out of town lunches and such is that you no longer have the option to bring your own homemade food in to eat. I can bring sandwiches to my office to eat for lunch but if I am out of town for a few days that becomes an inconvenience. By the same token, if I work late and end up grabbing dinner out then that is a legitimate expense as I didn't foresee needing to work late.
The small expenses are pretty irrelevant in my mind. I don't generally expense anything under $10, but can see where it would add up. For example, if I am in Calgary for a week and take the train several times it could add up to $20 but would be hard to expense, alternatively, I could take a cab every where and spend far more money but it is easy to expense. I will take the train to save the company money, but if you were doing it all the time it would add up and why should you be penalized for saving the company money.
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