Inflation in BA?

[gouchobob]

ahhh - how interesting the price discrepancies based on neighborhood. I'm in Canitas/Belgrano area.

In my neighborhood:

Large Napolitana pizza (from a not fancy place) is 42 pesos, so 11 dollars or so.

Empandas, 4.50 pesos (so about 1.15)

Average Rent for a furnished 1 BR 1100 USD

Dinner for 2 last night (he had a cheeseburger, I had a club sandwich. 2 beers each). 175 pesos including tip (45 dollars)

Average drink at a bar in Canitas - 30 pesos (speciality drinks can run 40 and up)

And just as an FYI on health insurance - I'm currently paying (including IVA) 1150 pesos for month for my OSDE plan as a single person

Wow, that's more than you would pay in the states except for the health insurance!

Instead of long lists of what's expensive and what's not it can be boiled down to the following:

1. Labor is relatively cheap so things like plumbers, painters, mechanics, etc. are probably less expensive. Usually locally produced products are therefor generally cheaper i.e. food, wine, etc. The only problem is there is not much that's produced locally beyond the basics. Only exception seems to be real estate which seems high given local income levels and building costs.

2. Everything that is imported is expensive due to taxes, no exceptions. Even cars which are produced locally are expensive.

 

[Bigboxer]

Current veggie + Fruit inflation in pesos over last year....

http://www.clarin.com/politica/canasta_CLAIMA20110208_0101_21.jpg

 

[starlucia]

At this point, the price of many things, especially groceries and entertainment, is on par with its U.S. equivalent (I just got back to the U.S. from BA about a week ago, so I'm doing a lot of price-comparing.) Yes, at a dollar and change, an empanada is still cheap, but who wants to live on greasy pizza and empanadas? A DVD rental is 10 pesos for 1 night, and a cinema ticket is 30 pesos. Depending on where you go, restaurant entrees are 50-80 pesos, an ensalada completa (lettuce, tomato, carrot, onion, beet, sometimes egg) is about 30, and servicios de mesa are between 5 and 10. A kilo of vegetarian take-out at Granix is now 50 pesos, and they no longer provide a plastic knife and fork. A 2-liter bottle of water is 4 pesos and change. A loaf of organic bread at my favorite bakery has gone from 9 pesos to 15 in a year, while the weight has fallen from 1 kilo to under 700 grams. The price of a packet of spinach has risen from 2 to 4 pesos in 6 months. Hell, a 5-ounce can of decent tuna is now 10 pesos! Over 2 dollars for 5 ounces of tuna?? As you mentioned, milk is double the U.S. price (and loaded with bovine growth hormones), and coffee... well, I always bring a duffel bag full of coffee and nut butters from the U.S. A cab ride from Palermo to Congreso is 28 pesos, and beginning March 1, nighttime fares will increase by 20%. That said, all summer long I bought some of the best strawberries I'd ever had for 7 pesos per kilo, and the price of the bus/subway beats the pants off of any in the world.

I lived in NYC for many years and then SF, so I'm accustomed to big-city prices, but what bothers me is how much less bang for your buck you get in BA. There are only about 5 restaurants that I truly enjoy going to (and half of them are organic/vegetarian.) Most offer mediocre food and crappy service at unjustifiable prices. High-quality ingredients are hard to come by (high-fructose corn syrup and beef fat are in everything, everything is GMO, and even "all-natural plain" yogurt is watered down with all sorts of disgusting fillers.) The chocolate sucks I'd prefer to have a choice between a pricier, high-quality option and a cheaper alternative (like Whole Foods vs. Wal-Mart), but in BA, there's very little consumer choice (except paying 3x the price for something imported.)

Anyhoo. How much you will spend really depends on the kind of lifestyle you lead. If you like to cook at home, and are kind of a homebody, BA is cheap. If you want to dine out often, take cabs around town, order cocktails in bars (as opposed to beer), yeah, it'll start to add up.

 

[TomAtAlki]

There has also been inflation in the USA. My wife and I can't go out to dinner and share an appetizer and an entree and a couple of glasses of wine for under $100. Remember to add 30% (10% tax and 20% tip) to any prices in US restaurants. And don't forget parking for $7 to $10. This is in Seattle. And don't even think about taking a taxi.

 

[gouchobob]

There has also been inflation in the USA. My wife and I can't go out to dinner and share an appetizer and an entree and a couple of glasses of wine for under $100. Remember to add 30% (10% tax and 20% tip) to any prices in US restaurants. And don't forget parking for $7 to $10. This is in Seattle. And don't even think about taking a taxi.

Sounds like you like very expensive places, but the poster was referring to a cheeseburger and a couple of beers for around $25, you can buy this in 99% of restaurants in the states for less than this.

 

[Johnny]

My two cents after returning from the USA where I was in Florida, Virginia and New Orleans. Generally speaking, eating out was not much more expensive in the states than BA, and New Orleans seemed to be a little cheaper. My guess is that food here is going to get increasingly expensive. Electronics have been more expensive for years, as have autos. Health insurance is also increasingly expensive but for a similar policy in the states....forget it ! Outrageously expensive ! And yes, taxi's are pricier but way less than the USA. And something that many fail to mention-it isn't necessary to have a car here-so no car cost and no insurance, gas or maintenance. Also, compare utility costs and cost of mass transportation. Not even close.

So for me, yes, food is the major issue as well as rent if you choose to live in the high visibility areas. Pretty much everything else is cheaper than in the states and often much, much cheaper.

 

[steveinbsas]

Sounds like you like very expensive places, but the poster was referring to a cheeseburger and a couple of beers for around $25, you can buy this in 99% of restaurants in the states for less than this.

If you reread citygirl's post you will see she said the total (including tip) was $45 dollars for two sandwiches and four beers.

I think that is exceptionally high for BA! Perhaps she ordered off a menu that was printed only in English (just for tourists).

 

[gouchobob]

If you reread citygirl's post you will see she said the total (including tip) was $45 dollars for two sandwiches and four beers.

I think that is exceptionally high for BA! Perhaps she ordered off a menu that was printed only in English (just for tourists).

No she ordered one cheeseburger and one sandwich plus 4 beers. Therefor I am guessing that one cheeseburger and 2 beers must have cost around $25. I think you have stated on a number of occasions you didn't eat out when you lived in B.A. and you have been away for some time, so how would you know if it exceptionally high or not.

 

[PhilipDT]

The 4 beers is what killed her though. They were probably 20 pesos each = 80. 10% tip ~15 pesos. 2 cubiertos at 10 each = 20. Could be that each sandwich was only 30.

But still that seems high.

 

[steveinbsas]

No she ordered one cheeseburger and one sandwich plus 4 beers. Therefor I am guessing that one cheeseburger and 2 beers must have cost around $25. I think you have stated on a number of occasions you didn't eat out when you lived in B.A. and you have been away for some time, so how would you know if it exceptionally high or not.

OK, you're right about the average cost per person. Nonetheless, I think it's a great reason not to eat in that restaurant. Paying that much for a cheeseburger or club sandwich and two beers is simply unthinkable to this economizer, and I would never go to a restaurant to eat a sandwich of any kind.

Even though I didn't eat out often in BA, I looked at a lot of menus in windows of BA restaurants (at least until seven months ago). It would have been relatively easy to find a cheeseburger and two beers in lots of places for significantly less than $25, but probably not so many in Las Canitas or restaurants like TGIF or the Hard Rock Cafe in Alto Palermo and Recoleta. If, in the past six months, prices have risen to where that's now the average price for a sandwich and a couple beers, I think a lot of restaurants would be deserted and many would be about to close.

I may be 600 KM from CF, but I am keeping up on retail and wholesale food and beverage prices there as I am planning to start a business processing and marketing an organic beverage. In spite of the distance, I include CF as a prime market for my product.