Inflation Wingers Post Here!

[El Duderino]

Went to my gym today, and they just raised the monthly rates by 20%.

Also, some of my favorite bars have done the same, about a 20% raise in prices.

I've only been here for 4 months, but it's incredible how much prices have risen.

 

[CarverFan]

Just saw this on a UK forum...79p is $5.18

Just a heads up - our local Poundstretcher stores have started selling 2L milk (full fat and semi), granulated sugar, sunblest bread and 12 eggs all @ 79p each.

 

[chris]

Could hyper inflation be on the way?

 

[starlucia]

What I don't agree with is that restaurants are more expensive than in the States. Maybe if you're talking about rural Vermont, but certainly not more than in any major US city.

I really think it depends on what kind of restaurant you go to, and what you order. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: beef is probably cheaper (I say 'probably' b/c I've never ordered it in either country.) And wine by the bottle. But everything else -- Chinese, Thai, sushi, Indian -- is definitely more expensive, and the current NYC restaurant prices listed on menupages.com prove it. Even a basic salad here (only vegetables, no protein) is now $8-10 USD, and I've seen servicios de mesa as high as 10-12 pesos.

Also, it's easier to eat well on a budget in the US. In NYC you can certainly drop $100-300 on dinner, BUT you can also live on $3 falafels and pizza slices, $6 Chipotle burritos, $7 Indian lunch buffets, and $9 Chinese take-out that (with the free mountain of rice) can be stretched into 2 or 3 meals. Here, other than 2 or 3 empanadas, it's very hard to find a decent dinner for under $10 USD, and certainly not with the diversity that you can back in the US.

 

[ndcj]

Tomorrow october 1st, raises expected for gas & electricity bills : up to 200%

http://www.ieco.clarin.com/economia/Reducen-subsidios-sube-costo-electricidad_0_563943652.html

Read the article carefully, especially regarding electricity prices. The reduction of subsidies applies to very heavy users (no change so far as I can tell if you use less than 1,000kWh/bi-monthly).

The headline is just sensationalism at Clarin's best. The price rises affect less than 10% of electricity users. The gas price rises will affect more (36%), but it's not so much a rise as the removal of the special winter subsidy that applied, being that it's not winter any more.

If you're using more than 500kWh a month, even as a large family, you need to seriously examine your power usage, or suck it up and still enjoy some of the cheapest utility rates in the world. At the highest new rate you'll be paying somewhere around $0.112/kWh, and that only applies if you use more than 2,800kWh/bi-monthly.

 

[steveinbsas]

"I apologize in advance if having a positive attitude is inappropriate in this thread"

It isn't a question of being negative, Steve. Just reality. Some of us don't want to live rural lives. Most people who have come to Argentina from the US were attracted to urban life and found BA interesting. For most, isolation in a rural part of Argentina is not an option. If it works for you, that's great but I don't think that many are going to find it appealing. Meanwhile the COL in Buenos Aires is becoming unmanageable. Dealing with it is traumatic, especially if it means having to radically alter your lifestyle or even pull up stakes.

I appreciate your point, Chris, but I don't exactly live an isolated rural life.

My quinta (one hectare/2.47 acres) is located within an "urban" zone. The nearest police station is actually slightly closer to my house than the nearest grocery and hardware stores (both just over one KM). The ambulance driver of the closest hospital lives even closer and an ambulance is parked at his house when he is not officially on duty (but is always on call).

There are several mini marts in the villa as well as a pago facil. The closest gas station is less than than five minutes from my house and the center of Punta Alta (pop. 70K) is less then ten. The Bahia Blanca airport is 15 minutes from my house and Walmart and/or the city center of Bahia Blanca (pop. over 300K) are each a 20 minute drive.


The biggest difference between me and most expats is that I am assimilating to life in Argentina...so much so that I have even applied for citizenship.


I also found BA "interesting" in 2006...after living in Sayulita, Mexico for five years. I've also lived in Park City, Utah, Carlsbad and Marina Del Rey, CA, Orlando, FL, Chicago and Salt Lake City, and spent months at a time in Paris.

Four years in CF was more than enough for me. After three years in Recoleta I moved to Nunez, but there wasn't a significant change in the lifestyle in spite of a lower COL.

(Except for lower monthly expenses, a PH with a rooftop isn't that much better then an apartment with a patio.)

Now I live where I can go outside and rake the leaves, mow the grass, trim the trees, plant and harvest my own fruit and vegetables, and gather the chicken eggs (all important factors offsetting the rise in the COL).

I can also drive into town (faster then I could take the EL into the loop in Chicago) and see my doctor, go to the hardware store, get my computer repaired, and buy more fruit trees to plant whenever I desire.

And so much more...including getting home in time to make my own lunch.


PS: I'm not about to pull up stakes.

I'm driving them deeper than ever.

 

[jb5]

Sushi for $10 in CA? Not where I live.

I do agree the ethic restaurants often charge outrageous prices in BA. Not because the ingredients are expensive, but because there are so few of them and they are hip and cool.

I also think BA has plenty of cheap fast food. Empenada, choripan, grilled cheese, pizza slices, those little sandwiches....

IMO, going to a slightly upscale restaurant and having what locals eat-- steak or another meat, pasta, upscale pizza, etc. in AR, a bigger variety in the US, with a mid range bottle of wine, will still yield a lower check in BA.

 

[TomAtAlki]

"I really think it depends on what kind of restaurant you go to, and what you order. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: beef is probably cheaper (I say 'probably' b/c I've never ordered it in either country.) And wine by the bottle. But everything else -- Chinese, Thai, sushi, Indian -- is definitely more expensive, and the current NYC restaurant prices listed on menupages.com prove it. Even a basic salad here (only vegetables, no protein) is now $8-10 USD, and I've seen servicios de mesa as high as 10-12 pesos.

Also, it's easier to eat well on a budget in the US. In NYC you can certainly drop $100-300 on dinner, BUT you can also live on $3 falafels and pizza slices, $6 Chipotle burritos, $7 Indian lunch buffets, and $9 Chinese take-out that (with the free mountain of rice) can be stretched into 2 or 3 meals. Here, other than 2 or 3 empanadas, it's very hard to find a decent dinner for under $10 USD, and certainly not with the diversity that you can back in the US."

Please remember tip (20%) and Tax (6-10%) when calculating your dinner prices. In Seattle that adds up to an extra third to your bill. And wine is at least 3 times more than here (by the bottle or glass).

Today I went to Le Guerrin for pizza. 6 to 9.5 pesos a slice, wine 7 pesos a full glass. And that's sitting down in the restaurant. If you want to stand and eat it's about 25% cheaper.

Most restaurants (local), mixed salad for 2 usually runs 20 pesos max. 3 empanadas and a drink at 1810 is 19 pesos. Swarma sandwich down the street is 15 pesos. Steak dinner for 2 with a bottle of wine and fries and salad and a provelita appitizer was 101 pesos at Don Severion (sp) Parilla on S. Ortez. This is all great local restaurant food.

 

[steveinbsas]

Please remember tip (20%) and Tax (6-10%) when calculating your dinner prices. In Seattle that adds up to an extra third to your bill. And wine is at least 3 times more than here (by the bottle or glass).

This is contrary to those who post that Argentine wine is cheaper in the US than in Argentina.

How can anyone sell drinkable Argentine wine that costs about 14 pesos per bottle in Argentina for less than that in the US?

 

[PhilipDT]

This is contrary to those who post that Argentine wine is cheaper in the US than in Argentina.

How can anyone sell drinkable Argentine wine that costs about 14 pesos per bottle in Argentina for less than that in the US?

No its not. Argentine wine is very often cheaper in the US. I'm in the USA now. I bought a bottle of this http://www.vinotecaligier.com/flecha-de-los-andes-gran-corte-750-cc for 18.50 US at costco less than a week ago. That is 50% off.

What is true is wine is marked up much higher in restaurants here. If you want a 50 dollar bottle of wine at a nice BA restaurant you only have to pay about 250-280 pesos. If you want a 50 dollar bottle of wine here you can expect to pay over 150 dollars.

That is a big part of why I agree with JB5. High end dining in Buenos Aires is still cheaper than in the US, not by a ton, but it is. Low end street food is cheaper in Buenos Aires. Its just all the generic psuedo haute cusine mid market dumps that end up being a poor QPR when compared to the US.