The cost of living in Buenos Aires
- Thread starter windy
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Just a comment on the rent. I live in a beautiful area of Buenos Aires, Palermo Alto, in a one bedroom apartment on the 6th floor. It is furnished. It isn't elaborate by any means but it meets my needs. A lot of cost depends on how large your family is and how many bedrooms you need. I pay my own utilities and was rather outraged by the increase in my gas bill after the cold weather arrived. Yeah! It went from the equivalent of $3.00 US for the month to $5.00 U.S.! 
With utilities, including Internet, the cost of keeping a very secure and lovely roof over my head comes to about $500.00 US a month. About half of the figure quoted above. I have all organic vegetables, fruits, chicken and eggs delivered to my door every week and I think the beef is organic anyway since it is grazed. As the writer above says, you do not need a car. The subway is fast and the wait is only minutes. But where I live everything I need is within walking distance anyway. There is no fluoride in the water here (though if you are health conscious you might still want a small distiller--I did). I can save money on my retirement, though I admit I have never been a party girl so that's a factor. It all depends on your lifestyle). I am having a great time living in Buenos Aires.
With utilities, including Internet, the cost of keeping a very secure and lovely roof over my head comes to about $500.00 US a month. About half of the figure quoted above. I have all organic vegetables, fruits, chicken and eggs delivered to my door every week and I think the beef is organic anyway since it is grazed. As the writer above says, you do not need a car. The subway is fast and the wait is only minutes. But where I live everything I need is within walking distance anyway. There is no fluoride in the water here (though if you are health conscious you might still want a small distiller--I did). I can save money on my retirement, though I admit I have never been a party girl so that's a factor. It all depends on your lifestyle). I am having a great time living in Buenos Aires.Why dont you look at getting travel insurance from your home countries. I pay NZ$600 (US$435) a year, with full medical cover, and can be repatriated to NZ if i so wish. Added advantage is it also covers property and if i decide to go somewhere for a break from BA i am also covered.
It can also be renewed for a further year over the internet.
But I am not covered if i am working here, but can get that updated for around $100 a year if i did work.
It can also be renewed for a further year over the internet.
But I am not covered if i am working here, but can get that updated for around $100 a year if i did work.
laureltp said:
Sorry Laurel, but when I signed up with OSDE in 2007 it was about 180 pesos a month -- now it's almost 500. It will only go up, they are out of control and since their private the government doesn't even seem interested i putting limits on how much they can raise the rates.
Far beit for me to actually support these private companies raising their rates since I am suffering with increaseslike you all..but if the govt actually tried to put the brakes on inflation and thereby didnt sponsor this union madness of 30% pay increases per year then the companies wouldnt need to increse their rates to cover larger salary bills. Blame the govt for spiralling inflation and not the companies who have to cede to crazy pay hikes and the poor employees who are still losing out in any case.
Actually as far as health insurance hikes go... if it weren't for them ordering an MRI every time someone stubs their toe (do you have any idea the ridiculous cost of running an MRI machine -- we're talking thousands of dollars every time it's turned on), if it weren't for them running reams and reams of tests that are unnecessary when there are cheaper and more effective ways of getting results, if it weren't for people getting their doctors to do a housecall when they have a sore throat, if it weren't for people going to their doctor because they just have a sniffle.... these are the things that would stop the hyperinflation of medical insurance costs.
If there's one thing you learn growing up with a doctor for a stepfather (and cousin, and sister etc) in a country with public healthcare (Canada) you learn not to abuse the system. The amount of abuse of the system when people have the attitude "well I'm paying for it, I might as well use it" is ridiculous, and of course of complete benefit to the private holding companies.
If there's one thing you learn growing up with a doctor for a stepfather (and cousin, and sister etc) in a country with public healthcare (Canada) you learn not to abuse the system. The amount of abuse of the system when people have the attitude "well I'm paying for it, I might as well use it" is ridiculous, and of course of complete benefit to the private holding companies.
citygirl
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Syngirl - aren't you comparing apples and oranges? I don't think the people who utilize the public healthcare system are abusing it - I don't think it's possible to abuse it unless you want to spend your entire life waiting in line at a public hospital.
And personally, i don't know tons of people who are overusing the private healthcare system either. I also would probably guess that they have a huge savings advantage in that they don't have thousands and thousands of paper pushers as the private system is pretty streamlined here. I don't fill out any paperwork when I go to Swiss Medical as opposed to in the US where there is a gazillion insurance forms to be filled out.
The difference of course in my case is that in the US is that I purchase my health insurance from Company A and then go to Doctor B to get the services who has to wait for reimbursement from A and gets pennies on the dollar. Here, I purchase it from Company A and then go get services from Doctor who works for A.
I'd bet the increases have a lot more to do with inflation than people over-using the system. After all, I doubt there has been a huge change in the amount of services utilized in 18 months but there has been a huge increase in union salaries.
And personally, i don't know tons of people who are overusing the private healthcare system either. I also would probably guess that they have a huge savings advantage in that they don't have thousands and thousands of paper pushers as the private system is pretty streamlined here. I don't fill out any paperwork when I go to Swiss Medical as opposed to in the US where there is a gazillion insurance forms to be filled out.
The difference of course in my case is that in the US is that I purchase my health insurance from Company A and then go to Doctor B to get the services who has to wait for reimbursement from A and gets pennies on the dollar. Here, I purchase it from Company A and then go get services from Doctor who works for A.
I'd bet the increases have a lot more to do with inflation than people over-using the system. After all, I doubt there has been a huge change in the amount of services utilized in 18 months but there has been a huge increase in union salaries.
When talking about the expense of health insurance it would be helpful to set forth your age. Health insurance rates adjust upward periodically to take inflation into account, but rates also jump upward into new ranges based upon age, especially as you get older, and dramatically so when you pass 64. So, for example, my Danamark policy provides excellent coverage with my choice of doctors and all hospital bills up 1MM annually, but the annual premium literally doubled when I turned 65. To avoid a $10,000 annual premium (2008) I had to modify my coverage from a $1000 deductible to a $5000 deductible so in essence my annual premium still exceeds $10,000 (a 5K premium and the first 5K in costs). Moreover, it would have been about 20% higher had I not switched my official policy residence from Brasil to Argentina.
So you can see that good medical insurance coverage gets costly as you enter the age to take advantage of Medicare if you were residing in the US. Losing out on Medicare is definitely one of the disadvantages of expatting - an important item for the permanent expats to think about.
Not sure if anyone has posted the 2010 Mercer Survey before so here it is. Note that the survey gears expense on the use of US $ so cost of living in any city will rise/fall as its currency rises/falls against the US $.
http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html#Anchor-The-49575
Please note that New York is 27, Rio is 29 , Los Angeles is 55, and Buenos Aires is 161.
Mercer's 2010 Cost of Living Survey
The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowance for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expats - plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.
So you can see that good medical insurance coverage gets costly as you enter the age to take advantage of Medicare if you were residing in the US. Losing out on Medicare is definitely one of the disadvantages of expatting - an important item for the permanent expats to think about.
Not sure if anyone has posted the 2010 Mercer Survey before so here it is. Note that the survey gears expense on the use of US $ so cost of living in any city will rise/fall as its currency rises/falls against the US $.
http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html#Anchor-The-49575
Please note that New York is 27, Rio is 29 , Los Angeles is 55, and Buenos Aires is 161.
Mercer's 2010 Cost of Living Survey
The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowance for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expats - plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.
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