Amazing how expensive BsArs is

[elhombresinnombre]

I am giving this thread a bump so those who weren't here in 2012 will be able to read what expats were writing about how expensive the COL in Buenos Aires had become thirteen years ago.

I think it's worth noting that only two members who still post in this forum on a regular basis did do in this thread.

I think it's also worth noting that quite a few people who were here at that time are still here but they don't often join in threads about money and food unless they have something to say that can help someone else. Kudos to you, @steveinbsas and @Johnny, you're always had positive things to contribute and kudos again, Steve: years ago you set out to do your own thing, did it, continue to do it and are an example to us all

 

[Stafford]

Why do we or Argentines have to be more resourceful? You become resourceful out of desperation and nobody deserves it.

“Deserves”? What does anyone deserve, really? Life doesn’t hand out outcomes based on fairness — it hands out challenges. And resourcefulness is one of the best tools we have to meet them. You might learn it out of desperation, sure, but once you have it, it becomes power: the ability to survive in hard times and save or thrive in good ones.

In my view, excess consumption and entitlement are far more corrosive than forced resourcefulness. Epictetus put it plainly: “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” That mindset builds resilience. It’s not about romanticizing hardship — it’s about valuing what it teaches.

 

[Stafford]

A follow up about resilience and resourcefulness. I went down to Bahía Blanca for about a week after the flood to help out with recovery. One of the things we had to do was go door to door asking people what they lost and what they needed. A lot of them had lost everything. But they had incredible resilience. Yeah, some people cried and wanted to spill their story. Crying or no crying, the most common thing I saw there was this Argentine mindset of, “We’ll get through this. We’ve been through worse.”

This is a city that had already been slammed by a major windstorm the year before. And of course, like all Argentines they've have lived through a continuous state of economic crisis. No, no one deserves any of that — but the strength and resourcefulness people showed was incredible.

Honestly, I’ve heard louder complaints about the price of eggs in another country I know than from people who’d just lost everything inside their home in Bahia.

 

[David_HaSofer]

A follow up about resilience and resourcefulness. I went down to Bahía Blanca for about a week after the flood to help out with recovery. One of the things we had to do was go door to door asking people what they lost and what they needed. A lot of them had lost everything. But they had incredible resilience. Yeah, some people cried and wanted to spill their story. Crying or no crying, the most common thing I saw there was this Argentine mindset of, “We’ll get through this. We’ve been through worse.”

This is a city that had already been slammed by a major windstorm the year before. And of course, like all Argentines they've have lived through a continuous state of economic crisis. No, no one deserves any of that — but the strength and resourcefulness people showed was incredible.

Honestly, I’ve heard louder complaints about the price of eggs in another country I know than from people who’d just lost everything inside their home in Bahia.

Edited as I don't think my response contributed in a meaningful way to the topic at hand.

 

[Lanick]

“Deserves”? What does anyone deserve, really? Life doesn’t hand out outcomes based on fairness — it hands out challenges. And resourcefulness is one of the best tools we have to meet them. You might learn it out of desperation, sure, but once you have it, it becomes power: the ability to survive in hard times and save or thrive in good ones.

In my view, excess consumption and entitlement are far more corrosive than forced resourcefulness. Epictetus put it plainly: “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” That mindset builds resilience. It’s not about romanticizing hardship — it’s about valuing what it teaches.

Yeah, leave your US employer and show us how resourceful you are! If resourcefulness is the way to go.

 

[Quilombo]

Yeah, leave your US employer and show us how resourceful you are! If resourcefulness is the way to go.

Wait, he works remotely for a us employer and is telling people to eat cake? That's pretty rich. Reminds me of all the derechista influencers on Twitter/IG/etc. saying how great Milei is while never putting their own money where their mouthes are.

The owner of ML is a great example of this, Marcos Galperin, huge Mileista on Twitter, just invested 6 Billion USD in Brazil to expand ML operations yet maintains his fiscal residency in Uruguay while telling Argentines the good days will come, you just have to believe.

I encourage all the folks who think things are fine/going to be good to put their money where their mouthes are: dar de baja your private health insurance, go to public hospitals, get a job in blanco earning 500K a month working 48 hours a week and just believe. Be resourceful!

 

[QuilmesSlo]

 

[steveinbsas]

Yeah, leave your US employer and show us how resourceful you are! If resourcefulness is the way to go.

I think I can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that resourcefulness was the only way to go.

I left my last US employer (the fourh in my life from whom I recieved a paycheck) in August of 1969, just before the start of my sophomore year at ISU in Normal.

I opened my first retail business in "uptown" Normal (@ 111 North Street) on March 1, 1970, three months prior to my 20th birthday.

I left my last retail business in Chicago on November 1, 2000 and I have been living in Latin America, witout a job, since my arrival in México a few days later

 

[Stafford]

Yeah, leave your US employer and show us how resourceful you are! If resourcefulness is the way to go.

Brilliant response. Thanks. I have taken local jobs and navigated lean times here. I know exactly what it looks and feels like when pesos don't make it through to the end of the month. How it feels to downsize your living accomodations accordingly and eventually move in with your in laws in the provincia. But again, thanks for your advice.

 

[Stafford]

Wait, he works remotely for a us employer and is telling people to eat cake? That's pretty rich. Reminds me of all the derechista influencers on Twitter/IG/etc. saying how great Milei is while never putting their own money where their mouthes are.

The owner of ML is a great example of this, Marcos Galperin, huge Mileista on Twitter, just invested 6 Billion USD in Brazil to expand ML operations yet maintains his fiscal residency in Uruguay while telling Argentines the good days will come, you just have to believe.

I encourage all the folks who think things are fine/going to be good to put their money where their mouthes are: dar de baja your private health insurance, go to public hospitals, get a job in blanco earning 500K a month working 48 hours a week and just believe. Be resourceful!

Correct. That is the case today. Should I apologize for that? Does one's present situation prohibit them from having an opinion? I am asking honestly.

Even though it's not the case today, I have taken local jobs, lived paycheck to paycheck in pesos, and relied on public systems. That experience shaped my views on resilience — not from theory, but from actual practice.

I’m not telling anyone to “eat cake.” I’m saying that resourcefulness, while often born of necessity, can be a strength. I’ve seen it in others, and I’ve lived it myself.