How far will $1500 a month go in the interior

[on the brink]

Very sad situation, with Google handy, all those Sunday lunch endless family discussions about politics , history, etc are Over you grab the Cell and voila you are correct or wrong?

Same for those fascinating arguments about whether a Scrabble word is valid.

 

[Wryter47]

My favorite Scrabble word is SYZYGY, which is when at least three planets are in a line. I forgot how many points.

 

[Fiscal]

The question was about whether $1500 would be enough to raise a child well...food, school, clothes, nanny, medical bills, toys, etc. The idea is enough money for the kid. If it's too much, the mother/ex in laws will just pocket the money for their own "proyectos.". I stupidly gave my significant other a bunch of caah two years ago cash (when we found out she was pregnant, to make sure she was covered) and suddenly her mother coincidentally bought some campo and the money magically disappeared.

 

[EL_TIGRE_de_Tigre]

The question was about whether $1500 would be enough to raise a child well...food, school, clothes, nanny, medical bills, toys, etc. The idea is enough money for the kid. If it's too much, the mother/ex in laws will just pocket the money for their own "proyectos.". I stupidly gave my significant other a bunch of caah two years ago cash (when we found out she was pregnant, to make sure she was covered) and suddenly her mother coincidentally bought some campo and the money magically disappeared.

Fiscal,

You are not a dummy. It seems to me you have that one figured out.

The money you gave to the future mother your child, went from her hands to her mother's hands.

You need to understand something:

People in Argentina are different from people from EE UU.

In EE UU ... on the whole ... what's mine (In terms of money.) IS MINE! And in Argentina, what's mine is the family's!

A person in Argentina can manage $50 USD ... They can hold on to it, they can squeeze a lot of value out of it. They don't waste it like their EE UU counterpart would on junk / non essential items.

NOW ... Let's reverse that:

A person in Argentina CAN NOT manage $5K USD ... They can not hold on to it, nor can they get value from it. They more often than not disperse and share it with their family who is so deprived and cash starved. They do it out of guilt and out of a sense of responsibility to the "team." Their EE UU counterpart doesn't squander a larger sum of money so easily as they are more accustomed to handing larger numbers and have no guilt about possessing something others could benefit by.

Here is the bottom line:

And I know this is painful ... It will not matter if you give the mother of your child $1.5K USD or any other amount (Lesser or greater.) ... She is going to share it. The exception to that would be if you give her an amount low enough where she needs to commit the whole sum to survival. Any amount greater than survival is going to be shared.

And why wouldn't it be? It will be replaced by a fresh (Whatever the amount you decide to give.) supply of money each new month.

The cold reality here is that you are thinking form a different cultural point of view and expecting the same from someone in Argentina. I'll give you a little more insight ...

I'd be willing to bet, you have never really heard Mrs. Fiscal talk about her retirement planning. Saving for her golden years, investing etc ... The majority or Argentines JUST DON'T THINK LIKE AMERICANS!

Someone call me out if I have this one wrong ... please!

 

[Alpinista]

The question was about whether $1500 would be enough to raise a child well...food, school, clothes, nanny, medical bills, toys, etc. The idea is enough money for the kid. If it's too much, the mother/ex in laws will just pocket the money for their own "proyectos.". I stupidly gave my significant other a bunch of caah two years ago cash (when we found out she was pregnant, to make sure she was covered) and suddenly her mother coincidentally bought some campo and the money magically disappeared.

As others have said here, 1500 USD is in my opinion way too much ( ca 200'000 Pesos per month at the blue).

A few reference points:

• Para no ser pobre, una familia con la misma cantidad de integrantes debe ganar $ 43.080,38
• Minimum salary for domestic employee is around 20'000
• There is also information on INDEC

What I personally would do: I would pay out an amount that she (and mostly your son) can have a comfortable life, although I wouldn't spoil them too much (especially given her history two years ago). Probably I would pay an amount roughly 4 or 5 times the minimum salary (probably around 80'000). I would also link this amount to an index or the minimum salary (clear formula, no hassle over future payments).

As others suggested: It seems a good idea to set up a trust or savings account in your son's name where you can transfer the rest (assuming 1'500 USD total planned, you can transfer more than half of it every month to this account)

 

[TWB103]

Fiscal,

You are not a dummy. It seems to me you have that one figured out.

The money you gave to the future mother your child, went from her hands to her mother's hands.

You need to understand something:

People in Argentina are different from people from EE UU.

In EE UU ... on the whole ... what's mine (In terms of money.) IS MINE! And in Argentina, what's mine is the family's!

A person in Argentina can manage $50 USD ... They can hold on to it, they can squeeze a lot of value out of it. They don't waste it like their EE UU counterpart would on junk / non essential items.

NOW ... Let's reverse that:

A person in Argentina CAN NOT manage $5K USD ... They can not hold on to it, nor can they get value from it. They more often than not disperse and share it with their family who is so deprived and cash starved. They do it out of guilt and out of a sense of responsibility to the "team." Their EE UU counterpart doesn't squander a larger sum of money so easily as they are more accustomed to handing larger numbers and have no guilt about possessing something others could benefit by.

Here is the bottom line:

And I know this is painful ... It will not matter if you give the mother of your child $1.5K USD or any other amount (Lesser or greater.) ... She is going to share it. The exception to that would be if you give her an amount low enough where she needs to commit the whole sum to survival. Any amount greater than survival is going to be shared.

And why wouldn't it be? It will be replaced by a fresh (Whatever the amount you decide to give.) supply of money each new month.

The cold reality here is that you are thinking form a different cultural point of view and expecting the same from someone in Argentina. I'll give you a little more insight ...

I'd be willing to bet, you have never really heard Mrs. Fiscal talk about her retirement planning. Saving for her golden years, investing etc ... The majority or Argentines JUST DON'T THINK LIKE AMERICANS!

Someone call me out if I have this one wrong ... please!

Family itself is your retirement plan in Argentina and most other parts of the world.

 

[semigoodlookin]

A person in Argentina CAN NOT manage $5K USD ... They can not hold on to it, nor can they get value from it. They more often than not disperse and share it with their family who is so deprived and cash starved. They do it out of guilt and out of a sense of responsibility to the "team." Their EE UU counterpart doesn't squander a larger sum of money so easily as they are more accustomed to handing larger numbers and have no guilt about possessing something others could benefit by.

I don't really disagree with your wider point, although I think the level of personal debt in European countries and the US/Canada suggests people in those countries are pretty decent at squandering larger sums of money too.

 

[nikad]

If you feel the need to oversee what the money is spent on, maybe a credit card extension would work.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

Fiscal,

You are not a dummy. It seems to me you have that one figured out.

The money you gave to the future mother your child, went from her hands to her mother's hands.

You need to understand something:

People in Argentina are different from people from EE UU.

In EE UU ... on the whole ... what's mine (In terms of money.) IS MINE! And in Argentina, what's mine is the family's!

A person in Argentina can manage $50 USD ... They can hold on to it, they can squeeze a lot of value out of it. They don't waste it like their EE UU counterpart would on junk / non essential items.

NOW ... Let's reverse that:

A person in Argentina CAN NOT manage $5K USD ... They can not hold on to it, nor can they get value from it. They more often than not disperse and share it with their family who is so deprived and cash starved. They do it out of guilt and out of a sense of responsibility to the "team." Their EE UU counterpart doesn't squander a larger sum of money so easily as they are more accustomed to handing larger numbers and have no guilt about possessing something others could benefit by.

Here is the bottom line:

And I know this is painful ... It will not matter if you give the mother of your child $1.5K USD or any other amount (Lesser or greater.) ... She is going to share it. The exception to that would be if you give her an amount low enough where she needs to commit the whole sum to survival. Any amount greater than survival is going to be shared.

And why wouldn't it be? It will be replaced by a fresh (Whatever the amount you decide to give.) supply of money each new month.

The cold reality here is that you are thinking form a different cultural point of view and expecting the same from someone in Argentina. I'll give you a little more insight ...

I'd be willing to bet, you have never really heard Mrs. Fiscal talk about her retirement planning. Saving for her golden years, investing etc ... The majority or Argentines JUST DON'T THINK LIKE AMERICANS!

Someone call me out if I have this one wrong ... please!

On point. It's not a bad thing; just a different mentality. Heed the Tiger's words and you won't be disappointed.

 

[on the brink]

Fiscal,

You are not a dummy. It seems to me you have that one figured out.

The money you gave to the future mother your child, went from her hands to her mother's hands.

You need to understand something:

People in Argentina are different from people from EE UU.

In EE UU ... on the whole ... what's mine (In terms of money.) IS MINE! And in Argentina, what's mine is the family's!

A person in Argentina can manage $50 USD ... They can hold on to it, they can squeeze a lot of value out of it. They don't waste it like their EE UU counterpart would on junk / non essential items.

NOW ... Let's reverse that:

A person in Argentina CAN NOT manage $5K USD ... They can not hold on to it, nor can they get value from it. They more often than not disperse and share it with their family who is so deprived and cash starved. They do it out of guilt and out of a sense of responsibility to the "team." Their EE UU counterpart doesn't squander a larger sum of money so easily as they are more accustomed to handing larger numbers and have no guilt about possessing something others could benefit by.

Here is the bottom line:

And I know this is painful ... It will not matter if you give the mother of your child $1.5K USD or any other amount (Lesser or greater.) ... She is going to share it. The exception to that would be if you give her an amount low enough where she needs to commit the whole sum to survival. Any amount greater than survival is going to be shared.

And why wouldn't it be? It will be replaced by a fresh (Whatever the amount you decide to give.) supply of money each new month.

The cold reality here is that you are thinking form a different cultural point of view and expecting the same from someone in Argentina. I'll give you a little more insight ...

I'd be willing to bet, you have never really heard Mrs. Fiscal talk about her retirement planning. Saving for her golden years, investing etc ... The majority or Argentines JUST DON'T THINK LIKE AMERICANS!

Someone call me out if I have this one wrong ... please!

Tigre is right on target.

Forget about the nuclear family - Argentines think in terms of clans, with the whole extended family working as a unit. This includes distant relations such as second cousins, and even third cousins-in-law.