MPs claimed £4.1m in expenses between January and February of this year, figures published today reveal.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) publishes details of MPs expenses every two months as part of its remit to allow the public to scrutinise how their representatives spend their money.
The figures include all claims made from travel expenses and ink for fountain pens, coal for heating, milk for office cups of tea and individual meals for interns such as "beef and fries" and "banana and coffee".
Ipsa said the £4.1m figure included £880,000 worth of claims made on a payment card which previously could only be used to claim for travel but now can be used by MPs to pay for certain bills.
The watchdog cautioned that the figures relate to claims made in the two month period rather than the amount actually spent in that time.
David Cameron was paid £404.89 and Nick Clegg £6,679.55, while Ed Miliband successfully claimed £1,303.68.
The data also shows claims that have been rejected by the expenses watchdog including one by education secretary Michael Gove for £7.50 worth of phone calls which Ipsa said he was not allowed.
And Labour MP Fabian Hamilton had 1p worth of a £229.54 claim for a portable printer for his office rejected as the receipt he submitted did not match the claim he submitted.
The system of publishing every few months has been criticised by many MPs who are having to get used to local papers publishing expenses league tables as well as individual details of every claim, even when they are legitimate.
SNP MP Pete Wishart has said his staff dread filing his expense claims in case they make a mistake and the claim is refused opening him up to "ritual press humiliation that comes when those expenses are published every two months".
And Tory Adam Afriyie said his analysis showed 97 per cent of local newspaper stories about expenses were negative towards MPs and 63 per cent of the stories made "unfair or misleading" comparisons between MPs and their claims.
The backbencher, who is due head up a committee of MPs who are investigating the workings of Ipsa, added: "A lot of this was generated by the way in which the information was being provided to the media under the current scheme."
But political and constitutional reform minister Mark Harper has said that while the publication of details may be "uncomfortable" for MPs they had to "get used to it" as there was no going back.
But Harper did say that there was an argument in favour of publishing expense claims in real time rather than saving it up and publishing it in "lumps" every two months so the data "became normal, matter-of-fact, routine business that is not of interest to the media".
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