How much to live?

[citygirl]

Depends on your bank - Citi for example doesn't charge me the 16 peso fee to use Citi ATMs here but it still counts it as a "foreign bank transaction" when I access my US account.

Interesting article with the average salary - thanks!

 

[petarro]

Ok, the OP is from Costa Rica, I don't think they will need to limit themselves to bi-lingual schools, which will bring the child schooling costs down.

Assumptions... We do plan to try get some support to put the kids in a French , German or whatever School, for Spanish, they have us...

Do people feel in BA that when they can only speak English, they get ripped off on prices? Like Rent, fees?

 

[mini]

Assumptions... We do plan to try get some support to put the kids in a French , German or whatever School, for Spanish, they have us...

I didn't say your kids wouldn't want to learn another language. I'm sure they do/will. I'm saying there are lots of kids who grow up learning other languages. But they do not need to go to the most expensive bi-lingual schools.

Some expat family don't have a choice as their children are older & don't speak Spanish. As you children (Yes, I'm assuming) already speak Spanish, they have a greater choice in schooling options.

Just because they are expensive & bi-lingual & foreign (or foreign sounding) doesn't mean they are the best options.

 

[French jurist]

Do people feel in BA that when they can only speak English, they get ripped off on prices? Like Rent, fees?

Worse, you can speak english, french and a bit of german and you will get ripped off badly during your first months here.

I came here in 2003 with my dog from France. My doggie quickly became sick here (worst cancer of all : an osteosarcoma located on the spine...).
Within three months I had to euthanize him (around february 2004), and the Vet made me pay 700 pesos for the cremation (I paid of course, it took me one year to get over my dog's death).
Later, I discovered that such a cremation, in 2008 (inflation inflation) costs around 80 pesos (therefore back in 2004, it should have costed 50 at most, probably even less).

Here, there is a tradition of scamming people (sorry Argentines who read this).
I've been wondering why, trying to explain and my best explanation, maybe a bit intellectual, is historical :
- Until around the 1770s, Buenos Aires was not really a center of economical interest. Therefore Buenos Aires had to survive with smuggling with or against Spaniards, Portuguese, British, French, ...
When the Virreinato de La Plata, maybe things went better but soon after Italian immigration took place (combinazione, ...) that maybe reinforced this kind of cheating spirit.

 

[SaraSara]

Do people feel in BA that when they can only speak English, they get ripped off on prices? Like Rent, fees?

Foreigners do get ripped off in Argentina, and in other countries as well.

I'm a local here but rate as a foreigner in Colonia - although fluent in Spanish, I have been ripped off unmercifully . I'm one of those much hated Porteños, plus I'm a widow in a macho country.

My French, Canadian, and Irish expat neighbors have been ripped off as well. Foreigners are easy prey - we are not familiar with local prices, and the natives know it.

 

[HowardinBA]

sara.what do you mean"we are not familiar"? you are Argentine...

 

[laureltp]

I think it is true what some people have said, in your first year you will "need more" basically because it is confusing to figure out how to get the best deal for your money.

Just so you know if you buy big economy packs of huggies it averages .77 centavos per diaper (i buy them at the grocery story Coto), you can get baby whips for anywhere from around 6 to 10 pesos a pack depending on the brand. Baby clothes here are more expensive than in the US anyway, so if you have access to cheap baby clothes I would say stock up before you get here. (also the quality of the clothes isn't really that great).

Private healthcare is well prices and of good quality. We have swiss medical. I don't know how it will work for your family but I am not married so my boyfriend cannot cover me under his insurance that he gets through work but he can cover our baby. My plan costs us 300 pesos a month. Also, we get really good discounts on medicine. The vitamins for our baby should have costs close to 50 pesos but with the discount it was around 25 pesos.

I don't really think it works to say "how much do I need for a month" because everyone has such dramatically different situations and different standards of what they want out of life. Personally our rent (which is in pesos) utilities/building expenses, diapers and baby costs, healthcare, transportation, and food come to an average of 3,700 pesos. But of course, that doesn't include the extra expenses that always come up here and there, we probably use another 300 to 400 a month on a category I will call "other". But this is our life, and it's a pretty simple life but we have everything we need. But your case is different, so is everyone else's on here. You probably won't be lucky enough to get a rent in pesos, but if you can, go for it because that was one of the best things (financially wise) that has happened to us here. But you'll either need a garantia or be like us and pay a lot of rent in advanced.

And please, nobody quote me saying "you only need 3,700 pesos to live in Buenos Aires" because everyone has different needs. we are lucky to have a low rent, which i suspect is why many people quote higher prices. I know some people who spend nearly that much money on rent alone.