How do you cope with inflation?

[A&A]

Is this for real? I mean some of these goddamn threads about "how do i live my life". You cope the way everyone around the whole world does. You cut back where you can and do with less, and/or you go get multiple jobs and "do whatever it takes" short of crime. Or you move somewhere less expensive with greater opportunities.

Did you really expect someone to say: Well I go down behind the Carrefour on Santa Fe and there is a little cave wherein lives an Argentinian equivalent of a leprechan who will hand you a pot full of secret Spanish bullion if you can name the starting lineup for Boca Juniors. Grow up!

And for concrete advice: your health plan is retarded expensive, and even just brief looking with rudimentary spanish I was able to find plans that cover everything for half the price you are talking about. OSDE 310 for a family of 3 costs about AR$2100/month. And that was not the cheapest one we found.

so I moved to OSPE and now pay just AR$57 a month

I assume you meant OSDE? Can you PM me which plan you have and how you were able to get this awesome rate.

 

[sergio]

A&A...I just expected civil answers, not rudeness and hostility. One person said that the Mercado Central is 50% cheaper, another said that she and her husband are leaving. I was interested in hearing individual experiences like this.

Health plans are priced by quality and age of the member. If you are in your 20's or 30's you will pay very little. If you're older the rates shoot up. I want a plan that gives me care in the best clinics, close to what I could get in the US. I don't want a mediocre one. There are plans considerably more expensive than what I pay. Also as I have been a member for many years, I don't have to worry about my coverage being questioned if there is a serious problem.

 

[jez]

I assume you meant OSDE? Can you PM me which plan you have and how you were able to get this awesome rate.

No, OSPE http://www.ospesalud.com.ar/home.asp Plan 425, I'm 35 years old. As I said in the pervious post I am a monotributo (self employed and pay taxes in Argentina) and I get a good rate because of that. If I was not a Monotributo I would be paying about AR$300 month.

 

[sergio]

By the way, do Monotributo contributors have a choice of plans or are you told what you can belomg to?

 

[jez]

By the way, do Monotributo contributors have a choice of plans or are you told what you can belomg to?

As a Montributo, part of the Tax you pay includes a proportion for health care, so technically you don't need a health plan as you can go to the public hospital and I believe receive a slightly higher service than someone without heath insurance. - ie. anyone/everyone who is entitled to free health care at a public hospital.

If you wish to choose a private health plan that proportion of tax is accredited to the private health plan reducing you payment.

If you are Monotributo category 'C' for example you pay AR$255 month, of which AR$70 is for Salud. That AR$70 can be recouped by the Insurance company.

So if for a normal Medicus health plan is AR$380 and you are a Monotributo, after doing the paperwork Medicus will recoup the AR$70 meaning you will only pay AR$ 310 a month

OSPE for example have completely different pricing structure for Monotributos, hence the face that I only pay AR$57 month.

 

[BaggyWaters]

I watch re-runs of survivor for usefull tips. Turns out if you win the banana eating contest you can get immunity for the next elimination.

The little things help.

 

[marrokome]

I have been to the Mercado Central, in the past, it is true you can find everything you need at half the cost. However to get there is quite a trip. By bus, about an hour, but well worth it. I was at Cotto earlier today and could not believe that they wanted almost $50 pesos for a rotisserie chicken!!! It is unfortunate that inflation has increased passed 8%, this year alone, according to statistics. I feel that figure may not be acurate. THe Argentinian goverment is hurting its people, I love the beauty of the country, but am getting more and more frustrated with the backward mentalitly this culture is caught up in. Poor service, cant pay with a credit card unless you show your Passport, no security at all, when it comes to trying to get you security deposit back on an apartment.....this is my 4th time here, it just seems as things are not the same as they were in the past. Maybe this wierd culture is just in Buenos AIres???? Who Knows....all I can say is that this web site is a blessing to me, because I thought I was the only one feeling the way I do here! I still enjoy the beauty of this country, Iguazu, Mar de Plata, taking the buqubus to Uruguay....it is a nice change of pace...and experience, but to live here long term, I dont know if I could. They say Patagonia is compared to Switzerland, maybe I need to head out that way.......

 

[starlucia]

We plan to leave for Europe just as soon as I'm finished graduate school in May. However, to save some money until then:
-Cut way back on dining out. I was happy to do so, as I think 85% of BA restaurants are subpar, and the "servicio de mesa" practice irritates the hell out of me. During the week, I cook simple, healthy meals at home, and we save our favorite restaurants for Friday and Saturday nights.
-Cabs have definitely gone the way of the dodo.
-Instead of dropping 26 pesos each for a movie at the theater, we watch movies on cable.
-We go to the grocery store on the weekends, when they run the 15-20% discount for cardholders. We stock up on the items we always need (bottles of wine and water, non-perishables, paper towels, condimentos), and end up saving a nice chunk of change.

 

[jez]

Here in Bariloche, prices in the supermarket are 10%+ higher than the supermarkets in Buenos Aires.

Local bus rate is AR$1.75, the bus companies want to put it up to AR$3+

 

[darmanad]

There have been a number of threads on this in the last few years. I think the situation now, however, is really quite serious. I see my health insurance close to USD $300; expensas a consideration even by US standards.....HOW are expats coping and what are your future plans?

I suspect a lot of contributors are not expats. Things have gotten more expensive for expats living on foreign currency, but as indicated in the June, 2010 Mercer Cost of Living survey, BA ranks as the world's 161st most expensive place to live on US$ out of about 214 world cities. It is cheaper than any Canadian city (Ottawa was 135th on the list) and almost every US city. Winston Salem, N.C., the least expensive US city on the list, was about 171st. Since June, the euro and dollar have increased about 15% against the peso, roughly the rate of inflation, so it is likely that BA remains one of the world's cheapest cities in which to live.
Accurate inflation statistics may be difficult to ascertain given the AR govt's notorious tendency to sugar coat reality; however, as a general proposition, the increase in the rate of exchange for hard currencies will more closely track real inflation than will local salaries. Yes, that wasn't true during 2001 - 2008, but that was because the peso was so terribly weak and the dollar so strong after the AR economy crashed. Living here with dollars back then was a paradise. In 2001, I rented a 3BR luxury apt on Ayacucho, 2 blocks from the Alvear Palace, for $25/day for what turned out be a couple of months. I am still kicking myself for not buying it for the 70K the owner asked.

The peso has been playing catch up ball ever since and, to some lesser extent, it still is. Ergo, BA's low 161st place for a city renown for its great food and wine, theater, entertainment, sports, art, fashion, high rate of literacy, neighborhoods, and relaxed visa requirements, etc. Expats liiving on social security and their IRAs will feel the pain of hyperinflation less than will the wage earning, salaried locals whose pay raise will not likely keep as close to true inflation as will hard currencies going forward. At least, that has been the rule in the past.

p.s. The price of health insurance is not meaningful unless age and policy coverages are specified. It seems to me that expats living here full time with proper residency papers qualify for decent coverage for very modest sums, even when judged relative to the lower income levels. The other day a cab driver with wife and 3 young kids told me his family coverage for practically everything except medicine was around 300 pesos/mo. If you think U$S 300/mo is a lot, is it for a family or just yourself? Do you have an unlimited choice of hospitals and doctors? Any deductible? Any max payout over course of the year? As a 67 y.o. US cit registered as residing here with an international ins co I pay over U$S 550/mo just for coverage for myself and I have a U$S 5000 annual deductible. In other words, I pay $11,000 out of pocket each year before I get any ins reimbursement.