Moving In Sept! Any Advice?

[K4RR4R]

Hi all,

I'm moving to Buenos Aires from Vancouver, Canada this September. Really excited about it, and I thought I'd run my circumstances/situation for some experienced ex-pats to see if there's any tips or advice you can offer.

Thankfully there are a few amazing things in my favour - My girlfriend is a local, I have accommodation setup and paid for, a good group of local contacts, have visited the city numerous times and absolutely love it, I have a decent savings account should anything go wrong, and a family home in Canada should I need to head back.

I've done my math and realized it will cost me from $1500-$2500 ARS per month to get by comfortably in Argentina. This covers food, services, medical insurance, travel, and spending money. This is a 'safe' estimate that allows for inflation. In USD that is not a huge amount, but I would rather not dip into my savings if I don't have to, which brings me to my next point of career options/choices.

I am a project manager by trade, and my first option is to have a job/project paying USD that I can work remotely on from Argentina. There is a possibility that I'll find something before September, but the market for those opportunities is not an easy one, and so I definitely need a more realistic plan b.

Since I've done a bit of teaching during my college years and really enjoyed it, and it's not really necessary for me to make 5000pesos+ right away, I thought teaching English would be a great place to start. I do know the pay is extremely low, but it seems there is still demand for native English speakers, and I have no problems with 'working my way up'.

So I've been researching teacher training, and I can either complete a TESL certificate here before I arrive, or attend a teacher training course in Bs.AS (International House offers a CELTA program that is well reviewed). I'm leaning towards completing it when I arrive as I could take advantage of the contacts to get my first teaching position (as well as the fact the program cost half the amount). I'm not yet sure however.

Alternatively, I could look for a local position in project management - however I'm worried that my lack of Spanish fluency and DNI might hinder me there. I'm also not sure where to start looking.

If anyone has any advice for me, please feel free to provide your input - whether it's general advice on moving, or related to my English teaching or career opportunities.

Thanks in advance,

K

PS - Are there social ex-pat events? A bar meet-up or something to that effect? If anyone can point me in that direction would be much appreciated.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

$1500 - $2500 ARS per month for food, services, medical insurance, travel, and spending money? How did you come up with that figure? For example, the cheapest plan for Swiss Medical is about $1100 ARS per month. Cell phone is about $350. Plan on getting cable? Another $350. I can't get out of the grocery store for less than $1000 ARS per week (that's for two of us). You can't eat out anyplace decent for much less than $200 ARS. Forget about travel on that budget - unless you mean travel to Tigre.

You might want to revisit your budget.

GS

 

[Tangerine]

You may want to edit the 3rd paragraph - first line from AR$ to U$D otherwise no one will take your post seriously.

 

[Toastedwaves]

Welcome!

Check out Expat Events section of the forum http://baexpats.org/forum/4-expat-events/

 

[K4RR4R]

Hi all,

Thanks for the input - the calculations for food were based on what my girlfriend generally spends on food for 3 people per month (2500 pesos) - I suppose being a local you know the places to shop. I've reconfirmed this.

In terms of a medical plan, Medicus has a decent one for 450 pesos. Already have a cell phone line setup for 150 pesos. Don't plan on getting cable. By travel I meant internally, within the city.

Hope that clarifies things.

 

[Girino]

If you are sure you just need USD250/month, I wouldn't even bother in looking for remote PM jobs or English teaching job (for which you should have a visa, btw). I would simply make translations online. 2-3 days of work per month and you're good to go.
!Suerte!

 

[K4RR4R]

Thanks Ron! Any direction you can point me in for online translation jobs?

Are you certain about needing more than a tourist Visa for English teaching jobs? I have heard most institutes don't ask for more than that when it comes to English teaching jobs.

 

[Ceviche]

survive in 250 us$/ month in BA!

wow!!

I thought it must be 2250 us$/ month

 

[TomAtAlki]

Okay, we are all curious how you can live on US $ 150 to 250 a month. Please after you get to BsAs and do that please let us know.
Sincerely
Nancy

 

[K4RR4R]

LoL, guys, I'm not paying rent!

US$250 covers food, internet, medicus plan, subte, and cellphone bill.