Preparing to take the plunge

[cap'n]

Hello all,

Familiar story: I'm a (very) recent American college grad. I spent some time during college living abroad and I want to do it again. I'm looking into trying to teach ESL for a while(few years?) in Buenos Aires. I'm aware its probably not the optimum place to go for someone starting out, but its somewhere I really want to go, so I'm going to give it a shot. I'm trying to save up before I go in preparation for making very little money. I was thinking about arriving Feb '11. So the question which I haven't been able to answer via search is, what is a recommended amount of savings ($USD) for someone in my situation to leave the country with?

 

[Neil]

Based on the inflationary prices these days....! See the comments in the poll.....on main page of this forum...

 

[mini]

How long do you want to stay? I'd say (controversially) to try to save US$2000 per month, then when you spend less than that you will be happy & have a cushion. Of course, no one can say what it will be like in Argentina in 2011.

 

[A&A]

Whew, I was worried based on the title of your post you were getting ready to get married....that's a whole different thread.

Neil & Mini do you think these numbers are doable with out roommates?

 

[orwellian]

So two answers so far, both bashing Argentina. Well, then someone might have to state that no one knows what will happen in the US in 2011-2012 either. To my knowledge the U.S economy is far worse shape than Argentina's. You might want to put away some money for a rainy day and not spend it all on coming down here.

Having said that, it all depends on how you live down here. And of course how quick you think you can find a job. I guess the biggest costs for you will be food and rent. Maybe you can find a shared apartment to live in (around 300 USD) and spend around 300 USD on food. I guess that's feasible.

 

[cap'n]

$1.5-2k per month on top of whatever I managed to earn? Realistically? Geez. I knew it was bad, but that sounds pretty rough.

I'm thinking that the best I could probably do in my current situation is to save about US $10k by next Feb. Plane ticket is taken care of, not bought yet, but my parents are going to take care of it as a graduation gift.

I was figuring on sharing an apartment.

 

[Neil]

This can cut rental/utility costs by 1/2 , than you should count on maybe $750-$1,000 Usd per month.

 

[jp]

2k sounds a little high for me for a recent college grad.

You could get by on 1k easy, and thats assuming you earn nothing from teaching. Plenty of other expats in your situation do.

Sure, you wouldn't be eating in the best restaurants, or living in the most palatial apartment but you could share somewhere nice, and still have a pretty decent quality of life living here for 1K a month.

Ideally I'd budget for more, whilst you can live here inexpensively getting set up takes a while, as does learning how to live cheaply. Plus BA isn't so much cheap as good value. 30 dollars for a dinner isn't that cheap if you're on a tight budget, but its great value considering that you can eat in amazing restaurants, drink great wine and generally treat yourself to things you could never afford back home.

I'd budget at least 1k a month, ideally a fair bit more.

 

[MizzMarr]

Cap'n, I think that they are saying to budget $1.5-2k total, so if you can determine what your earnings will be (realistically) then you can alter your savings from there. If you share an apartment you should be able to rent a furnished room from around $300 a month. Personally another $300 on food is really insufficient, but I spent a fair amount of my money on imported goods like canned refried beans and Thai fish sauce. If you cook basic foods (pasta with vegetables, etc.) and eat at home most of the time you might be able to get away with $300 in food budget if you don't drink. More realistically I'd say that a single college grad should be able to get away with living on $1k a month. That said, I agree with the others who say that budgeting for a bit more would be a good idea--then if you're over, you can have some cushion.

Good luck!

 

[RobDana]

So, if you can save 10k come down with that. Find work as soon as you can and go back when your out of money. Not like you need to set a date in stone. Simple, no?