How's everyone hanging in there with the cost of living these days?

[Patrick2006]

Hi. if it does not sound very intrusive, may we know your home country please. ( Only to have an idea about costs).

I am from East Asia. I own a house in my home country. The main reason I came here was to let my child learn Spanish. (Now my child speaks very well.) Basically, we have achieved something.

The second reason, honestly, was that the cost of living used to be cheap. However, everything has changed, so we decided to leave, even though I love the culture and the people here.

 

[Patrick2006]

Read the post again and note this sentence: "It’s not that we’re struggling to live or can’t afford things..."

Frankly, Argentina can do without people like that, who are here for what they can get out of the country. Like free medical care, paid for by all of us who have made a commitment to, and invested in, this generous, if struggling, country.

I have paid VAT on every purchase and have never used the public hospital and education. I paid in cash every time I visited the private doctor and the private school.

Every month, the money I transfer to Argentina contributes to foreign exchange inflow rather than the domestic financial cycle. (Although the amount is a family’s monthly expenses.) It’s not like those who avoid paying taxes by purchasing goods from neighboring countries.

To be honest, as a parent, I hope to save more for my child’s future. Perhaps I lack the ability to achieve great success in Argentina, so I hope to leave and find a job with better income.

 

[Patrick2006]

I arrived in Argentina in October 2017, and within a few weeks, I was ready to run, screaming, for the hills. I told the agency then employing me, send money!! I can't afford this!!! Every damn visit to the supermarket USD 50. Like now.

And then, in a matter of 9 months or so, everything had changed.

@Patrick2006 take your time, think things over, imagine the upheaval and cost of moving (we bought a bunch of furniture from a forum menber a few weeks back, for which we are truly grateful, but she must have lost quite a lot selling it off).

I hate moving. And while I can't echo @steveinbsas' "I will never leave Argentina", I'm not going to take a major life decision based on a couple of months' adversity.

I can speak freely here.

My wife and I gave up our professional jobs in our home country to live here because we wanted our child to learn Spanish and experience the culture here. At the same time, we hoped to develop other career opportunities to settle in Argentina long-term.

First goal: Our child can now speak Spanish and has embraced Argentine culture (achieved).

However, due to various challenges, we couldn't fully succeed in other areas. Fortunately, I was able to find an online clerical job from my home country, which allowed us to live comfortably in Argentina (before 2024).But this year has truly shaken us. With rampant inflation and the declining exchange rate, it’s become unsustainable.

Our relationship as a couple has also deteriorated—not because we can’t face difficulties together, but because the stress has taken its toll. Every month, we barely get by after calculating discounts and adjusting for inflation, and we see no signs of improvement. Perhaps both of us have developed mild depression due to the lifestyle changes that came with moving abroad.

Coupled with the desire to save more for our child’s future, we’ve decided to leave, return to our home country, and resume our professional careers.

 

[Patrick2006]

Over the ten month period, from January through October of 2024, the "purchasing power" of the dollars I spent for all of my living expenses (including food, all utilities, fuel (LP gas and nafta) bottled water, home and auto insurance, wifi, Netflix, bank and credit card fees, driver's licence renewal and related medical exams, and car inspection fees) excluding rent, actually decreased by 100%.

It would be interesting to know if the calculations for the 3o%-40% reduction of your purchasing power includes rent. That's the biggest thing I can think of that could explain why the decrease in the percentage purchasing power of your foreign income has been so much less than mine, even though I am assuming you aren't buying nafta or paying for car and home insurance and, if you are paying rent, ir may have increased by a lower percentage than other goods and services.



Using the words "great value for the money" implies that you are actually paying for these services. You have the right to spend your income however you choose and you should not be shamed for it. No one deserves to be criticized for paying the current "market price" for dental work or medical exams in Argentina any more than they deserve to be criticized for paying for a meal in a restaurant, even it is "cheaper" in Argentina than other countries.


That's a choice as a foriegner with foriegn income that you have the good fortune to make, and you have the right to make it. Since this forum was launched in 2005, many others have made the same decision and left Argentina for the same reason.

PS Exactly one year ago, the cost of the lab tests required to renew my driver's licence was $14.000 pesos at a private lab in Punta Alta. Now the cost at the same lab for exactly the same tests is $70.000. It would be interesting to know what the cost of the same lab tests are in the USA now, but I really don't care. I will never leave Argentina.

Thanks~

For the "purchasing power" of the dollars.
For example,



I paid my kids school fee
12/2023: $200,000 peso blue dollar: around $950
school fee is USD $210
12/2024: $500,000 peso blue dollar: around $1100
school fee is USD $450

another example is apartment's expenses, like "on the brink" said in #130

 

[LuckyLuke]

A personal note: my apartment's expenses have ballooned from $ $95.521,24 pesos in January, 2024, to $348.677,02 in November.

I live in a 5 unit building, and two of the units have stopped paying "expensas". One owner has not paid since Nov. 2019, and another paid only half last month. We took owner One to court and won; she was evicted, but we still haven't received a single peso. The building badly needs maintenance and is decaying - that, plus the astronomical expenses, makes it practically impossible to sell the apartments.

I love my apartment, on a dead end street with a wonderful view, and don't plan on selling, but can envision a future when only three of us will carry the weight of the whole building. Will go on paying expenses while I can, and after that Heavens help us....!

This reminds me of a great analysis by James Howard Kunstler on urban design. He spoke often of the doom of condo associations and high rise tower living driven by this exact phenomenon. The sharing of maintenance only works when the building is 100% occupied with well paying owners maintaining a relatively functioning building. The more that leave, the higher the burden is placed on the remaining tenants thereby ensuring it's lack of maintenance and untenable cost. Eventually the ballooning repair costs will have to come out of the unit sale price lest the building fall into a disrepair beyond saving. It's a risk few apartment purchasers consider the future ramifications of.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

This reminds me of a great analysis by James Howard Kunstler on urban design. He spoke often of the doom of condo associations and high rise tower living driven by this exact phenomenon. The sharing of maintenance only works when the building is 100% occupied with well paying owners maintaining a relatively functioning building. The more that leave, the higher the burden is placed on the remaining tenants thereby ensuring it's lack of maintenance and untenable cost. Eventually the ballooning repair costs will have to come out of the unit sale price lest the building fall into a disrepair beyond saving. It's a risk few apartment purchasers consider the future ramifications of.

Same goes for gated communities?

 

[retiredbanker]

Were I to return to Miami-Fort Lauderdale, my costs would rise dramatically.
Real estate taxes = up
Insurance = up
Food costs = up
Auto costs (gas/repairs) = up

And that's just for starters.

 

[FrankPintor]

Same goes for gated communities?

Would you like three guesses?

Expensas last month 300k Pesos.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Would you like three guesses?

Expensas last month 300k Pesos.

Mines 450 ARBA is though the roof

 

[steveinbsas]

Mines 450 ARBA is though the roof

Please clarify.

Are your monthly "expensas" (paid for property maintainence to a consorcio) $450.000?

Over what period of time has your ARBA gone through the roof?

My ARBA trippled from 2022 to 2023 and then doubled in 2024 (about $68.000 for 2024).

If the ARBA increases by a factor of 6.66 in 2025, the total will be just over $450.000, but I don't think the 2025 tax will show up online until January.9