Actual cost of living Argentina/USA

[Stanexpat]

Here is a cost of living update I did in September 2008. I think prices have actually gone down for some of the fixed cost items such as insurance since the pesos has weakened about 15% since that time.
http://www.livinginpatagonia.com/?p=759

Stanley, this is your cue to jump in with your 2 cents/7 centavos worth.

The last data on this was the last Mercer study from some months ago. At that time B.A. was a little higher than the average U.S. city. Since then high inflation has continued there where prices in the U.S. for the most part have fallen.

About the only thing I can say for sure is that the list of places that B.A. is less expensive than is getting shorter by the day.

However, I would expect inflation to moderate there later in the year as the economy there is clearly weakening. Watch out for 2010 if the economy remains weak, another debt default looks possible. Anything could happen at that point.

 

[soulskier]

Stanley, a little late to the party, I was expecting you sooner!

 

[KatharineAnn]

Why are people omitting the topic of average wages? If we talk of cost of living, we really should talk about cost of living in relation to the average salary. We shouldn´t really compare everything in dollars and assume that for any given person 30 dollars isn´t a lot of money... in Argentina it´s a lot more...and in Bolivia much more so.

Buenos aires is a very expensive city for it´s native residents, and this is lamentable. Anyway if you´re an expat who´s getting paid in dollars because you have a long-distance job or something of the sort, or you are randomly very wealthy, I guess this wouldn´t matter. But I can´t imagine that the majority of people who want to move to Arg could fit into this category?

Anywho, I thought I´d mention that where I lived in the US, milk was at 1.50 per half gallon, so I think 1 dollar per quarter gallon is very right-on for smaller cities and suburbs in many parts of the country.... Oh how I miss that cheap ass if-it-spoils-ill-just-throw-it-out-who-cares milk!!

 

[steveinbsas]

Thank God for cheap beer.

Please note that my 600th post was in praise of the malt beverage!

Look out BBW, here I come!

 

[HDM]

Good point, Katherine. I confess. I live here on a stable dollar based income. I am not Argentine and never will be. Everything I write here is from that perspective and only that perspective. For an American living here on a decent dollar-based income, Buenos Aires is perfectly lovely. Buenos Aires is an absolutely fine place to live, even if I do not plan to spend the rest of my life here and retire. We are vagabonds and do not live anywhere "forever." We just have a fine time wherever we are. So what I write here needs to be placed into that perspective.

 

[Rad]

Why are people omitting the topic of average wages? If we talk of cost of living, we really should talk about cost of living in relation to the average salary. We shouldn´t really compare everything in dollars and assume that for any given person 30 dollars isn´t a lot of money... in Argentina it´s a lot more...and in Bolivia much more so.

Many expats don't ever consider working for local wages. They prefer to live from annuities, online income, business etc.
This topic is about the cost of living for expats, not locals. Nobody denies that the local wages are relatively low.

 

[KatharineAnn]

Many expats don't ever consider working for local wages. They prefer to live from annuities, online income, business etc.
This topic is about the cost of living for expats, not locals. Nobody denies that the local wages are relatively low.

I´m an expat, and I personally know many expats, who are very interested in the cost of living, and for us that includes wages. I´m an english teacher here and I´ve received tons of messages on this forum for people looking for advice about living and working in buenos aires. I think they´d also be interested in the bigger picture. Just sayin.