How many of you want to leave Bs As?

[ben milne]

I have been here 12 years and it gets better all the time

but, I live in the suburbs with a nice garden,pool etc

after 5 years of life in the city, I had to get out aswell

this country has a spirit that can allow you to have a fantastic quality of life without ps3's and ipads

it depends what you are looking for in life

standard of living or quality of life or obviously a combination of the 2

 

[Napoleon]

I have been here 12 years and it gets better all the time

but, I live in the suburbs with a nice garden,pool etc

after 5 years of life in the city, I had to get out aswell

this country has a spirit that can allow you to have a fantastic quality of life without ps3's and ipads

it depends what you are looking for in life

standard of living or quality of life or obviously a combination of the 2

Ben,

How has the inflation affected your life in the suburbs?

Does it hit there as hard as it hits in La Capi?

 

[HowardinBA]

I,m in the sticks too and commute to the capital only for friday night beers!!

 

[El Duderino]

It seems like prices have doubled since when I first arrived here in 2010. Every time I leave the house prices go up. I just can't justify staying here any longer.

Beating a dead horse here, but quality food and beer are a huge part of my life, and you can't find either here.

 

[El chabon]

Gibraltar does à good job on both

 

[Bill.Cochabamba]

I'm selling my place after 10 years,,cost of living is out of control and the politics are worse. It was fun while it lasted. I have a beautiful apartment in San Telmo if anyone is looking!

 

[steveinbsas]

It seems like prices have doubled since when I first arrived here in 2010. Every time I leave the house prices go up. I just can't justify staying here any longer.

Beating a dead horse here, but quality food and beer are a huge part of my life, and you can't find either here.

I recently found a post that Nikad made in 2008 saying the same thing about prices since 2006.

I could (almost) say the same thing aout prices etween 2008 and 2010, but it wasn't quite that bad.

To say that most prices have trippled or quadruppled since 2006 is not an exaggeration.

Except for rent and real estate.


There is no reason to move to BA unles you have a haugh paying job that keeps pace wtih inflation (30% per anum) or deep pockets and don't have to work..

Or can live and work like a racnchero (raising chickens at the least).

If you can't afford to visit Argentina as a tourist and return home before you're broke you probably should not come here in the first place.

 

[marksoc]

Real inflation is between the INDEC figures and the private figures. I would say some 18% for last year (2011). Yes, some things got more expensive than that, especially things that affect tourists/expats. As a measure I take the raises given to commerce employees, that I think that shadow the general level of inflation better than many other indicators.

 

[NYKate]

Okay now for my 2 cents. )
I think that when you move to another country of course there is going to be baggage with respect to the lifestyle you are accustomed to living. For the past year and a half I have been struggling with a lot of changes that I have had to make with respect to my perception as to how life should be. Over that time I have also noticed a lot of small positive changes taking place. I was out walking my dog with my husband and, as my husband went to bend down and clean up my dogs mess an older gentleman congratulated him. We were shocked! I'm also noticing that there are more and more people cleaning up after their dogs in my neighborhood.
I have rarely had a problem with someone being rude to me as I am always nice to (almost) everyone first.
The one thing I did notice is my portena friends all complain about shopping here. They cannot stand it! Every few months they have family/friends send them clothes from the US. I cannot take it either. While I have my "go to" stores I try to avoid buying clothes here.
Also, healthcare is inexpensive here. I am talking also about fertility treatments. In the US we would have had to pay for one round of IVF with IUI out of pocket while here one round is included in our plan. Thats a savings of over $25K!
That said, there are things that I miss that I cannot get here: my family. It's very expensive to fly back and forth more than once per year especially if you are making pesos so I only get to see them once a year for maybe 10 days or so.
We are planning to stay here until next year and see where we go from there.
;o) Until then, I will enjoy the things that the city has to offer - wonderful exhibitions at La Rural and time with my awesome in-laws!

 

[PhilipDT]

RYes, some things got more expensive than that, especially things that affect tourists/expats.

I've seen this before and I'd have to disagree.

Actually, surprisingly a lot of the things I buy as an expat, both imported and industria argentina, seem to be less hard hit by inflation. Premium wines, tabasco, italian olive oil, plastic wrap with a cutting edge, dijon mustard, pepperidge farm cookies, san pellegrino etc. A lot of these products seem to increase in price along the shallower incline of the dollar/peso line.

Its not universally true, some retailers are attempting to use market prices and inflation to gouge consumers, but if you think about it, it makes sense. An imported product, although much more expensive than anywhere else due to AR's import duties, has a wholesale price completely unrelated to and unaffected by inflation in Argentina. Products produced for export on the other hand, like this wine I'm drinking that's label is in English, cannot have their wholesale prices wildly increase without eliminating their competitiveness in the world market. Though some export destined products have separate inflation linked prices domestically, many of them, most of which are 90-95%+ exported don't bother.

All in all, I think inflation actually affects me less than the average Argentine.

E.g., since I got here in late 2009, I've seen a 1/4 kilo of starbucks coffee go up from 38 to 44 and seen an empanada at la americana go from 2.50 to 6