So I currently am living in the USA, but am looking to come to BS AS in a few months, probably around march. I lived already in the patagonia for close to 2 years, but obviously its way different south than in the north. I think it would be helpful to give a little story about why I am coming, so that you all can give me some advice on what to do, and help with some questions I could not find here on the board.
So currently I am going back to school to redo a bachelors degree, I have one in psychology (useless!), but would like to go into international business and I need to finish off some prerequisite courses to get into the program I want. I am low on money, well broke almost! So I was planning to just take out student loans and bite the bullet, until this idea come to mind. The courses for the business classes I can take online from an American institution, and will probably do so for getting federal subsidized loans to pay for it for the time being. I was thinking of just doing free studies in BS AS at the UBA, but overall I think its better for my situation to study online for the undergraduate part (its like $4500 dollars a semester anyhow, not much to finish). I will probably do my MBA in the states, so an undergraduate degree from the states is probably going to help me more. If this is not the case please help me! Also it could be a possibility to do my MBA courses at the UBA (I would enjoy that), but I am not very informed on that process, so if you are please shoot me a bit of information. Is an MBA from arg going to do me much good in the states, reputable?
Ultimately I was looking at the cost of living in the states, compared to what I could do in BS AS, and well, it just makes sense finically to move, plus I want to get near fluent at spanish and I cant do that to well here. Kill 2 birds with one stone right? I already have a friend who is going to study at UBA who is from Arg, he said he has a room in a 4 person apt in palmero (i know them all a little already, so its safe room mates). They pay 1500 pesos a month, so my share would be around 500 a month (cant rent a hotel for 2 days in the states for that!). I understand it is a safe barrio, but I am still a little weary because the cost is so low... my friend said its safe, but well he is still argentine and has different standards (I scream gringo so there is no blending for me and ive been robbed, and constantly harassed in the south). I assume the rents low because hes renting long term and is a native, so the landlord isnt giving him the gringo rate haha. Seemed to good to be true though after seeing the avg palmero apt go for 800 dollars. Is it really possible to get a decent apt there at that price for locals? Would it be safe really?
I was number crunching and came to the conclusion that (outside of tuition) my living expenses in the states would be close to 1000 a month (rent, car is a must, food, utilities, dating), and thats being frugal for me. I dont like to work more than 20 hrs a week while in school, or my grades suffer, so obviously loans are a must. However, if i live in BS AS with my friend, its something like 500 pesos for rent, probably 1500 a month on food, 1000 on going out, and maybe 500 on transportation a month. Overall not to bad, like 3500 pesos, or 500 dollars, half the cost! I would probably do some private tutoring to cover those expenses, so I could realistically break even on living expenses, only having a small amount of debt from tuition, much better than 1000U$ a month if i stay in the states. I already have 2 yrs experience teaching in the south, and enjoyed it, I assume I could bring in 70 pesos an hr, so 50 hrs a month and im good (not to unrealistic in BS AS, ya?). The ideal however will be to obtain a good 10-12 dollar an hr job I can do from my computer while im down there and just have the american company do direct deposit, then go to uruguay every 3 months and take it out. Anyone do this, or have knowledge on how this works?
Now with that said, some technical questions.
1.) I have a DNI but my understanding is they expire every year, and you have to renew them. How do you do this, and as always im sure there is a cost? Also if I already have a DNI and wish to go to UBA for my masters program, is it still required to get a student visa? My Arg. friend said if you have a DNI your a citizen, but I think he may be confused, because I was never told that, so being a citizen already would come as news to me haha! Also, how do you go about getting dual citizenship? Its something that interest me, but I want to live in the states once I have kids, but it would be nice to go between the 2 countries all the time and I am sure when i start businesses it will uncomplicate things. I do plan to marry an Arg girl, so I know at that point it wont matter, but until then....
2.) Can I use an american iPhone, with an arg moviestar chip? I am looking at getting an iphone, and if this is possible, even better! If not, I already have a cheap, grandfathered plan with verizon for unlimited everything, including international calls, for 70 a month.. maybe i should just keep that? does verizon even get service down there haha?
3.) To cover the cost of tickets, and initial upstart cost I was going to bring some electronics to sell, have friends that want them anyhow, so it helps us both. But outside of that, what are some good money making ones that customs wont bug you about?
4.) I was going to carry around $6,000 in cash into the country, but am nervous to do so (theft, etc). Is there a way to get a storage box in banks there? I dont want to leave that much money lying around in my room haha, even though they are friends, if they found out I had that much, it could cause issues.
5.) Whats the cheapest month to fly? Can I book my tickets 18 months apart? The sites i used showed like 1000 for one way, and 1600 for roundtrip, so obviously id like round trip (but it only went like 3 months out), but do they even do that for long stays?
6.) My stay would be a total of 18 months, if I go back to the states for my MBA, if not obviously add 2 years. I already have to do the school stuff, and that obviously doesnt change where I live in the world, thats the beauty of online courses! However, coming to ARG. is more of a social thing for me. I get to perfect the language, meet some good looking women, not work so hard to have a mid class lifestyle, its really kinda like a extended half vacation in my mind... maybe i am overly optimistic! What can i look forward to experiencing in 18 months in BS AS?
Well that is a lot of stuff... I hope you can help with one part, I am still making up my mind about it. I am obsessive about planing, so everything has to be in order before I go or I will probably just chicken out, so thats why I am starting early to get it all together. Sadly I know ARG laws change a lot, but I can atleast do my part for now! Mainly I just want to have fun, while saving money as an undergraduate, seemed like a good idea on paper
So currently I am going back to school to redo a bachelors degree, I have one in psychology (useless!), but would like to go into international business and I need to finish off some prerequisite courses to get into the program I want. I am low on money, well broke almost! So I was planning to just take out student loans and bite the bullet, until this idea come to mind. The courses for the business classes I can take online from an American institution, and will probably do so for getting federal subsidized loans to pay for it for the time being. I was thinking of just doing free studies in BS AS at the UBA, but overall I think its better for my situation to study online for the undergraduate part (its like $4500 dollars a semester anyhow, not much to finish). I will probably do my MBA in the states, so an undergraduate degree from the states is probably going to help me more. If this is not the case please help me! Also it could be a possibility to do my MBA courses at the UBA (I would enjoy that), but I am not very informed on that process, so if you are please shoot me a bit of information. Is an MBA from arg going to do me much good in the states, reputable?
Ultimately I was looking at the cost of living in the states, compared to what I could do in BS AS, and well, it just makes sense finically to move, plus I want to get near fluent at spanish and I cant do that to well here. Kill 2 birds with one stone right? I already have a friend who is going to study at UBA who is from Arg, he said he has a room in a 4 person apt in palmero (i know them all a little already, so its safe room mates). They pay 1500 pesos a month, so my share would be around 500 a month (cant rent a hotel for 2 days in the states for that!). I understand it is a safe barrio, but I am still a little weary because the cost is so low... my friend said its safe, but well he is still argentine and has different standards (I scream gringo so there is no blending for me and ive been robbed, and constantly harassed in the south). I assume the rents low because hes renting long term and is a native, so the landlord isnt giving him the gringo rate haha. Seemed to good to be true though after seeing the avg palmero apt go for 800 dollars. Is it really possible to get a decent apt there at that price for locals? Would it be safe really?
I was number crunching and came to the conclusion that (outside of tuition) my living expenses in the states would be close to 1000 a month (rent, car is a must, food, utilities, dating), and thats being frugal for me. I dont like to work more than 20 hrs a week while in school, or my grades suffer, so obviously loans are a must. However, if i live in BS AS with my friend, its something like 500 pesos for rent, probably 1500 a month on food, 1000 on going out, and maybe 500 on transportation a month. Overall not to bad, like 3500 pesos, or 500 dollars, half the cost! I would probably do some private tutoring to cover those expenses, so I could realistically break even on living expenses, only having a small amount of debt from tuition, much better than 1000U$ a month if i stay in the states. I already have 2 yrs experience teaching in the south, and enjoyed it, I assume I could bring in 70 pesos an hr, so 50 hrs a month and im good (not to unrealistic in BS AS, ya?). The ideal however will be to obtain a good 10-12 dollar an hr job I can do from my computer while im down there and just have the american company do direct deposit, then go to uruguay every 3 months and take it out. Anyone do this, or have knowledge on how this works?
Now with that said, some technical questions.
1.) I have a DNI but my understanding is they expire every year, and you have to renew them. How do you do this, and as always im sure there is a cost? Also if I already have a DNI and wish to go to UBA for my masters program, is it still required to get a student visa? My Arg. friend said if you have a DNI your a citizen, but I think he may be confused, because I was never told that, so being a citizen already would come as news to me haha! Also, how do you go about getting dual citizenship? Its something that interest me, but I want to live in the states once I have kids, but it would be nice to go between the 2 countries all the time and I am sure when i start businesses it will uncomplicate things. I do plan to marry an Arg girl, so I know at that point it wont matter, but until then....
2.) Can I use an american iPhone, with an arg moviestar chip? I am looking at getting an iphone, and if this is possible, even better! If not, I already have a cheap, grandfathered plan with verizon for unlimited everything, including international calls, for 70 a month.. maybe i should just keep that? does verizon even get service down there haha?
3.) To cover the cost of tickets, and initial upstart cost I was going to bring some electronics to sell, have friends that want them anyhow, so it helps us both. But outside of that, what are some good money making ones that customs wont bug you about?
4.) I was going to carry around $6,000 in cash into the country, but am nervous to do so (theft, etc). Is there a way to get a storage box in banks there? I dont want to leave that much money lying around in my room haha, even though they are friends, if they found out I had that much, it could cause issues.
5.) Whats the cheapest month to fly? Can I book my tickets 18 months apart? The sites i used showed like 1000 for one way, and 1600 for roundtrip, so obviously id like round trip (but it only went like 3 months out), but do they even do that for long stays?
6.) My stay would be a total of 18 months, if I go back to the states for my MBA, if not obviously add 2 years. I already have to do the school stuff, and that obviously doesnt change where I live in the world, thats the beauty of online courses! However, coming to ARG. is more of a social thing for me. I get to perfect the language, meet some good looking women, not work so hard to have a mid class lifestyle, its really kinda like a extended half vacation in my mind... maybe i am overly optimistic! What can i look forward to experiencing in 18 months in BS AS?
Well that is a lot of stuff... I hope you can help with one part, I am still making up my mind about it. I am obsessive about planing, so everything has to be in order before I go or I will probably just chicken out, so thats why I am starting early to get it all together. Sadly I know ARG laws change a lot, but I can atleast do my part for now! Mainly I just want to have fun, while saving money as an undergraduate, seemed like a good idea on paper
