Poverty on the Brain..

[tomdesigns]

I am just curious if I am the only one that experiences this..

I make a good living working online freelance.. But after having been here a while I find the poverty creeping into my mind. Because I am around it all the time and many of my closest friends a very poor.

For example.. I find myself trying to use less mayo or less shampoo trying to make it last longer so I do not have to buy more. When the fact is I can afford just about what ever I want, when I want it. Never before in my life did I think like this..

 

[Brigadier]

Well youre feeling that any human being from lower middle class its feeling in any country where god never send their bless !!... I think maby we got to change our national anthem, and put somewhere the stanza "..god bless argentinaa..", or "..god bless Cristina..". Maby the thing gonna change

 

[Desde2008]

I make a good living working online freelance.. But after having been here a while I find the poverty creeping into my mind. Because I am around it all the time and many of my closest friends a very poor.

I think that this is a great observation of Expat life here. The poverty here is not my criticism of this society but just an observation of life in this city.

I see the same people in the streets pan handling, day after day, year after year. I sympathize with their situation but also admire the strength of many of them as they try to make a living. Whether it is asking a stranger for spare change or selling chewing gum in the subway or sitting in the street all day long trying to sell a handful of vegetables. I find a lot of things to be happy about in Capital Federal but I also find many things that gives me sorrow. But mostly I am just grateful for the life that I have.

 

[Amargo]

For example.. I find myself trying to use less mayo or less shampoo trying to make it last longer so I do not have to buy more.

This is also good for the environment. I really dislike the belief in first-world countries that you have the 'right' to buy anything you want just because you own the money for buying it. It is somehow a tragedy that the most civilised and educated people in the World are also the worst polluters and those who don't give a s*** about the environmental problems (some few people do, but the masses don't).

 

[MizzMarr]

One major take home lesson I've learned while living here is to simply live more simply. I think it's a good thing to be aware of patterns of consumption!

 

[citygirl]

MizzMar - good point. I'm not sure if it's a factor of a) getting older & hopefully wiser or b) a result of living here or c) a combination of both but I certainly am much more aware of the what I use/need and I use a lot less.

Like Tom wrote, I have the luck and good fortune to be able to afford almost everything I want but my lifestyle has gotten much simpler. as a result, I find I have much less desire to shop or buy frivolous things now and am much less seduced by name brands. I have a closet full of designer shoes. Yet the most frequently worn shoes these days - my alpargatas that cost me 15 pesos

 

[John.St]

For example.. I find myself trying to use less mayo or less shampoo trying to make it last longer so I do not have to buy more. When the fact is I can afford just about what ever I want, when I want it. Never before in my life did I think like this..

This is a healthy sign, Tom.

In the "first" world take a look in e.g. cupboards in kitchens. There you'll find tons of utensils and machinery which has been bought years ago and used 5-6-7 times.

There it is common to spend money you don't have to buy things you dont need to impress people who couldn't care less.

My motto is, and has been for ages: "Use what you need, never waste - always buy cash".

The recipe to become affluent without really trying

 

[John.St]

Well youre feeling that any human being from lower middle class its feeling in any country where god never send their bless !!

Nothing compared to Moses, who refused to talk to George W. Bush.

As Moses said: Last time I talked to a Bush, I had to lead my people through a dessert for forty years and ended up in the only place in the Middle East where there is no oil.

 

[Ashley]

I certainly don't have the option to buy what I want, when I want, as I live on a local salary. As hard as this is sometimes, I am glad to have escaped the pressure to consume and I tend to think much harder about certain unnecessary purchases, much more so than when I was living in the UK. My wardrobe is half what it was 10 years ago and purchasing something like a cellphone just wouldn't cross my mind unless my current (pretty aged) model broke. I find it such a relief to visit the UK and not feel this pressure to have certain things anymore...It's so refreshing to have gotten rid of that mindset.

 

[fifs2]

I certainly don't have the option to buy what I want, when I want, as I live on a local salary. As hard as this is sometimes, I am glad to have escaped the pressure to consume and I tend to think much harder about certain unnecessary purchases, much more so than when I was living in the UK. My wardrobe is half what it was 10 years ago and purchasing something like a cellphone just wouldn't cross my mind unless my current (pretty aged) model broke. I find it such a relief to visit the UK and not feel this pressure to have certain things anymore...It's so refreshing to have gotten rid of that mindset.

So agree and the sight of those types of sad people texting frantically during family dinners here makes me also remember how much I appreciate argentinean family values. We are richer, not poorer from having lived here if we open our minds enough.