Moving Advice?

[kmatwick]

Hi everyone!

So I've decided that I'm finally buying my plane ticket and cruising down to Buenos Aires and as I was planning on doing this, I thought it would be good to ask if anyone had moving/living advice? I was thinking along the lines of overall cost of living breakdown? Maybe good places to start looking for jobs? When you guys first got down there, how did you go about living before you found an apartment and things of that nature?

Any and all advice would be awesome! Thanks!

Kellen

 

[palermogirl]

Truthfully, at this time, I cannot understand why anyone would be moving here. I have been here for almost 2 1/2 years and leave for good in 2 weeks. Actually, I feel like I'm escaping.

 

[walkingtwig]

kmatwick, spend some time using the search feature a bit on the fourm to answer some of your questions before you book any tickets. living in BA at the moment is, at the best tricky, and you really need to carry out solid reseach before you even think abut booking flights.

 

[Lulu-Kyoko]

I posted this after my first month here, which was June 2012:

Entry fee: $ 75; Rent: 800 (Microcentro); Groceries: 200; Restaurants: 75; Touristy stuff: 25 (museums, etc); Laundry: 20; Transportation: 5; My vices: 320 (coffee, cigarettes, wine, chocolate); Bank fees: 130 (home fees and ARG fees); Spanish: 800 (one month, 4 hours per day); Camera: 220 (cheapest one I could find, to replace my stolen phone)

TOTAL: $2670 USD

So... that was June. As for July, I am paying less for rent and spending less on Spanish lessons (switched from group classes to individual). I managed to get some USD so I'm not spending as much on bank fees. I've decided to live without a phone. That said, I am spending more on groceries, in restaurants, and on the vices... so I'd estimate about $2200/month. I guess that's not too bad, but I haven't bought any clothes, I have no bills beyond the rent, etc. I consider myself "a budget traveller"-- I'm not totally skimping out on things, but I'm certainly not living large.

 

[heyitsamber]

Hey!
I too am on my way to Buenos Aires from the states. I'll be arriving in October. I've been researching and getting in touch with people for a few months now. I would love to offer you all of my info over at my blog:

http://www.buenosairesorbust.com/

I'm sorry I don't have much on-the-ground experience as I'm not there yet. However, I visited last year and have been working on figuring this whole thing out ever since!
I'd love to hear more about your experience too!
xo,
Amber

 

[Iznogud]

I say the economy is slowing to a screeching halt and people are losing their jobs or making sacrifices to keep their business running a little longer, certainly trying their best to deal with increasing costs and hardly hiring if they can prevent it.

The window of opportunity to find a semi-permanent job will almost dissapear come november.

You sure 'bout coming down here?

 

[trennod]

Ah yes, the ol visit BA, fall in love and then return for "good". Lulus costs are a decent guide, however do remember to factor in any taxis if you are planning on taking them. They just went up another 10% and will go up another 10% in the next cpl of months from memory.

The job market isnt too flash here, as it isnt anywhere else in the world. If you dont already have a job lined up and your spanish is limited, I would say your job prospects would be confined to english teaching. Anyhoo, good places to start looking for work - well there are newspapers here, a web site called zonajobs and off course this forum (see jobs section). If english teaching is your go there are a zillion threads on the subject (try the search function).

Be sure to bring plenty of greenbacks, your stash of electronics and any product you cant live without and of course enough $ for the return ticket.