What’s going on with the cost of living?

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PaddyO

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What’s up guys, I’ve been living in Mexico City, and I’m planning on coming to BA for 3-6 months to learn Milonga fingerpicking style on guitar, and all the things gringos have told me about Argentina aren’t likely to stop me (“it’s dangerous/racist/unfriendly/unstable/sad”). Gringos say all kinds of silly things about places they’ve never been, but the skyrocketing prices meme spooks me a bit, because my absolute maximum budget is 1500-2000 usd per month. With that I do fine in Mexico City. I’m not a cocktails on the roof kind of person. My goals for living in LATAM aren’t to use arbitrage to cosplay as a rich person, but I do need to survive. Numbeo said the CoL in BA is like 40% less than Mexico city but that’s data collected for years. Right now it’s excruciatingly expensive? I’m not an economist and I avoid political dogmas. Please just let me know what I’m getting myself into here.
 
I am not sure if Numbeo is reliable right now. I do not know if it reflects the prices of things post devaluation and what level of peso/dollar conversion.
 
most likely you will be fine. But Argentina is not linearly predictable. Prices have been going up, but when something that costs a dime (my daily bus fare) goes up 50%, its still not a lot in terms of dollars.
And prices vary widely for the same product, so its always possible to shop carefully and live at the lower end of the price increases.

I met a guy yesterday who said this is nothing- in 2001, when the coralito happened, his money in the bank lost One Million Dollars overnight... He claims he then moved to Las Vegas and drove limos for seven years. Now, he is back here, because, of course, he loves Argentina.
True? who knows, but certainly possible.

Come on down. And maybe find out more about the intriguing rumors that Afro-Argentines were very involved in creating that style of music. Oscar Aleman, baby!
 
I don't really live here anymore, but I'm visiting right now and the last time I visited was a year ago. I'm comparing from memory the cost in dollars, but I can say that as compared to last year in January things cost roughly double what they did in dollars. That's what I've noticed more or less. Housing is probably the exception to that, I imagine it went up but not as much, and probably public transportation hasn't doubled in dollars. That being said, so far it seems like most things are 30 to 40% cheaper than in the USA right now.
 
PaddyO said:
What’s up guys, I’ve been living in Mexico City, and I’m planning on coming to BA for 3-6 months to learn Milonga fingerpicking style on guitar, and all the things gringos have told me about Argentina aren’t likely to stop me (“it’s dangerous/racist/unfriendly/unstable/sad”). Gringos say all kinds of silly things about places they’ve never been, but the skyrocketing prices meme spooks me a bit, because my absolute maximum budget is 1500-2000 usd per month. With that I do fine in Mexico City. I’m not a cocktails on the roof kind of person. My goals for living in LATAM aren’t to use arbitrage to cosplay as a rich person, but I do need to survive. Numbeo said the CoL in BA is like 40% less than Mexico city but that’s data collected for years. Right now it’s excruciatingly expensive? I’m not an economist and I avoid political dogmas. Please just let me know what I’m getting myself into here.
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If you're interested in taking music lessons, this is a great time. I've heard of $8 lessons from pros, I pay $20 for a nearly 2 hour lesson with the #1 guy I would want to study with. Anything 'labor' is cheap, luxury goods are expensive. If you mostly cook at home or eat at local places and live in a modest part of town (maybe not the most toursitic area) your money will go far. Dinners in Palermo, coffee every day in Recoleta, your money will disappear. Public transportation is still very cheap, just take a cab or uber if you're downtown late, as crime is on the rise. I was telling a local friend about a couple incidents last week near Congreso, and he thought i meant another one I hadn't even heard of (all involving people going home after tango dancing).
 
Mexico city is way way more expensive. Just as an example. Don Julio, which is one of the top restaurants here is like $30-40 per person depending on the exchange rate. In Mexico city a top restaurant is 4x-5x times that.

Uber is way way cheaper in Argentina vs Mexico.

Airbnbs/rent can be about the same at the bottom tier and half the price if you want something 1k+
 
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