The Cost of Living in Buenos Aires

As a whole, I’d say that life in BA is about 75% of the cost of Vancouver.

A few things are about the same price, like anything with a North American brand (ie Huggies, Jack Daniels and Dijon Mustard). Actually diapers are more expensive, which is no fun when you have twins. And, like most sunny climes, they gouge you on sunscreen, aloe and that kind of stuff, which is a real drag when you have a wicked sunburn - like I do now. But, all else considered, mas o menos most things are a bit cheaper.

Ready to get thorough? Seriously thinking about living abroad? Here are some numbers to crunch.

The exchange right now is 1 CAD to 4.36 Argentine Pesos (ARS).

(Beautiful blue skies in a city of 15.2 million)

RENT

Our rent is a little more than we paid back home, but we are living in the most expensive district, Palermo Chico. It’s next to a lot of parks for the kids. If we were in Vancouver, we’d be in Coal Harbour. It’s safe and leafy.

Padmapper pound for pound comparision?

2-bedroom (800 sq ft) near Stanley Park and English Bay $2700/month.

We’re paying just a little over half of that ($1500) and that’s vacation rental prices.

We’re planning on moving to San Telmo next month - which I gather is more like Main St. - a bit more our style. You can get a fully furnished, temporary rental two-bedroom there for about $1000/month.

As an interesting aside, all of the beautiful old buildings in Palermo are covered in graffiti. After the economy crashed in 2000, perhaps this affluent area was targeted by vandals - in a ‘let them eat cake’ kind of way. Another thing I’ve noticed about this city is how unassuming everyone dresses here. No flashy jewelry, no fancy cars, or showy signs of wealth. I haven’t seen a single LV bag, or high-idling Ferrari. It’s about as opposite as you can get from Hong Kong.

(Grandeur for all)

LIQUOR

Beer is cheap. You can buy a litre of local beer from the supermarket for 5 pesos (about a buck fifteen). Everyone seems to be drinking Stella, it’s been on sale since we’ve been here for 7.95 pesos for a litre. That’s about a $1.82.

ed note - the sale ended today. :(

Local whiskey is about $10/litre. It’s not the worst tasting stuff in the world. You can get Bacardi rum for $11/bottle. All the other brands are the same price as Canada.

(Seemed like our kinda drink)

COMMUNICATIONS

Dirt cheap. I bought a SIM card for my phone. I thought the guy made a mistake when he charged me 10 pesos. But nope, that’s what they cost here. Then I topped up my credits for 20 pesos. Getting my phone set up was a huge pain in the ass though. Making your way through a labyrinth of menus in Spanish is no fun (even if you speak Spanish, I can’t imagine it would be fun). The guy at the store was nice enough to help me.

Our Internet is free with our place. I’m estimating we’re saving $300/month on communications being here. (I used to spend a fortune with Rogers, then Maria had an Android, plus Internet at the office and at home.) Canada has the most expensive phone plans in the world.

One guy wrote a great blog post about getting a SIM card in Buenos Aires and the phone system here in general. He's right, it's a huge pain. It's one thing to get the SIM card, and a whole other thing to charge it. This guy wrote a good article about how to add credit to your Movistar phone in Buenos Aires, but the system's changed since he wrote it.

So after straining to understand a voice-recorded operator rattle off Spanish for an hour, and pressing random buttons, I finally figured it out, and wrote my own: here is the latest about How To Add Credits To Your Phone In Buenos Aires.

(Nothing good comes easy)

FOOD

When you have pair of rambunctious two-year-olds, the most hurt you get in the pocket is always going to be food. The crazy little monsters eat constantly. So, I spend a lot of time in supermarkets. I know Buy-Low like an old friend, but I also once checked out IGA in Kerrisdale for a more accurate representation of the real price of Vancouver. I’ll use these as the benchmarks against the Disco I go to here (it’s a supermarket, but the muzak is just as bad). These Vancouver prices were recorded last year, so you’ll need to factor in inflation - which has been in the double-digits for certain foodstuffs since 2010. Argentina inflation is around 24% overall.

Prices per pound converted into Canadian dollars.

These are “value” buys btw.

Avocados

Buenos Aires - 1.36

IGA - 2.19

Buy-Low - 1.28

Apples

Buenos Aires - 1.25

IGA - 1.88

Buy-Low - .99

Red peppers

Buenos Aires - 1.36

IGA - 3.79

Buy-Low - 1.99

Bananas

Buenos Aires - 0.94

IGA - .79

Buy-Low - .68

Go figure on this one?

Pears

Buenos Aires - 1.25

IGA - 1.49

Buy Low - 1.28

Milk (litre)

Buenos Aires - 1.49

IGA - 1.37

Buy Low - 1.19

Free range eggs (dozen)

Buenos Aires 2.76

IGA 5.55

Buy Low 4.99

Steak

Buenos Aires 9.65/kg (their steaks are weird here - see next post)

IGA (rib eye) 24.21/kg

Buy-Low (rib eye) 19.82/kg

Chicken (whole roasted)

Buenos Aires 7.35

IGA 8.99

Buy Low 8.99

Bread

Buenos Aires 4.14

IGA 4.39

Buy-Low 3.99

Huggies

BA 0.36 each

Vancouver 0.25 each

Crazy, looking at it now, good ol’ Buy-Low was actually cheaper except for steak, eggs and peppers. Hmm. That’s not good. Another thing to factor in - these are Palermo Chico supermarket prices, which could be totally inflated as well.

(Pooka in San Telmo)

TRANSPORTATION

We don’t have a vehicle here. But gasoline is about the same as Canada (around a buck and a quarter a litre). We are going to take the subway today to get to San Telmo. But I imagine it’s about 5 pesos (half price). Okay, just got back from San Telmo, it was actually 2.5 pesos each (or about 60 cents).

OTHER

It seems that plastic stuff from China is actually more expensive here (crappy kids’ toys, etc). But other than that, if you buy local Argentine stuff, it can be much cheaper.

Coming down here, I went off this website - Numbeo cost of living calculator between Vancouver and Buenos Aires. Which had me convinced that life down here would be 66% of what it is in Vancouver. Not so. At least not after one week.

Although these stats are very interesting.

I did drop in with a realtor though. To get a 900 sq ft, 2-bedroom in Palermo Chico near the parks (think Coal Harbour in Vancouver) with a gym, pool, spa, sunny outdoor terrace, the works, it was $415,000.

Checking out MLS.ca the closest comparison would be a 2-bedroom, 1000 sq foot place on Alberni near Stanley Park for $1.2 million.

So as a benchmark, I’d say that’s about a third of the price of Vancouver’s ridiculous real estate market. That’s what tips the scales.

Time to reflect on the patio.

(My Buenos Aires theme music)