There is a commonly held perspective that living in South America in a 3rd world country is inexpensive and living in the United States, at least in a big city, is not. That viewpoint is held by people living in both places. People are often surprised to find that life here is just as expensive as it is in the states. Since the financial crisis the dollar has gotten a little stronger here in Argentina. The fluctuation of the value of the dollar as compared to the peso, which is a very unstable currency, is the reason real estate is traded in U.S. dollars here.
We are working on our apartment to make it the most amazing one in the city. When we sell it we will receive U.S. dollars in exchange for it and we will leave Argentina with as much money as we had when we arrived, likely more. During our time here however, the financial situation is a sea storm we’ll have to ride out. The things we are buying for the apartment are priced in pesos and while inflation is rampant here it cushions the blow a bit that the dollar is strong right now.
The cost of living in Buenos Aires is not, as one might imagine, cheaper overall than living in a large city in the United States. Inflation over the last five years has meant that the price of some things everyone needs, like food, has increased in price by more than 100%. When the value of the peso decreases, even temporarily, prices rise to level out the difference. When the value of the peso regains some ground prices don’t go back down. A restaurant owner I spoke with explained to me, seemingly unaware of his complicity in the problem, that prices for food go up, people eat out less, he pays more for his supplies. With fewer customers and less income he raises prices. Of course, when prices go up even more people eat out even less. He lets staff go. When people are losing their jobs ever fewer people eat out. He closes his restaurant an extra day a week, raises prices again, lets go more staff, and so on. The end result is more unemployment and much higher prices for less service, less availability, less quality, less convenience.
All the while wages don’t go up. We pay what our workers asked us for when they came to work for us. We didn’t bargain with them or ask to pay less. Still, our most senior worker, Miguel, a mason with 15 years experience, earns only A$R120 per day, or about U$S35. Our most inexperienced guy earns half that. When I bought a large package of heavy duty garbage bags the other day for cleanup I paid more for the garbage bags (A$R68) than I paid for a man to work to fill them for a day. Two things are in play. The bags are very expensive, average quality garbage bags for almost $20 and a day of hard labor for less than that. The friends I have here who earn in dollars or euro are living well in Buenos Aires. Those who earn in pesos struggle.
Argentines are used to struggling. There is a wealthy class here but most people struggle for the simplest of things. The middle class spends a disproportionate amount of its income on the children, doing without other things. Food is expensive and there is no way around that. Transportation is cheap but every day we are hit with small, unexpected expenses that seem to drain money away like sand through our fingers. Every time that happens I look around and remember that as hard as this is for me, it is much harder, and more permanent, for the other people around me.
This will be our kitchen when it is finished in about 2 weeks
What is really striking for me is that while my expenses have stayed just as high as they were in the states my quality of life is not as good. I can’t afford the small luxuries that I was accustomed to at home. Many things I took for granted there are either completely unavailable here or are so expensive as to make them seem so. So, while I pay just as much to live I enjoy my day to day life less. I believe this will change a lot when our little hideaway at the top of the city is finished. By then I will have learned where to shop in my new neighborhood, the Bikram studio in town will be open and I’ll be able to practice daily and teach there and I’ll be working every day, which always makes me feel better about my daily life. For the moment each day is like part of a hard climb. I know eventually I’ll reach the top and the climbing wont be hard any longer, but I look up just once as I start the day and then I put my head down and start moving.
The view from our apartment during the New Year's Eve fireworks
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