How do you cope with inflation?

[syngirl]

We go to a frigorifico every 3-4 months and stock up on all our meat -- there's a tonne in Mataderos.

Yesterday we went with my suegra and between us we bought 27 kilos of meat -- $567pesos -- an average of 21 pesos a kilo for entrana, bondiola, cuadril, pollo, osobuco, tira de asado, chorizos, morcilla, salamin, patys, nalga for milanesas etc etc. The quality of the meat is always very good.

3 whole chickens = $52 pesos

You have to be crazy (or just naive) to be buying meat elsewhere.

 

[Celia]

I stopped buying powdered milk long ago. Went from 6 pesos a box to 21.50 in 3 years!!!
Don't buy La Serenissimia Gouda cheese very often, was about 9 a pre-packed wedge last year, now it's 20. Even those tiny 40g packs of reggianito are 3.50 now.
Don't buy condensed milk, went up overnight last week from 8.50 to 10.20. Stopped buying it when it went over 5.50.

Anyone else cutting back on food items?

 

[darmanad]

Cost in the other Palermo:
http://www.palermonighteday.it/2010/06/quanto-costa-una-pizza-a-palermo/

Mineral water: E2.5 (AR$13.50)
French Fries E2.00 (AR$11.00)
Pizza Margarita E4.00 (AR$22.00)

This is at a restaurant, not a supermarket.

Thread on the cost of a margarita pizza around Italy:
http://www.coquinaria.it/forum/show...costa-una-pizza-margherita-da-voi-in-pizzeria

Mini, I don't speak Italian so it's hard for me to comprehend the linked data, however I have to question whether the Italian restaurant pizza price is for a slice or a whole pie? I find it rather odd that a place that charges 13.50 pesos for an aqua, sin o con gas, would price an entire pizza pie at 22 pesos. It doesn't add up. I remain unconvinced. A slice of pizza at El Cuartito is about 1 euro. I suspect w/o further evidence that it is the better comparison of prices.

Mariano,
I don't dispute that electonics and clothes may be cheaper in Amsterdam and Barcelona, though I seriously doubt if hand crafted or fine furniture is. Of course, anything imported into AR is going to be very expensive owing to import tariffs, and that includes furniture. In absolute terms, labor is much cheaper in BA.
Admittedly, I have not shopped in European supermarkets lately, but I do not believe food is cheaper, at least, not at restaurants (which should be a reliable indicator of food prices in general). When I was last in Barcelona 2 years ago, even a quickie lunch for two at Pinocchio's on the Ramblas was 40 euros with a glass of house wine. That same meal, even today, would cost half of that at a similar spot in BA.
Certainly a page of sale items from a large Italian supermarket (apparently like a Costco) - like what esllou posted - is not dispositive on the question of the cost of food in general. I'd be willing to bet that one couldn't find any meat bargains in Europe approaching the low cost of the frigorifico prices described by syngirl.
Another example, in the cost of labor...my Rio maid now costs about $6/hr. My BA maid is under $4.

The cost of items in BA may seem high to people earning peso denominated wages/salaries. Prices in BA may even be proportionately higher based upon lower BA incomes, but in absolute terms food, transportation, labor are all cheaper in BA.

 

[mini]

You have to be crazy (or just naive) to be buying meat elsewhere.

What I find crazy is that the idea that I have to schlep an hour or so on the bus to buy meat at a reasonable price.

Mini, I don't speak Italian so it's hard for me to comprehend the linked data, however I have to question whether the Italian restaurant pizza price is for a slice or a whole pie?

It's a whole pizza for one.

I find it rather odd that a place that charges 13.50 pesos for an aqua, sin o con gas, would price an entire pizza pie at 22 pesos. It doesn't add up. I remain unconvinced. A slice of pizza at El Cuartito is about 1 euro. I suspect w/o further evidence that it is the better comparison of prices.

You could check the thread I linked to above. It's a discussion about how much pizza margarita costs in the pizzeria.
Here is the translated version.
http://translate.google.com/transla...a-da-voi-in-pizzeria&sl=it&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

These are pizzas at restaurants. ESL is talking about pizza in the supermarket bakery.

 

[darmanad]

Mini,
Thanks for the translation. Sizes and prices varied and I still find it hard to sparate the apples from the oranges except that on p2 Coquinaria says a large Domino's pizza is 14 euros (over 77 pesos). What does one cost in BA, if there is such a thing?

 

[mini]

Mini,
Thanks for the translation. Sizes and prices varied and I still find it hard to sparate the apples from the oranges except that on p2 Coquinaria says a large Domino's pizza is 14 euros (over 77 pesos). What does one cost in BA, if there is such a thing?

In Italy you can find fresh pizzas (sized for 1 person) for 2.50E AND UP. Dominos is not for one person. It's American size pizza.

But, you are focusing too much in the details. The point is that Argentina isn't that cheap any more & things might start getting rough especially for those that are on a fixed income.

 

[esllou]

yeah, true, there is a lot of apples vs. oranges comparison going on here. It's true pizzerias (or pizzerie!) in italy are a lot more expensive, but then again, so are they here in BA and I think we've already mentioned once or twice on these forums the quality of many eat-out pizzas here.

My comparison was the made-in-store fresh pizzas...cellophane wrap with a styrofoam backing. In italy, I used to get one a week and they would be 3 euros, 3.50, maybe 4 depending on amount and type of toppings. Here, when I arrived at start of 2009, they cost 12.99 in coto, then 14.99, then 16.99 and I saw them for 20.99 the other day. These are not high quality products. I've bought one or two in the past...the dough is horrible, tastes like it's been made with something that's gone off. The ones in italy were basically the same as you'd get in the pizzerias there.

ok, so the price is unjustifiable. You are not getting anything resembling value for money. That was ONE example, I could list 50 others that came to mind as I walked around the local hypermarket in sardinia when I went back there this summer. The alarming thing wasn't that the prices were lower "when taking wages, cost of living into account". No...they were just PLAIN LOWER. How is that possible???

 

[sergio]

A poster wrote: " 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."


The rate I am paying, something like USD $275, is for myself only. There is a list of doctors/clinics I can go to. Some of the best are included. I had a better plan but it got too expensive a couple of years ago and I downgraded. My insurer has several far more expensive plans. One more time let me point out that if you want health insurance that comes close to good quality care in the US you have to pay much more than the can driver is paying. What the cab driver is satisfied with and what someone else coming from the US is satisfied with may be quite different. A friend was just operated on in Otamendi Clinic http://www.sanatorio-otamendi.com.ar/ and was very satisfied. The accommodations and service were first class. I've visited many other clinics in BA that range from poor to mediocre to excellent. I doubt that your taxi driver has insurance that includes the best clinics. ALL medical care in Argentina is NOT the same.

If you are 67, why are you paying $550 for US health insurance when you are covered by Medicare? Supplemental insurance for the 20% not covered is far less expensive. My mother has a plan for around $100. Does your insurance cover you in Argentina?

 

[gouchobob]

I don't find the price of pizza in Italy versus Argentina very compelling or meaningful. All you need to know is that inflation is very high and will probably only get worse over the next year. Each person has to plan for this and make their own decisions. My guess is that a many people are going to the airport and home as the situation deteriorates.

 

[sergio]

When I was in Italy a couple of years ago I found prices quite reasonable for food. Those little espressos, fantastic coffee, were cheaper than the miserable coffee they serve in BA. Pizzas were absolutely fantastic and I don't recall their being expensive. Quite a few things were cheaper in Italian supermarkets THEN. Now that BA is so expensive the contrast is greater. In Italy you get QUALITY food in restaurants and markets, almost always. The subway was 1 euro. Intercity trains may have been more expensive (not sure now) and they were very good. This forum seems to have people who fall into three categories: 1) They defend Argentina no matter what. 2) They are tired of Argentina and are fed up with the prices and the problems. 3) a Few extremists who hate everything in Argentina but hang on apparently for personal reasons.