It's Too Expensive Here!

[citygirl]

I don't know, it's been off the charts for a long time (if you are earning in pesos). It's just lots of you haven't experienced it until now.

We have a business so yeah, 5000 is a lot but we also have lights on for security reasons at night and also use electricity during the day. It was a HUGE increase but again, I can't say it wasn't warranted.

I'm going on 9 years here. It makes me actually laugh out loud (and cry) when I go back and look at some of my costs from 2007. Much less 2004 when I came to visit for the first time. I can't actually do the percentage calculations to figure out the increases in a lot of things, it's so high!

 

[jantango]

The last I heard the news, there is an economic crisis around the world, not just Argentina. Greed at the top is hurting everyone.

Like Noesdeayer, I was living in BA from 1999 when the peso was pegged to the dollar. It was expensive here in those days.

Somehow, I've managed to continue living for several years on a budget of less than $500US a month. My current electric bill is 43.80, the gas bill is 89.05, expenses are 746.00, ABL is 161.46, Telefonica and Speedy are 521.97. I walk or ride the bus, never eat out, attend free concerts, and buy clothing and housefhold items at resale shops and house sales. Recently,I bought a brand new pair of leather loafers for 180 pesos at a feria Americana when new ones sell for 1600.

 

[FrankMontague]

I hope this crisis will bring out our resourcefulness.
And our kindness.
I think Argentines have the social abilities to survive anything.

In the US half the country wants to kill the other
and would elect Trump to do it.
Half believe the economy is in ruin because of Kenyan Socialism
though their investments have doubled and they have NO inflation.

Argentines are facing a "real crisis"---without losing their minds.
I admire them and am trying to take lessons.

I admire the expats making the most of BsAs life.
My partner and I are looking forward to joining in soon.

 

[bdk1]

BaKaZoO :
I don't doubt it at all. It lasted on Yankee prices for about 7 years from 1994 until 2001 during Menem's US dollar peg.Prices here were the same as in NYC.It was one peso= one U$D and you got them over the counter at any bank.Of course,it was all a trick and a mirage but it lasted a long time and in the end ruined the economy.It's like Lanata says Argentines live on "wishful thinking" and heavy hedging..All pie in the sky .Hopefully,Macri's policies will bring some of them down to earth.Only time will tell.
In Ecuador Correa's dollar peg is now backfiring on him also. A country needs their own currency with low inlation .It's the only way to go.

I don't think we had Yankee prices back then, it was still quite cheap compared to first-world cities. Below are some of the prices that I can recall from the 1990s. I'm just curious, how much do all these things cost today? (I haven't been to Argentina in 6 months):

- A taxi ride from Belgrano to Recoleta was 5 pesos = 5 dollars.
- My private high school, which was one of the priciest, cost 675 ARS/USD per month.
- The McDonald's ice cream cone or an alfajor were 25 cents.
- The subte cospel (there was no subte pass back then) was 50 cents.
- Photocopies 5 cents.
- A movie ticket was 7 ARS/USD, or 3.50 on Wednesdays.
- CDs were 20 ARS/USD.
- A McDonald's combo was 3.99 ARS/USD.

As you can probably tell from the items on the list, I was in school back then so I don't recall any salaries. I do remember that a French tutor who came to my house charged something like 6 ARS/USD per hour. And a friend of my sister's in his 20s was making 3,000 pesos/dollars a month and he was basically rich. I remember hearing he was making that and thinking how could anyone have so much money.

 

[fcoulombe]

1890 is at 37 pesos
And el Benjamin Nieto is at 45.

I think it's worth something

 

[Girino]

We try to consider our cost of living as a whole, and the only thing that keeps it worth it is the rental contract we signed on September 2015. Until August 2017 we are okay with the overall cost of life - though it is upsetting to pay Argie crap items more than quality food in Europe, utilities are still very cheap compared to what we used to pay in Italy.
We gave ourselves until the end of the rental agreement as a deadline. If things aren't going better by then, it'll be time to say goodbye to our second home.
With increased poverty, crime will rise and will make this place even worse than it is right now in terms of safety.

We have moved from paying cash to take advantage of the dolar blue to subscribe to local credit cards to get discounts at the supermarkets. I can't really understand why the dollar is flat, didn't Macri say he wants to attract foreign investors?! He's making the ones already here running away as fast they can!

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I am puzzled by "dollar stagnant against the peso" part. Why on earth it's still 15:1 ? This makes the locals buy real estate easier. Peso is not worth sh*t, and for 15 pesos, you can get 1 dollar. If you have a peso income that adjusts to the inflation, then real estate becomes cheaper.

How does that happen? If locals earn in Pesos and property is priced in Dollars - and assuming Pesos salary increases at the rate of inflation (which it doesn't), Pesos are losing value against property. It was easier for locals to buy property at 9:1.

GS

PS - If anyone would like my May Buenos Aires Real Estate Update (on inflation and property prices) PM me with your email.

 

[jeff1234]

When my wife chose to attend med school in Argentina instead of the US (1987) she felt that there would be very little difference economically.
Now she is retiring and all those valuable pesos that she contributed to her pension have pretty much evaporated.

 

[Noesdeayer]

bdk1 :
Wow,you sure have a good memory! I've always had my own business here.But after going thru around 4 currency changes from 1980.I am unable to recall what I was charging an hour 22 years ago.However,I believe the U$D 3,000 salary per month you mention was average for the upper middle income group Nonetheless,the lower middle and minimum salary sectors were maybe earning $1,000 and most definitely couldn't afford to send their children to one of the priciest private high schools.The cost of living was undoubtedly,tough on them
.I recall taxes as being lower. I had a mortgage which were easily available and due to low inflation about 4% yearly I was able to pay off.Many people in that U$D 3K sector would tell me then that they were living approximately the same way that they could in the U.S. so why think about emmigrating? I reiterate that ,as many Argentine economists have said people here have a marked tendency to live on wishful thinking instead of actual fact .As a result they are obliged to live way beyond their real means.

 

[Rich One]

The joy Ride is over ...!! Welcome to Greece..!