How many of us are still here?

I’m a long term expat, married a Colombian Argentine here.

My other half earns in pesos, and while their salary has substantially improved in USD, it still buys the same as before in the days of Fernandez.

I earn self-employed in USD, EUR, GBP and earn a good wage by UK standard (where I am from), but it’s so demoralising whats happening here now. My efforts are worth less every day and many things cost more than they do in my native UK, which is an expensive country.

We spend 3 months a year during the winter in Medellin and luckily our visit is fast approaching, we leave mid-May and so can see out the next few months there. My other half will at least enjoy the overvalued Arg peso there!

While I generally prefer BA to Medellin, the economic situation here is making us question things. Cost of living is much cheaper in Colombia than here, even in very touristy Medellin.

It’s also an open economy with cheap technology, clothes and goods. They have international brands like Apple, Ikea, H&M and Decathlon with prices as cheap as in Europe.

Plus, traveling is cheaper there. Low cost airlines are actually low cost, and you’re close to the Caribbean, US.

So leisure purchases are very accessible. Buying clothes, technology or traveling here is ridiculous.

We are about to renew our rental contract here for another year and we have set that deadline—if things are still expensive this time next year, we’ll move to Colombia and come and spend a few months here per year.

My heart is in Buenos Aires, but the situation is unsettling here and the benefits of Medellin are beginning to massively outweigh here.

I know at least 3 expats who have left in the past 6 months due to cost of living.
Maybe the four seasons weather in BA is something to consider. I've never been to Medellin, would love to at some point. But long time ago, I used to work in Barbados, Bridge Town, for whole three years, the weather was none stop summer, lots of spicy food on top and dengue fever. Personally I would not move to Carribean again, lots of people from Carribean moved to the north, Canada eh.

But I agree BA is getting insanely expensive on a slow pace, but one thing I wonder and spoke shared riddle sign with my Argentine friends is that why restaurants like the one offers Vietnamese pho for 28K pesos are always packed at night with no seat... who is dinning there? I hardly spend any money dinning out unless my gf ask for, simply too expensive.
 
I just spent a few months in Buenos Aires ( after living for a year overseas), and I was stunned at the prices, I felt like on average, the prices at restaurants/bars had tripled for me.

So then I asked my in-laws how they were doing, and it was so interesting, that for the ones that had decent jobs eg banking/big industries, they were saving more money (in usd) than ever and didn't feel the price increases like I did.

I guess it's these people filling up the restaurants!
 
Maybe the four seasons weather in BA is something to consider. I've never been to Medellin, would love to at some point. But long time ago, I used to work in Barbados, Bridge Town, for whole three years, the weather was none stop summer, lots of spicy food on top and dengue fever. Personally I would not move to Carribean again, lots of people from Carribean moved to the north, Canada eh.
The seasons are possibly an issue.

The temperature is actually great in the Medellin, thanks to the altitude. They call it the city of the eternal spring, it’s neither hot nor cold - though down in the bottom of the valley (centre of town) on sunny days it can get up to 30º in the sun. But at night it gets down to 15°, no where has AC, with a fan you’re fine.

What I found challenging was the “short” daylight hours, which would be the same as in the Caribbean.

12 hours of daylight from 6am - 6pm, which isn’t ideal for a busy self-employed/workaholic person like me who has hobbies like going to the gym etc.

I found by the time I’d done my business for the day it was night time and I’d only see daylight on the weekend.

Growing up in the northern hemisphere and spending 10 years here in BA, I’m accustomed to long days when it’s nice out, and being able to get some vitamin D in the evenings.

It was very weird seeing nice weather out while I was in an office working and by the time I finished the it was night time.

But we’ll see - I hate the winter and the cold and Medellin certainly solves hat. I guess need to be stricter with my schedule this year.
 
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I've been here about 2.5 years. I earn a good US salary and work remotely, and though my dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, I've managed to (and continue to) save for emergency funds that I otherwise would have if I didn't come here. I know that my salary wouldn't go nearly as far without major sacrifices to my standard of living in the US. Between that, and a looming recession, it seems silly to leave now while I still have strong purchasing power here - even if it's less than what it used to be.

That said, I'm interviewing for new jobs and whether I go or stay really depends on how strict a company's definition of remote is. The US is looking more like a politically dystopian hellscape everyday, so I'd like to avoid going back to that if I can.

I know that reeks of privilege and someone will call me out on it, but them's the facts.
 
...People don't appreciate just how expensive Argentina is, pesos or dollars. I had to travel for work and coworkers asked me if I minded and I said no, I saved money because things were cheaper in the US, Brazil, and Europe

Did any of the cheaper "things" that you saved money on in the US include groceries in a supermarket?

I just checked current prices of the groceries that I presently consume on a daily basis in Argentina. With the exception of whole milk, most of the items that were on my shopping list were the "Great Value" brand from Walmart (which makes them the "cheapest" Walmart has to offer.

The i "Great Value" items included eggs, butter, white vinegar. Butter was almost the same at about 4 dollars per pound. Chicken thighs at Walmart were $1.77 per pound. I am paying $4,000 per kilo (about $1.59 per pound) for "patamuslos" (thigh with drumstick) in the local barrio.

White vinegar at Walmart is $16.56 for a pack of four gallons. On mercado libre, as of today, two packs of two bidones of five litros c/u cost $15,340 and that means more for less here...with free delivery to my house.9

The "vida larga" 3% milk I buy locally costs about $1,500 pesos per litro, but I haven't bought any for almost a month. A 12 pack of 1 litro each is currently available on Mercado Libre fot $20,000, but I expect to find lower prices in the local supermarket. The "Parmalat" whole milk (also 3% milk fat and long shelf life) offered at Walmart is priced at $3.13 per quart. Neither require refrigeration untl after opening. I always add vinegar to milk before drinking, and only when I also consume eggs, scrambled in beef tallow.

The eggs I bought last Thursday had just increased from seven to eight thousand pesos per maple of 30 eggs, so I paid $16,000 for 60 farm fresh eggs (brown shells and bright orange yolks). 60 white eggs (presumably with pale yellow yolks) are priced at $30.76 and only have a two star (out of five) rating.

A couple days ago, while watching a youtube video, I saw the same huevos del campo that I bought for 8k per maple that were for sale at a "cooperativa" that supposedly had "rejected" the new price lists. Fortunately, a close Argentine friend knows the wholesale egg supplier.

The vídeo might be linked here in a recent post.
 
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