thinking of moving to BA

[sharron8]

Hi All,

My name is sharron, I have just come back from a few glorious weeks in South America and am now thinking of moving to BA for 1 year. I was just wanting to find out about cost of living, jobs etc. I was thinking of teaching English in BA but was wondering what the pay was like and if it would be enough for food and expenses. I'm a bit nervous as this may be a snap decision I am making but I sooo... need a break from Australia!!! I would appreciate any advise/contacts people can give me.

 

[laureltp]

Welcome to the forum. I don't mean to sound like a pessimistic person but I really doubt that you will be able to find a job teaching English here that pays for rent, food, utilities, ect. In my opinion the best way to make money teaching English here is to teach in a school and also to teach private lessons on the side. The private lessons are where you can make a lot more per hour. (I assume you are a certified teacher, if not, the certification is very important, just so you know.)

Although if you save up money and have a roommate then you could probably make it just fine. As long as you have savings in your bank account and somebody to split the rent with you can live a pretty comfortable life. As you have probably realized by now, if you have read any of these forums, inflation is a really big deal right now. A lot of people say it's something like the 30% range. The cost of rent and food is quite ridiculous at the moment. It makes it hard to live off of pesos here.

But don't think that this is a reason not to come. Just be aware that financially it might not be the easiest thing to do. But that doesn't mean its not worth it. This is a fantastic city, especially if you like art and culture. It's also a nice place to learn Spanish and to meet people from all around the world.

Good luck!

 

[starlucia]

I teach English here (both privately and at an institute), and unless you have savings or some other form of income, I don't think your wages would be enough to cover expenses. I am a student in a TESOL master's program in the States, so teaching here provides experience for my resume, but I would never do it for the money. If you are TEFL-certified and teach at an institute, you will probably make around 30 pesos an hour (and I charge 40 an hour private); however, it's not full-time work, since most adult students take 1 or 2 hours of English per week (and some may have to take time off due to finances, work, family, etc.) I teach about 15 hours a week and live frugally, so my salary offsets most of my daily expenses. However, for any big purchases such as a new coat, furniture, weekend trips, etc, I have to dip into my savings. Also, if you're not TEFL-certified, remember that you need to get that done before applying for jobs. Good luck!

 

[Katser]

Hey!
If you dig around the newcomers section going back a month or two you will find a lot of advice.
The advice is relative to your age etc but I’ll assume you’re under 30.

My advice to you would be to save enough money to live for the year taking into consideration- rent, travel, nights out, inflation and emergencies.

You can find info about bus travel prices on a website called plataforma 10. Don’t forget hostels/tours/entrance fees.

Rent: do research and find the highest most liveable place and note the rent for that and then find the cheapest liveable place for you take the price of that add them together and divide by 2. Then multiply by the amount of months you want to stay. That way your sure to be safe.

Nights out: the price changes all the time and depends on your own tastes. Don’t forget you might want to go to the movies/theatre/art shows etc. BA has a lot of culture and it would be a shame to miss out.

Inflation: Who knows!!!!! Also remember that the Aus Dollar is doing good at the minute but these currencies markets are volatile. I certainly don’t understand them!

Also buy a return ticket home! You won’t regret this.

Oh and LEARN SPANISH

Then come over and have a great time!

Living on pesos is difficult. I know a lot of people 20-25 who came here to teach or just to experience life in a different place who have to go home now because it’s getting so expensive and they don’t have the same support network as at home. You can’t really get some one you’ve known for a month to buy you and drink and know you’ll get them back some other time or borrow some money for a taxi etc. All things we take for granted that our long time friends do for us.

Saying all that Buenos Aires is great but it’s not great if your working all the time or can’t afford to enjoy what the city/country has to offer.
Don’t forget when gathering advice/researching: a lot of what is on the internet comes from old sources or people who don’t disclose their lifestyles. The type of lifestyle differs greatly here.

I’m a recent college grad moved here to experience a different life and learn Spanish. I also thought it would be easy to get a job. Things didn’t work out this way. No job in BA (i work online) Prices are always rising and now I’m in huge debt and have to go home. If I had of come here alone I would probably have been on the streets by now. Thank the universe I bought a return ticket!

It’s been life changing tho! And now I have all this advice to give!

 

[sharron8]

Dear laureltp, katser and starlucia,

i am overwhelmed and grateful for all the advice you have given me. Thank you all so much !

I have been reading the forum notes and find them all very informative. i am now in the process of doing my TESOL qualification, but am tossing up between doing my Masters in TESOL or just a general TESOL course from an Australian training organisation. Does it matter... would the Masters hold more weight (keeping in mind I am only testing the field of TESOL) not sure if I want to fully commit to it just yet! I was a school teacher back in India so am hoping that would give me some "brownie points" so to speak.
Yes I will have some savings coz I dont think I'll be able to live on 30 pesos an hour! Been researching the cost of rent online - wow what a difference between weekly and monthly rates! What is the best way to go about getting a flatmate, are there newspapers I can advertise in prior or is this forum the best way? I've managed to get leave from my current place of employment for 1 year beginning in November and have my fingers crossed this is not a very bad time of year to be looking for work!

Thanks once again. Regards sharron

 

[HowardinBA]

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/

http://www.clarin.com/

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/

these are the main papers to search,good luck,Howard