My wife (Argentinian) claims you can live "well" on $1500 a month in Argentina. True?

[Joglide]

The big distinction here seems to be between individuals and families budgets and (secondly) locals/native BAs portenos versus expats esp from USA. As a new comer I rent a nice studio apartment near Corrientes for $US500/600 per month and even having breakfast and lunch out most days I seem to be able to live fairly easily on US$1000 a month to spend on food, socialising, dance lessons, travel (subte and taxis). I must be missing some ingredients that other people see as essential but even gyms cost only AR$1000 a month. If I had a family and/or aspired to an American lifestyle then I would spend a lot more but cant see misery on a budget of US$1500/2000 a month. Maybe I need a lifestyle counsellor....

 

[garryl]

The big distinction here seems to be between individuals and families budgets and (secondly) locals/native BAs portenos versus expats esp from USA. As a new comer I rent a nice studio apartment near Corrientes for $US500/600 per month and even having breakfast and lunch out most days I seem to be able to live fairly easily on US$1000 a month to spend on food, socialising, dance lessons, travel (subte and taxis). I must be missing some ingredients that other people see as essential but even gyms cost only AR$1000 a month. If I had a family and/or aspired to an American lifestyle then I would spend a lot more but cant see misery on a budget of US$1500/2000 a month. Maybe I need a lifestyle counsellor....

You are not missing anything.

 

[Pensador]

The OP said wife that points to family or more than one. A studio with more than one person is not within the scope of comfort for more than one person if you ask me. Then double all costs as you are with your wife according to the OP. Thus my response is a no go. Add kids and in my opinion given the inflation etc. Forget it.

 

[Joglide]

The OP said wife that points to family or more than one. A studio with more than one person is not within the scope of comfort for more than one person if you ask me. Then double all costs as you are with your wife according to the OP. Thus my response is a no go. Add kids and in my opinion given the inflation etc. Forget it.

Please see contribution of Domthegreat above where he offers a different perspective. As to the original proposition who knows whether the wife meant the family could live (couple and or children) or per person. Would have to ask the contributor. As I suggested, a family on $1500 is a squeeze though again couples could and do live in same sized apartment as I do on this block.

 

[Pensador]

I would agree out of necessity many do it. One thing I have learned in life, sad but true. Being in a financial squeeze leads to relationship problems in many cases, I have witnessed this all to often. Which is one among several factors I take into consideration when say don't do it. There are many factors to take into account when making decisions of this nature. Took me some time to grasp and very important topic for a husband and life and the same can be applied to relationships. Happy wife happy life, believe that is a true statement. I take calculated steps and keep them in practice to make sure my wife is happy and comfortable. Result - No drama and lots of peaceful time. Besides she is usually right anyway LOL!

 

[Ozzies Away]

I can respect the opinions of others here but I must disagree with those that say its difficult to live for less than this. I am married, live in Palermo in a 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in a newer building. Our rent is 16000 per month + about 6000 in expenses + internet. We do not have a car but we do have private health insurance. We NEVER go over 1500 USD a month in living expenses. WE are not ascetics either...we buy nice food to cook at home (not going crazy on imported things but still buying high quality meats and veggies and cheese) nice wine and enjoy eating out/getting a beer at happy about once a week. Our groceries + food and drink expense never goes above $300 per month.

In my experience living here over 10 years and knowing many locals and expats along the way...people who spend a lot either are not great at managing their spending or do not take time to learn their way around and how to live modestly within what's reasonable for the area (i.e. not insisting you have expensive imported food and needing to eat out at a trendy hipster cafe in Palermo 5 times a week to "survive", switching to buy more red meat instead of fish, being content with an apartment size thats common for here, etc.)

Hi there domthegreat - this is our first post on the forum and my Wife and I will be in BA April next year. We will leave our home Australia on a 3 to 4 year Latin American trip and Argentina will be one of our first stops. Just read your post regarding living on $1500 a month comfortably and that makes perfect sense to me. Obviously we will need a place to stay in BA, so any tips and advice on any websites to look at (our Spanish is rusty so one with English would help) a studio 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in a good area would be wonderful. Thanks in advance - Neale and Christine

 

[sts7049]

Hi there domthegreat - this is our first post on the forum and my Wife and I will be in BA April next year. We will leave our home Australia on a 3 to 4 year Latin American trip and Argentina will be one of our first stops. Just read your post regarding living on $1500 a month comfortably and that makes perfect sense to me. Obviously we will need a place to stay in BA, so any tips and advice on any websites to look at (our Spanish is rusty so one with English would help) a studio 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in a good area would be wonderful. Thanks in advance - Neale and Christine

i'd recommend using air bnb

 

[domthegreat]

Hi there domthegreat - this is our first post on the forum and my Wife and I will be in BA April next year. We will leave our home Australia on a 3 to 4 year Latin American trip and Argentina will be one of our first stops. Just read your post regarding living on $1500 a month comfortably and that makes perfect sense to me. Obviously we will need a place to stay in BA, so any tips and advice on any websites to look at (our Spanish is rusty so one with English would help) a studio 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in a good area would be wonderful. Thanks in advance - Neale and Christine

Hi Neale, Christine,

Depending on how long you are going to stay here AirBNB is the best route to go...Without getting residency your only route to a more permanent rental arrangement is either through friends or finding a landlord that is willing to rent to you without a long term contract (hard for newcomers to find). There are also smaller boutique sites that offer rentals to foreigners but many tend to target higher monthly budgets in the $800 - $2000 USD per month space. If you want to go that route I always like Welcome2BA.com as I know the owners and staff and they are very kind and helpful. You can always try to find something on https://www.soloduenos.com and see if any offer rentals in dollars ( they will probably only take dollars in cash, as opposed to AirBNB and rental agencies that will take foreign credit cards)

Feel free to message me with any other questions. Always nice to see more "Ozzies"...we have good friends from Brisbane that have lived here for a number of years.

 

[Ozzies Away]

Hi Neale, Christine,

Depending on how long you are going to stay here AirBNB is the best route to go...Without getting residency your only route to a more permanent rental arrangement is either through friends or finding a landlord that is willing to rent to you without a long term contract (hard for newcomers to find). There are also smaller boutique sites that offer rentals to foreigners but many tend to target higher monthly budgets in the $800 - $2000 USD per month space. If you want to go that route I always like Welcome2BA.com as I know the owners and staff and they are very kind and helpful. You can always try to find something on https://www.soloduenos.com and see if any offer rentals in dollars ( they will probably only take dollars in cash, as opposed to AirBNB and rental agencies that will take foreign credit cards)

Feel free to message me with any other questions. Always nice to see more "Ozzies"...we have good friends from Brisbane that have lived here for a number of years.

Hi Dom - Thanks for your tips, assistance and local insight on the BA rental market scene. Spoke to my Wife this morning and she is over the moon with the news. Even though it is a year away is it possible to get more than a 90 day visa, before we leave Australia, ideally 6 or 12 months would be super? Neale and Christine

 

[steveinbsas]

Hi Dom - Thanks for your tips, assistance and local insight on the BA rental market scene. Spoke to my Wife this morning and she is over the moon with the news. Even though it is a year away is it possible to get more than a 90 day visa, before we leave Australia, ideally 6 or 12 months would be super? Neale and Christine

You cannot get any kind of visa before you leave Australia.

When you enter Argentina you will be granted a 90 day tourist visa which can "easily" be extended once for 90 days at the office of migraciones.

Under present rules, if you "overstay" the extension for less than two years you will pay a fee of $4500 pesos (each) before you leave.

Eighteen months from now the fee will probably be higher.

If you want to "legally" stay in Argentina for more than six months you will have to apply for temporary residency and provide evidence of an uninterruptible source of passive foreign income of the equivalent of about $2000 USD per month as well as a criminal background check from Australia, etc.

All foreign documents required by migraciones for temporary residency must have the seal of the Apostille and be translated and the translation legalized in Argentina.

PS: You may read about getting a "new" tourist visa by going to Uruguay and returning the same day, but this "practice" is no longer "acceptable" (though possibly still tolerated by some border agents), and by the time you arrive it may be impossible as the crackdown on pseudo-tourists (aka perma-tourists) accelerates.