About bringing US cash - is it worth it?

Zissou

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Just wondering if I should bother getting out all kinds of US cash out if my rent is paid in pesos anyhow.... I guess I would save bank fees.

Will people really buy at a premium or is that completely sketchy and not worth it...?
 
bring what u can. it's worth it. just be careful.
 
The people on my tour yesterday told me of a story of their taxi ride costing AR$40, but when the driver heard that they had some dollars, he asked for the dollars. They only had 6 (SIX) US Dollars.

"Official rate" = AR$25.80

Blue rate ~= AR$28.80

Definitely NOT AR$40.

The taxi was fine with it and took the US$6 anyway.

People want dollars!! If you don't think that you can exchange them for a good peso value, still consider them something you can barter with. Like a silver necklace, except for everyone in the world will accept the dollars. (Not so with a silver necklace.)
 
If you dont have a bank to put them in, I will "hold em" for ya. :)
 
El Duderino said:
Remember to only bring bills in good condition, no writing, tape, or small rips in the paper.

This is good advice!

I just sent back a US$100 and a US$20 that were slightly torn. Nothing that wouldn't be exchanged without a second thought in the US, but enough to get the bills rejected here.
 
Now that I'm back with all kinds of dollars - what do I do with them? I will sell some to a friend who wants to save some for travel, and pay for some things like my spanish school in dollars etc. But other than her, how does one sell them (for a decent rate, I mean I don't need to gauge anyone on the black market rate but I also am not a charity).
 
I would be negotiating for some discounts to pay in dollars if I were you. Just simply, nicely ask if you could get a small discount for paying in dollars (and make sure which exchange rate they use). Or simply ask what exchange rate they give if you were to pay in dollars. Embrace the Argentine philosophy of Aprovechar. Casi NO ONE is a charity in Argentine, not even the freaking charities. And then when some folks say no but give me those dollars anyway please, just pay in pesos. SOMEONE will take you up on it. The frenzy has seemingly died down somewhat for dollars, but there are still plenty of people betting against the peso.

I will tell you one thing NOT to do is to tell anyone, anyone, anyone that you have dollars in your apartment. Not your roommate, not your boyfriend, not your mother, not your BAExpats friends. Of course, I am sure you are not so silly, but you see all the time in the news that many breakins in the news happening with robbers taking cash. So someone must have been tipped off. I just got robbed on the street in midday the other day for the first time after being here for almost 3 years, at the paso de nivel on Honduras in Palermo, the train crossing. They only wanted the cash and cell and everyone was fine. But I take safety very seriously. suerte
 
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