Exchange, Budget, Etc. Questions

[allcraz]

That's AR$ 5,900 per month. If you can live on that in the states, you can live on that here quite easily. That's assuming you don't make it a habit to drink in bars, or have a high-maintenance tastes in terms of beauty treaments, clothes, dining out etc.

I agree .You can find rooms to rent for $1500 pesos a month. Not fancy, but they exist. And then say you have 4 to 4500 pesos leftover? You'll be fine.
And I'll add that I have even more faith you'll be fine because you actually did some research, which means you're obviously interested and willing to make it work.

 

[DeeMan]

Hey Starts, Been here for over a week so can give you a newbies perspective. Think $20 a day is waaaay too little. I understand you can do it in the US but you are not figuring in Toothpaste, shampoo, soap, contact solution (if you need it)! Clothes, dont even think about it.

If you moved to a new city in the US, everything costs more because you do not know the lay of the land yet. Might take several months or more.

A beer in a bar would be pretty much out of the question (cheap qulimes is arg$20), same with a taxi ride. There are some happy hour deals but everyone goes out super late here.

Not saying dont come here, in fact I think you should go for it. Now is the time for a new adventure. You{re just gonna need some cash.

You would not wanna live on a skin and bones in your own country, why would you wanna do that here? Will note that it is tons easier living so cheap back home, thgings are gonna cost you here.

 

[Starts]

Thanks for all the responses. I should clarify I have a U.S.-based source of income, I'm just really conservative in estimating how much that will be (it's basically sales so I need to predict how many deals I close, with each one being $5,000-$10,000 US). For that reason I look at worst case scenarios and would like to keep the budget under $1200 US / month if it turns out business isn't going so well. And part of convincing myself this is a good idea is adding an incentive to save on expenses--currently I'm spending $2300 USD per month here in the U.S.

It's tempting to look at places like India, Southeast Asia, Costa Rica, and others with a very low cost of living. But I've either already been to those places, and I get the sense there is something special to the expat community in BA, at least from the point of view of someone in their twenties. Maybe I'm wrong there.. but there were some undesirible elements to the crowds in Asia, and I get a similar impression from Costa Rica (sorry to generalize but I lived in Bangkok for a year, loved it, but large swaths of the expat community are weird or creepy for one reason or another).

But, from living in Bangkok, I remember how awesome it is to afford everything.. to eat out all the time, get appetizers, whatever, not worry about a thing. But so far having come up with any alternatives to BA in terms of interest

 

[lamarque]

Thanks for all the responses. I should clarify I have a U.S.-based source of income, I'm just really conservative in estimating how much that will be (it's basically sales so I need to predict how many deals I close, with each one being $5,000-$10,000 US). For that reason I look at worst case scenarios and would like to keep the budget under $1200 US / month if it turns out business isn't going so well. And part of convincing myself this is a good idea is adding an incentive to save on expenses--currently I'm spending $2300 USD per month here in the U.S.

It's tempting to look at places like India, Southeast Asia, Costa Rica, and others with a very low cost of living. But I've either already been to those places, and I get the sense there is something special to the expat community in BA, at least from the point of view of someone in their twenties. Maybe I'm wrong there.. but there were some undesirible elements to the crowds in Asia, and I get a similar impression from Costa Rica (sorry to generalize but I lived in Bangkok for a year, loved it, but large swaths of the expat community are weird or creepy for one reason or another).

But, from living in Bangkok, I remember how awesome it is to afford everything.. to eat out all the time, get appetizers, whatever, not worry about a thing. But so far having come up with any alternatives to BA in terms of interest

I have only one advice for you, and that is ''GO FOR IT'', Buenos Aires is great city specially for young people looking for fun, in any case if you don't like it, you can always leave later

 

[JamJam]

$350 a month for rent is way too little. At best you can do around $650,

This is rubbish, just look on Craigs list. You can find something from 400 USD to 500 USD easy.

 

[mariano-BCN]

Stay in BKK, it's a vibrant city, much better in many ways than BsArs. Or come to one of the cities in Colombia: services are better and cheaper.

 

[Sockhopper]

I have only one advice for you, and that is ''GO FOR IT'', Buenos Aires is great city specially for young people looking for fun...

I second your telling the OP to "GO FOR IT", for sure. But BA’s every bit as much fun day and late night for older and old people. Ageism is passado, passé, gone. It was only a marketing device, anyway.

 

[lamarque]

I second your telling the OP to "GO FOR IT", for sure. But BA’s every bit as much fun day and late night for older and old people. Ageism is passado, passé, gone. It was only a marketing device, anyway.

Ok sorry i wasn't trying to say that old people cannot have fun, but as i'm young i can only offer my point of view.

 

[Jaredberryman]

You can find Xoom's daily rate on their website.

 

[RichardP]

You can live on a budget here, but it will take some time to figure things out. I'm renting a nice room for $400US which is what I would have paid for an entire apartment 5 years ago here. I am finding things about 15- 20% more expensive than in the US after only being back for a few days. Still feeling things out for now.