Dollar Up

[julian63]

Assuming that its true that there are very few expats who earn in dollars, that doesnt change the fact that virtually all Argentines who have money, conduct significant portions of their lives in dollars.
So the dollar rate is relevant to a lot more than expats alone....
Which is to say- unlike many countries, the entire Argentine economy- wine, oil, beef, produce, soy, minerals, and vacation tourism to Antarctica- is very very intertwined with dollars, and the exchange rate matters very much to a wide spectrum of it.

Were you responding to a contrary view expressed by anyone here? I don't think anybody would argue that the USD exchange rate is relevant to expats and Argentines alike. I thought the issue was how much the USD has weakened and how much more expensive the cost of living in Bs As has become.

 

[polostar88]

Idk like I said I've tried a few highly-rated burger places in Palermo, full of people, and it was nearly inedible. They have no idea how to make a burger, the meat itself is all wrong, and I do believe they all cut corners and use meat past the sell-by date.

 

[julian63]

Point is McDonald's burgers are superior to the "gourmet" burgers you find in Buenos Aires.

Julian--I read some of your other posts. The point isn't what the rate was in 1975 when Argentina was in a state of civil war. Prices are now 3-4x what they were in 2010 and even much higher than they were in 2015. The govt. here is doing something here to monkey around with the exchange rate. I paid last night about $17 for a meal that would have cost me $9 in Tokyo and been three times as good.

My comments about the cost of living in the mid 70s were for historical comparisons. Hopefully, current expats might have found them interesting.

Despite its origin, this thread seems to be vacillating between comments on food and the nominal topic, i.e., a discussion of USD exchange rates and their effect on the cost of living in Bs As - presumably for expats. A couple of decades ago I wrote a couple of articles for the BA Herald on restaurants and parrilla and would feel comfortable sharing opinions about food, but not here.

You opine that prices (presumably prices in USD) are now 3-4 times what they were in 2010. I believe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but won't argue that the cost of things may have increased to considerably more than twice, even three times, than what they were in 2010, nor do I question that the government is interceding to keep a lid on the USD rate of exchange. Is that so peculiar?
What I know about the cost of a meal in Tokyo would echo in a thimble. That you paid $17 for a meal in Bs As that would cost $9 in Tokyo is interesting, but I think more relevant is how much that meal would cost in a survey (ala the Economist) of various capital cities around the world. That Economist survey - https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2018/03/daily-chart-9 seems to place Bs As it somewhere in the middle of the cost of living in such cities. That survey doesn't examine only food/restaurant prices. If it did, I think Bs As would come out a lot cheaper.

In my experience, (I have spent 3-5 months/yr in Bs As for the past 15 years and have recently resided in NYC, Rio, and Miami), the cost of living for expats has increased dramatically because the exchange rate for USD has not kept pace with the rate of inflation (see my comments above). On that, we all agree. Unfortunately, nailing down the exact amount of that increase is made difficult for a couple of reasons. For one, the government stats are unreliable. For another, all of us have varying levels of income and life styles. So my experiences will be different than yours, etc. Despite your right to an opinion, you have no right to your own facts. Based upon all the facts I have reviewed, the cost of living in Bs As - especially meals - is not higher than that of NYC/San Fran/LA or most of western Europe. TVs, iphones, and imported clothes, yes. Restaurant meals, rents, and hired labor, no.

 

[khairyexpat]

Idk like I said I've tried a few highly-rated burger places in Palermo, full of people, and it was nearly inedible. They have no idea how to make a burger, the meat itself is all wrong, and I do believe they all cut corners and use meat past the sell-by date.

KEBUCKABOM ! ... YOUGOTABUY !
Polostar gets it.

This is an Argei thingy.
They may put it all in CAPS.
They may repeat again and again and again.
You might even start to believe it.
They may recommend they found a secret needle in a hay stack.
But it is not.
This is an Argei thingy.

BTW, any recommendations for a good tripa, intestine, chinchuline, tongue, other parts unknown, empanada, melanesa? YUM.
Does any one here really seriously honestly have a taste for these thingies ?????

 

[julian63]

KEBUCKABOM ! ... YOUGOTABUY !
Polostar gets it.

This is an Argei thingy.
They may put it all in CAPS.
They may repeat again and again and again.
You might even start to believe it.
They may recommend they found a secret needle in a hay stack.
But it is not.
This is an Argei thingy.

BTW, any recommendations for a good tripa, intestine, chinchuline, tongue, other parts unknown, empanada, melanesa? YUM.
Does any one here really seriously honestly have a taste for these thingies ?????

I'm going back to TripAdvisor....

 

[polostar88]

KEBUCKABOM ! ... YOUGOTABUY !
Polostar gets it.

This is an Argei thingy.
They may put it all in CAPS.
They may repeat again and again and again.
You might even start to believe it.
They may recommend they found a secret needle in a hay stack.
But it is not.
This is an Argei thingy.

BTW, any recommendations for a good tripa, intestine, chinchuline, tongue, other parts unknown, empanada, melanesa? YUM.
Does any one here really seriously honestly have a taste for these thingies ?????

yes achuras are great in Argentina but not all places do them well. Already asked for suggestion.

 

[Daniel82]

It’s definitely more expensive than it was in ‘the good ol days’, but I would venture to say that *if you know where to go and how to spend your money* (big emphasis on this part) you can still generally come out living a better off lifestyle than you would in most major US or European cities. Like anywhere if you don’t know where to go or how to spend your money, you risk getting ripped off and then complain to Hell and high water all about it. In BA, i do things that in many US cities would be only done by true affluent (by US standard) people could do: have a housekeeper, dine out at restaurants that are of the calibre that in NYC would only be done on very special occasions (AGAIN places that I know well or come highly recommended), get spa treatments/massages for cheap, etc. I do NOT buy electronics, clothes ,or spend my money on things I know are clearly going to be more expensive and of inferior quality and just wait till I travel to make these purchases and quite honestly, this ends up making me spend less on day to day things as I’m not tempted entering a department store while pursuing the mall and seeing the flashy new arrivals at Macy’s, my kid isn’t being lured by everyone in class having the new iPhone the very day it comes out, etc etc.

 

[Rich One]

Dean And Deny`s Burger not bad at all US$4....! medium size

Dollar at Cueva $20.50 pesos

 

[julian63]

S

yes achuras are great in Argentina but not all places do them well. Already asked for suggestion.

Why don't you guys take the discussion of food somewhere else.
p.s. 20.80 at my cueva today.

 

[splaying]

and the rise continues .. making it more difficult to live in BA .. yet expats and citizens all pay the same rate .. thus no free lunch for the expats any more .. same rate applies to everyone.. sounds more fair .... and here is today's exchange rate.

1 USD =20.1424ARS
US Dollar1 USD = 20.1424 ARS
↔
Argentine Peso1 ARS = 0.0496465 USD