Hola! Considering a job offer in Argentina, need advice

[inespinto]

Hi all!

New here! I'm currently living in Portugal (born here but grew up in Canada + US) and am considering taking a new job in South America. I've been given a few options to base myself in - Argentina, Mexico, Colombia or Paraguay. My boyfriend and I have always really liked Buenos Aires so that's what we're considering right now! But I've got a couple of questions:

1. What would you consider a good salary to be based in BA and have a comfortable lifestyle? I know salaries depend on a variety of factors but just a general idea is fine for now. If it helps, it's just the two of us (me, 27 y/o + my boyfriend, 30 y/o) plus our rescue puppy (side question: is BA pet-friendly?). We're young so we want to soak up as much of the city as possible and travel around South America.

2. Should we opt for one of the other countries right now given Argentina's current economic crisis? We're not looking to relocate our entire lives but just to have a good 2-3 years experience living in South America and then moving back home.

Any other piece of advice is welcome!

Thank you!

 

[Wolvie]

hi, in my opinion, if ur salary isnt paid in usd, u better reconsider taking it, because most of the housing in argentina are paid in usd now. having around 2000-3000usd salary at least, would make ur life easier. BA is a pet friendly place, u can see a lot of people bringing their dogs around the city, and also at the parks, yes, parks, BA has a lot.

 

[inespinto]

hi, in my opinion, if ur salary isnt paid in usd, u better reconsider taking it, because most of the housing in argentina are paid in usd now. having around 2000-3000usd salary at least, would make ur life easier. BA is a pet friendly place, u can see a lot of people bringing their dogs around the city, and also at the parks, yes, parks, BA has a lot.

Thanks! Yes, I forgot to mention but salary would be paid in USD.

 

[ben]

With the exception of the last 2-3 years, consumer prices and the USD exchange rate always went up in parallel here.
Effectively, someone living off USD dealt with zero or very low inflation.

The last couple of years, since Macri took over, were different, as inflation continued apace while the government set reserves on fire trying to artificially keep the exchange rate down.

The deal they made with the IMF specifically precludes that, and indeed the exchange rate has shot up in the last months. Which means that USD prices have returned to normal.

Example: in November 2009, the initial fare for flagging down a taxi was 4.60. With the dollar at about 3.85, that came to USD 1.20
Today, the initial fare is 32.60. With the dollar at roughly 29, that comes to 1.12.
So in dollar terms, a taxi is cheaper today than in 2009.

Exhibit B: A liter of Citric orange juice cost in early 2010 between 7 and 8 pesos. That worked out to USD 1.80-2.10
Today, it costs 72 pesos in COTO, which works out to about 2.50.
So the price will have gone up by 40% over more than 8 years - about 4.5% per year.

For anyone whose income is in pesos, the situation is rather starkly different, as salaries tend to, shall we say, take their time in catching up to inflation.

 

[John Doe]

I've visited Portugal, several times, through the years, most recently, a year ago. I think that Lisbon is the nicest city and I would love to live there.
Everything was affordable, except housing. Also, I was there, as a tourist, which might be much different than actually living there.
Regardless of what anyone says, it's important to stay in a city for a few months to really know the place. It's easy for me to say this, I'm retired. Accepting a job, working for a month and then thinking that it was a mistake, is a different ballgame.
I've been to all of the countries that you mentioned and wouldn't want to live in any of them
I've been to Bucharest, Varna, Riga,Tirana and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) several times and Zagreb, once. IMO all great. But then again, I was a tourist..
If your job offer in Argentina is in writing, make sure that the money offered is presented as US$, Without the US, the amount is Pesos. Quite a difference.I sat next to a young American guy at a thanksgiving lunch, at the American Club in BA, years ago. He was in 7th heaven, because he couldn't believe the salary that he was offered.When someone mentioned that his offered salary was in esos, he almost cried.

Obrigado.

 

[lamarque]

Hi all!

New here! I'm currently living in Portugal (born here but grew up in Canada + US) and am considering taking a new job in South America. I've been given a few options to base myself in - Argentina, Mexico, Colombia or Paraguay. My boyfriend and I have always really liked Buenos Aires so that's what we're considering right now! But I've got a couple of questions:

1. What would you consider a good salary to be based in BA and have a comfortable lifestyle? I know salaries depend on a variety of factors but just a general idea is fine for now. If it helps, it's just the two of us (me, 27 y/o + my boyfriend, 30 y/o) plus our rescue puppy (side question: is BA pet-friendly?). We're young so we want to soak up as much of the city as possible and travel around South America.

2. Should we opt for one of the other countries right now given Argentina's current economic crisis? We're not looking to relocate our entire lives but just to have a good 2-3 years experience living in South America and then moving back home.

Any other piece of advice is welcome!

Thank you!

If you have a usd dollar based sallary, probably now is a great time to come as the recent devaluation make it a lot cheaper here compared to what it was in the last 3 years. The dollar crisis here make it more atractive to come if you earn a dollar salary right now, and if the crisis actually get worst it will make it even better to earn in dollars here, so i would say that the crisis should benefit you considering your sallary is in dollars.

 

[sergio]

Are companies actually hiring from outside Argentina ? I'm surprised.