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

[LuckyLuke]

it works like this; imported products are double the price. this allows the great big ugly industria argentina to sell things at a lower quality and higher price than otherwise would be able to. yay "protectionsim"! it just means, the consumer is screwed and the corporations get rich! don't you enjoy all the half green dry lemons? impossible to find a normal lemon? well thats because all the good lemons get exported! and the argentine gets to buy the crap that isn't export grade at the same price or more expensive than a grade A argentine lemon found on the shelves of a different country! yay! how do they get awaty with it? well, what are you going to do, import a lemon for twice the cost? nope! hey why hasn't melei removed the tarrifs and opened argentinas economy? well its because he's not with the people.

Except that now Argentine lemon producers are barely getting any orders because brazil had a blow-out lemon season and export them cheaper... It's a lose-lose for everyone here.

 

[on the brink]

I was in Colonia a few weeks ago and got some outstanding lemons at the local TaTa. They were imported - from Thailand.

What are Argentine lemon producers thinking about?

 

[Che1990]

Hmm, yes, the subsidies being lifted will have raised the prices but for me that does not explain why things produced in Argentina are more expensive here as the same product produced and purchased in the US. Why does Argentine produced cheese cost more here in a grocery store or corner deli than an American cheese cost in an Acme or Trader Joes? Bug spray, cleaning products, cereal, peanuts, petrol, printing paper.... all are more expensive in Argentina than the US, certainly the wages for the people working to produce those products are not keeping pace with what the products are selling at. IMO
Secondly, why is worrying whether Argentine workers wages are keeping up with the cost of living "Commie Talk?" Empathy = Commie?

I think it’s 3 things…

1. Overvalued exchange rate. I saw that when I went to Uruguay, products imported from Argentina are cheaper there than they are here.

2. Protectionism means there are monopolies in the local market and very high costs on imported goods, meaning local businesses can charge whatever they want as there is no competition.

If you go to a supermarket to buy beer, basically pretty much everything on offer is owned by Quilmes. They can charge whatever they want.

It’s also why everything is such poor quality here. They don’t have competition.

3. High costs due to bureaucracy and inefficiency. There are lots of taxes, social charges, etc that get passed onto costs. I’m from the UK, there I paid less than $15 USD a month for a decent gym. The membership you buy online, you enter with a code and there are no staff on site. Here, gyms charge more than $40 USD per month. Where I go, there are always 5 staff not doing anything in receptions and another 5 teachers not doing anything upstairs. The labour cost gets put into the price. Labour costs are expensive too in Argentina.

 

[steveinbsas]

In response to this....

...According to Sergio, most expats would "not be willing to adopt (a) frugal lifestyle." He was addressing me specifically when he wrote that on November 12 in reply to my post (#52 in this thread).

I did not respond to the comment then, but I will now. I actually regard my lifestyle as "economical" rather than "frugal" though I agree with Sergio's assessment regarding most expats, including me.

While my monthly income is fixed at $800 USD and my monthly COL has more than doubled this year and is now a little over half my monthly income, I can still buy all the beef, eggs, butter and coffee that I wish to consume every day, as well as pay all of the bills and still have almost $400 USD to invest, which I will continue as long as possible. If and (more likely) when my monthly COL becomes greater than $800USD I will start selling some of my investments.

PS: I don't spend money eating in restaurants because I am frugal. I don't eat in restaurants because have a desire to stay healthy, and I don't spend money on internacional travel because I prefer being where I live more than any other place in the world.

I probably would not feel this way if I had been frugal and bought a cheaper place to live, instead of the house I have been living in, sleeping under the same roof every night, since June 25, 2010. There is not now, and never has been, a financial reason preventing me from internacional travel.

There simply isn't anywhere else in the world l would rather be...or consider worth the effort to get there.

Sergio posted this...

Steve, I admire your ability to live on a modest income and to adapt to difficult times. I stand by what I said regarding expats and how very few would be willing to do the same - unless maybe they had no choice and even then I wonder if many would be as resourceful as you. I have a feeling that conditions will improve and that you won't have to sell assets. The CEPO won't last forever.

It was positive and optimistic, but, since the CEPO ended (and a few days before that), my monthly COL in pesos has increased (chicken by about 20%) while the exchange rate itself has actually decreased by more than 10%, making everything that is still the same price in pesos cost that much more.

I agree completely with Sergio that very few expats would be willing to adopt a lifestyle as "frugal" as mine, but frugality had nothing whatsoever to do with my desire to buy and live in a house in a semi-rural location near Punta Alta (where I've been living for almost 15 years.

I did not buy my present property because it was "cheap" as one expat said to me in a WhatsApp conversation not long ago. Based on many online searches I made in January of 2010, I have no doubt that I could have bought a house in this area at about a third of what I paíd for my house in 2010.

What I was actually searching for then was the "best casa quinta in the entire country of Argentina that I could buy with the funds I had available at the time" (funds from the sale of my PH in Nuñez) and that is exactly what I did. The proceeds of the sale also generated enough revenue to pay for the mudanza and buy a car.

Living frugal was never a motive. I prevously posted that I wanted to live the "country life" while I was still young enough to enjoy it. I had no idea at the time how great the effect would be on my health and happiness. I learned avoid eating in resturants as much as possible when I was in my late 30's, so that hasn't been something I've missed since moving to my present location at the age of 60.

I have no doubt that most expats would not want to live as "isolated" as I do, especially without "social" contact with other expats. I have not seen another expat in a social setting since my 60th birthday (at an expat lunch I organized). All of my friends in this area are Argentine and I've only had one conversaion in English with a "local" here since my arrival in 2010.

PS: Even with a fixed monthly income of $800USD, I still have no reason to make a deliberate attempt to live frugally. My day to day activities vary more with the change in the weather as opposed to the change in the exchange rate. I continue to spend 100% of my "fixed" monthly income without exception. The reason my travel budget is zero is that I have no desire to travel. I paid for two domestic airline tickets in 2023, but I wasn't the passenger on either flight.

Similar to 2012, most of the expenditures now go to pay for the basics, with a much lower percentage being spent to increase my investments (aka inventory)., which, thanks to still having a positve cash flow as well as the steady increase in their value, I have not had to begin selling anything.

 

[sergio]

In response to this....



Sergio posted this...



It was positive and optimistic, but, since the CEPO ended (and a few days before that), my monthly COL in pesos has increased (chicken by about 20%) while the exchange rate itself has actually decreased by more than 10%, making everything that is still the same price in pesos cost that much more.

I agree completely with Sergio that very few expats would be willing to adopt a lifestyle as "frugal" as mine, but frugality had nothing whatsoever to do with my desire to buy and live in a house in a semi-rural location near Punta Alta (where I've been living for almost 15 years.

I did not buy my present property because it was "cheap" as one expat said to me in a WhatsApp conversation not long ago. Based on many online searches I made in January of 2010, I have no doubt that I could have bought a house in this area at about a third of what I paíd for my house in 2010.

What I was actually searching for then was the "best casa quinta in the entire country of Argentina that I could buy with the funds I had available at the time" (funds from the sale of my PH in Nuñez) and that is exactly what I did. The proceeds of the sale also generated enough revenue to pay for the mudanza and buy a car.

Living frugal was never a motive. I prevously posted that I wanted to live the "country life" while I was still young enough to enjoy it. I had no idea at the time how great the effect would be on my health and happiness. I learned avoid eating in resturants as much as possible when I was in my late 30's, so that hasn't been something I've missed since moving to my present location at the age of 60.

I have no doubt that most expats would not want to live as "isolated" as I do, especially without "social" contact with other expats. I have not seen another expat in a social setting since my 60th birthday (at an expat lunch I organized). All of my friends in this area are Argentine and I've only had one conversaion in English with a "local" here since my arrival in 2010.

PS: Even with a fixed monthly income of $800USD, I still have no reason to make a deliberate attempt to live frugally. My day to day activities vary more with the change in the weather as opposed to the change in the exchange rate. I continue to spend 100% of my "fixed" monthly income without exception. The reason my travel budget is zero is that I have no desire to travel. I paid for two domestic airline tickets in 2023, but I wasn't the passenger on either flight.

Similar to 2012, most of the expenditures now go to pay for the basics, with a much lower percentage being spent to increase my investments (aka inventory)., which, thanks to still having a positve cash flow as well as the steady increase in their value, I have not had to begin selling anything.

Steve, thanks for this. You have commented on your living situation over the years. And you have offered very useful advice to people who have had visa and various tramite problems. Now I understand better why you moved to where you are.

 

[steveinbsas]

Steve, thanks for this. You have commented on your living situation over the years. And you have offered very useful advice to people who have had visa and various tramite problems. Now I understand better why you moved to where you are.

You're welcome, Sergio. Perhaps you have already seen this thread, but if you (as well as many current members) haven't, the first post provides a more detailed explaination of how and why I chose the property I purchased in 2010.

Country Life In Argentina: What's It Really Like?

Recently, Hybrid-san made a number of posts and asked many questions as he considered the possibility of buying land and building a country home in Argentina. I promised to start a thread about "country living" in Argentina and here it is. I'll provide a few details of how I got where I am now...

baexpats.org

PS: the word "Country" does not mean I live in a gated or closed community, which is how Argentines use the word. I used the expression "country life" with the same meaning it would have if it appeard in the title of a magzine in the USA.

There are no houses on either side or in front of my house for several hundred meters, and the perimiter of the entire property (108 × 108 meters), except the 30 meters directly in front of the house is densely lined with arboles Tamariscos that can provide "green walls" of privacy, as desired, depending on how they are maintained (trimmed).

 

[steveinbsas]

.... since the CEPO ended (and a few days before that), my monthly COL in pesos has increased (chicken by about 20%) while the exchange rate itself has actually decreased by more than 10%, making everything that is still the same price in pesos cost that much more.

Adding to the above post which I made earlier today:

On both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I recieved Mercado Libre deliveries of 12 litros of whole milk (12 individual litros packaged in one box). I bought the two boxes of 12 in separate purchases with other items.

As the total cost of each purchase was over $33.000 pesos, the delivery charge was zero.. I paid $16.072 for each case of 12 litros. I could not get free shipping (due to excess weight) when I tried to buy both boxes together.

Last night I added another box of 12 litros to the ML shopping cart. The price was still $16.072. When I went to the cart a few minutes ago to add a few items so I woyld get free shipping, I saw rhe price for the same milk had increased to $20.463, another 25% price increase in less than 24 hours.

Leche Entera Larga Vida Tregar X 12 Unidades - $ 20.463,37

Este producto es libre de gluten y adecuado para dietas restrictivas en este componente.

www.mercadolibre.com.ar

 

[devilclam]

Last night I added another box of 12 litros to the ML shopping cart. The price was still $16.072. When I went to the cart a few minutes ago to add a few items so I woyld get free shipping, I saw rhe price for the same milk had increased to $20.463, another 25% price increase in less than 24 hours.

I'd love to know the rationale behind this pricing model. Insanity