Cheap expats

[gsi16386]

Is it just me, or is anyone else amazed by how cheap some of the expats are on this forum??

It seems like it's not uncommon to read inquiries for apartments between $300-$400 in Las Canitas. They want trips to Ezeiza from Palermo for less than 45 pesos. Complaints about the cost of this, complaints about the cost of that...

I often times laugh at some of these inquires and kind of feel inclined to ask them who the F they think they are???? I understand that some of you guys may be young, out of college, traveling around...but get a grip. I was in school in the late 90's, worked, studied abroad, and never complained about having enough money to travel. If you're older, an expat, and living in BA because you think it's a cheap city to live in, you got it ALLLLL wrong. This place isn't even close to being cheap so stop whining and move to Paraguay or Bolivia.

Bottom line is, spend the money you earn for what you think the value is, be happy for the things you have, and stop thinking you're going to get over on people. That's all....I just wanted to express that. now i'm going to grab a beer...

 

[jp]

Living here can be a challenge at times, and not everyone can afford to blindly pay over the odds for everything without questioning whether there's a better way to do things. More often that not, there is.

 

[darmanad]

http://www.mercer.com/costoflivingpr#Americas
NYC is 27, Rio is 29, LA is 55, BA is 161 in ranking of 2010 cost of living with US$. Back out domestico electronicos and BA would drop further. BA is cheaper than the cheapest survey city in Canada (Ottawa at 135) and only slightly more expensive than the cheapest survey city in the US (Winston Salem, N.C. at 197).

If your other point is that people on this site manifest a disproportionate concern for frugality, well, after all, it is a travel related site and a shared interest in finding vlaues/bargains in many areas of expense should come as no surprise. So, yes, it is just you - if you think contributors here are abnormal because how to economize is often discussed.

 

[syngirl]

Is it just me, or is anyone else amazed by how cheap some of the expats are on this forum??

It seems like it's not uncommon to read inquiries for apartments between $300-$400 in Las Canitas. They want trips to Ezeiza from Palermo for less than 45 pesos. Complaints about the cost of this, complaints about the cost of that...

I often times laugh at some of these inquires and kind of feel inclined to ask them who the F they think they are???? I understand that some of you guys may be young, out of college, traveling around...but get a grip. I was in school in the late 90's, worked, studied abroad, and never complained about having enough money to travel. If you're older, an expat, and living in BA because you think it's a cheap city to live in, you got it ALLLLL wrong. This place isn't even close to being cheap so stop whining and move to Paraguay or Bolivia.

Bottom line is, spend the money you earn for what you think the value is, be happy for the things you have, and stop thinking you're going to get over on people. That's all....I just wanted to express that. now i'm going to grab a beer...

Is it just me, or is anyone else amazed by how<strike>cheap some of the expats</strike> ridiculous some of the prices newcomers are asking for services on this forum??

I can only assume that the hairdresser that is arriving soon hasn't researched the market yet since they are asking prices that are well WELL above any of the top hair salons in the city.

I often times laugh at some of these <strike>inquires</strike> proposals and kind of feel inclined to ask them who the F they think they are????

Asking prices that are way off the charts for anything a top salon is asking for a service I can only presume is being rendered in your home -- ie I'm bending over your sink to get my hair rinsed out? Forget about it. There's plenty of other private stylists around doing great jobs and who have even installed professional sinks in their homes and they don't ask the prices this new person is -- because they realise you have to adjust to what the market can bear -- if I'm spending 300 pesos for a cut, what the hell am I spending for a color??

 

[syngirl]

Hmm strikethrough tag won't work on that,... but you get the idea....

 

[legilber]

I often times laugh at some of these inquires and kind of feel inclined to ask them who the F they think they are????

I hate to break it to you, but the world isn't full of puppies, kittens, and bricks of gold for everyone. It's not just in BA that people are talking about prices or being cheap, (I prefer the term frugal personally) its the entire world. And yes, some of us do earn pesos like argentines, and things are expensive for us.

I'm crossing my fingers to find myself a sugar daddy!

 

[cafeconleche]

That's just offensive to those of us who are here trying to get by on a peso salary. It's not trying "to get over on people" when you want to get value for the money you spend.

 

[citygirl]

Since I would venture to say that the vast majority of expats that live here (as opposed to passing through on vacation) earn local salaries, talking about how cheap it is in terms of dollar costs is fairly irrelevant. So yes, for many people, economizing is important and lots of people use these boards to check on prices, ask advice, etc.

That being said, I do understand the original point which is that people should do their homework before coming down. Finding a $300 apt in Canitas isn't going to happen. If you're going to move here, it's important to understand what the costs are. Don't arrive down here expecting to pay next to nothing and then bitch about it when that doesn't happen.

 

[Ashley]

I have to agree with Citygirl and Cafeconleche...A lot of expats living here long-term, with some kind of permanent or semi-permanent tie to Argentina, are living on peso salaries...We're not here "because it is cheap" but because we have family, close friends, some other kind of important link to the city. For those of us earning in pesos, Buenos Aires is a fking expensive city at the moment and I think its fine that we moan about it here, share experiences and solutions. We're not here out of naivety but because we have to be, economy aside.

I think that the number of tourists on here looking for 400 dollar apartments (probably thanks to their 2005 Lonely Planet editions) are relatively few and far between and would recommend to anyone thinking of moving here to do their research...

 

[mini]

We didn't move here because it was cheap. We moved for my husband's work. He has is a local contract earning peso.

We complain because prices have doubled in some instances from the price when we arrived 2 years ago. And a rough calculation puts our salary being worth around 40% less than it was 2 years ago.

Complaints that come from tourists are understandable. They've never been here and they only have references from years ago to tell them what to expect in terms of prices. The tour books are at least a year-18mths old before they get printed and the are not updated every year. You could have 3 year old data in your tour book. Never mind if you borrow the tour guide from a friend, etc. Not everyone understand the inflation issue that we have here.