Moving In February! Need Your Input!

[mmoon]

Thanks for your input! Our budget for living in Seattle is honestly enormously high. Evening living simply (one shitty car, shitty apartment, no cable, public transit) we need about $6000 per month. We are fine (and actually looking forward to) simplifying from our life in the states. Apartments in Seattle are about $2200-$2500 for anything decent in the city. In Seattle you basically need to make 6 figures to live a middle class life within the city limits. After coming up with a preliminary budget I think we can make our life work in BA (given that we simplify a little bit..like not having cars...etc..) on about $3000-$3500 usd to per month. Does that seem reasonable for 2 adults living in a one bedroom apartment in San Telmo, trying to live a more "Argentine" style life? Or am I in La La land? Our Argentine friends have given us mixed reviews on the cost of daily goods like groceries, cell phone plans, utilities, etc.. I think my husband will have a much easier time living the typical Argentine life than I will, as he is used to rural Argentina.

Not to be nit picky, but she does mention in her second post both about renting an apartment in San Telmo and the issue of not having a car.

 

[steveinbsas]

Not to be nit picky, but she does mention in her second post both about renting an apartment in San Telmo and the issue of not having a car.

Thank you.

 

[steveinbsas]

Quality private health insurance is (and probably always will be) significantly cheaper and just a heck of a lot easier to deal with.

Yes! Not only are the rates much lower, there are no deductibles or co-pays (at least I never paid any), and I never got a no to any request from Omint, Swiss Medical, or Medicuus.

 

[steveinbsas]

After coming up with a preliminary budget I think we can make our life work in BA (given that we simplify a little bit..like not having cars...etc..) on about $3000-$3500 usd to per month. Does that seem reasonable for 2 adults living in a one bedroom apartment in San Telmo, trying to live a more "Argentine" style life? Or am I in La La land? Our Argentine friends have given us mixed reviews on the cost of daily goods like groceries, cell phone plans, utilities, etc.. I think my husband will have a much easier time living the typical Argentine life than I will, as he is used to rural Argentina.

I know San Telmo well and I think it has far more appeal to tourists and new arrivals. I lived in Palermo near Boulevard Charcas for six months, then Recoleta on Aranales near Junin and finally just north of Belgrano near Cabildo and Congreso. I was always close to Lines D of the Subtle and I found all three areas to be similarly Argentine.

I liked living in Palermo the most. It was more !lively and the most attractive. If you go to Boulevard Charcas and Guise you'll see what I mean. There;s so much more in Palermo than in San Telmo (restaurants, shops, parks, etc.) and I believe it is relatively safer, but there are pickpockets, cell phone grabbers, and purse matchers in all areas of the city.

PS I was in a packed restaurant on Calle Defensa in San Telmo on a Saturday afternoon when a purse snatcher struck. One of the men at my table was closest to the thief as he ran for the exit. My friend stuck out his foot and tripped the perp, then kept him pressed to the floor with his foot until the police arrived.. My friend weighed over 250 pounds so the thief did not move, just whimpered...

Two weeks later my same friend was in a grocery store in San Telmo at about five PM when another man entered (this one had a revolver) and robbed everyone at the checkout. he got my friends billfold and watch.


I once felt fingers going into my jeans pocket on Linea C of the Subte on the way to San Telmo from Tribunales (where I changed lines from Linea D). I shouted and swatted away the perp's hand..The car was very crowded and he feigned a look of innocence. He got off at the next station.

In all fairness I have to say that i also saw a purse snatched from a woman on Charcas on the other side of Colo. Diaz (before Charcas turns into a boulevard. So, yes, it can happen there, too.

 

[bobsnowpuppy]

I've lived here for more than three years now. I lived in Recoleta for 2 1/2 years and now live in Nuñez (last barrio in CABA) the past 6 months. I found the rental rates for short and long-term apartments to be about the same for both areas. I currently have a 2-year rental in Nuñez in a very nice 10 year old building for a total including utilities expenses Etc of about $850 a month, one bedroom. That's about the price I Saw for most of the rentals in that area 6 months ago. Of course in another six months, it goes up 35%. I live outside of my great apartment, frugally. So I spend about $1,500 a month total. I don't have health insurance. I don't see why you couldn't do $3,000 - $3,500 a month for a couple living pretty well and going out now and then in a good one bedroom apartment whether a temporary or two-year lease. I use the bus and Subway and walk a lot.

 

[UK Man]

Our Argentine friends have given us mixed reviews on the cost of daily goods like groceries, cell phone plans, utilities, etc.. I think my husband will have a much easier time living the typical Argentine life than I will, as he is used to rural Argentina.

It's impossible to compare the overall cost of living here to that of another country but for me It's a damn sight easier to budget and live with the quality and prices of goods and services that exist in Britain compared to here so I suspect it'll be much the same for the US.

It'll certainly help you with your husband being Argentine as I could never have adjusted to life here as easily as I did had my wife not been from here. If anything like many other Argentines we know who have returned after living abroad it's my wife who has found it most difficult to settle back into life here after living so many years in Britain.experiencing how things are done there. So much so she has never really seen the move back here as being a permanent one. As for me I was always defending Argentina whenever we had a debate but over the last few years my opinion on the country has dramatically changed. And all it took was something as simple as a few parcels containing items of low value sent to me from my family in the UK which never arrived and the one that did had been ripped open and gone through. I had hoped Macri would make things better but it looks like a lost cause due to time restraints and the mentality here. Inflation,corruption and silly bureaucracy still exist in abundance. The icing on the cake was when I saw Kirchner rallying her troops yet again and I knew then this country would never change for the better during our lifetime.
Strangely enough with both our minds now focused on definitely not being here in the future we're actually enjoying it that bit more. Maybe that's the secret to having a contented life here.

 

[citygirl]

Having moved from BsAs to the US - I will concur with UKMan. It's a lot easier to budget here knowing that prices will have a minimal increase. I found it impossible in Argentina, esp since we were living in pesos.

As for the rest - everyone spends what they spend, it really is impossible to say. For a one bedroom apt and living a more chill lifestyle, for me your proposed budget seems feasible. I will say if you have access to a guarantor, you will be able to rent something for much less price-wise. However keep in mind that furnishing an apt is EXPENSIVE. Much, much more expensive than doing so in the US. Definitely factor in that cost and hit up all the expat leaving sales you can find Most probably you will want to live close to where your husband is planning on studying. Commuting in CABA is brutal and often roads will be cut off. Don't add to the stress by choosing a far away apartment.

 

[mmoon]

Most probably you will want to live close to where your husband is planning on studying. Commuting in CABA is brutal and often roads will be cut off. Don't add to the stress by choosing a far away apartment.

Very good point! Also, I found it more helpful to live on a train line than a subte line...generally more reliable and less busy, plus at least you can get some fresh air and light when the cars are packed.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

While it's NoMB.... I would be thinking of where/how I'm I going to get U$D 3.000 on a regular monthly basis while living in BA.
Because of money laundering scams they've gotten very touchy about moving large sums of money into the country.
I'm a retired guy & I use www.xoom.com to get my SS$ every month. But they have a limit of U$D 3.000 a month per person.
And it only works if you have a US bank account. Also, at least once a year, you have to provide proof where the $$$ is coming from.
If you bring the $ in cash with you they have a limit of U$D 10.000 per person.

 

[Macanudo]

Xoom has been sending me emails saying they raised the maximum amount you can send per transaction to $10,000.