My girlfriend rents a house owned by her own mother (who lives down the street) for $100 a month. We have a two year old and a newborn. My girlfriend has hired: (1) a housekeeper that comes every day for about six hours (paid $160 per hour); (2) a nanny that comes in the morning every day from 10AM-3PM, and then overnight from 11PM-8AM ($180 per hour); and (3) a third nanny ($180 per hour) that works from 3PM-7PM every day (also $180 per hour). Before anyone yells at me, my girlfriend and her mother decide how much to pay the nanny and housekeeper and I am not involved in that. I've tried ordering extra food on PedidosYa to give them food and both the mom and girlfriend criticize me for being wasteful with spending.
I give my girlfriend $2000 cash each month (what she said she needed to raise two children). She also has a credit card on which she spends $1000-$2000 a month. So in total, she spends about $3000-$4000 a month.
I have asked her if she can explain the budgeting, because I find it difficult to understand how someone spends $4,000 in a small town in Argentina. I also don't even know who makes that kind of money per month in Argentina. I asked my mother in law what is an extremely high salary here, and she said a judge makes about $1 million pesos (so around $6000-$7000 a month US?).
I'm just kind of confused, and not sure whether I should conclude I am an idiot for giving my girlfriend $4,000 a month to spend in a small town in Argentina, or I am being "cheap" for even doubting her and the costs of raising two kids here. Part of me suspects my girlfriend is giving a significant portion of this money to her mom, for whatever reason (mom and dad are squarely middle class, have a house with pool, two cars, housekeeper, take yearly vacations) because I just don't know how you spend that much money in a month here. I mean, there isn't even anything to buy! I also previously gave my girlfriend $10,000 cash (before our first child was born) along with a credit card, and the $10,000 disappeared really quickly somehow. I don't have a problem giving money to my mother in law, but if that is the case, I obviously would like to be informed of it, rather than being told $4000 a month is necessary to raise children here.
Maybe I am the "cheap jerk" for even raising the question, but I would like try and avoid moralizing and just better understand what is proper budgeting here.
I give my girlfriend $2000 cash each month (what she said she needed to raise two children). She also has a credit card on which she spends $1000-$2000 a month. So in total, she spends about $3000-$4000 a month.
I have asked her if she can explain the budgeting, because I find it difficult to understand how someone spends $4,000 in a small town in Argentina. I also don't even know who makes that kind of money per month in Argentina. I asked my mother in law what is an extremely high salary here, and she said a judge makes about $1 million pesos (so around $6000-$7000 a month US?).
I'm just kind of confused, and not sure whether I should conclude I am an idiot for giving my girlfriend $4,000 a month to spend in a small town in Argentina, or I am being "cheap" for even doubting her and the costs of raising two kids here. Part of me suspects my girlfriend is giving a significant portion of this money to her mom, for whatever reason (mom and dad are squarely middle class, have a house with pool, two cars, housekeeper, take yearly vacations) because I just don't know how you spend that much money in a month here. I mean, there isn't even anything to buy! I also previously gave my girlfriend $10,000 cash (before our first child was born) along with a credit card, and the $10,000 disappeared really quickly somehow. I don't have a problem giving money to my mother in law, but if that is the case, I obviously would like to be informed of it, rather than being told $4000 a month is necessary to raise children here.
Maybe I am the "cheap jerk" for even raising the question, but I would like try and avoid moralizing and just better understand what is proper budgeting here.
