Economy The 3 reasons that pushed the MEP dollar below $1,200 for the first time in four months - Infobae

[Wally]

i'd say like 1.6x from the signs i've seen, but i never go to places with high prices. i ate my 2nd-best-ever Lomito last weekend with a buddy from the pool/gym, and we paid 32,000 Pesos for a MASSIVE amount of food, probably 3 people eating to max, and a 2.25L soda, plus tip, on a Sunday, in a suburb called Godoy Cruz at a nice family parilla. so about $12 USD per person maybe at that MEP rate then? still "expensive" but man was it fantastic and i ate so much i wasn't hungry for the next meal 😛


i've thought about trying to have my lady bring back a flexible panel to try it out. i know the most ideal setup would be in sunny Mendoza to have 2 panels or whatever it takes per Split a/c unit, then you could heat and cool as needed since it's completely sunny like 300 days out of the year here. for sure when subsidies are fully gone, in the interim between local small-scale nuclear, Solar could be a thing! what Argies need really is just dual-pane glass, insulation, and caulking hahahahahah


when i get a second place, i would love to host your fam on a trip here. or if you end up here for business, the lower level is yours, no worries...my father-in-law cancelled on coming here this year, so it's not luxurious but we have a nice place and of course the best dog to have coffee with in the morning : )


always are deals, if you don't buy impulsively and have a mind for savings. and yes going to expensive restaurants is expensive, but cooking is overwhelmingly cheap in 95% of cases. flour, beans, stew beef, eggs, sugar, etc. are fantastically cheap in Dollars (which every Argie has saved)



eh, supply and demand follows the law of scarcity; there obviously are enough people, otherwise the restaurant wouldn't be open. we can't have it both ways; no tourists anywhere and BsAs is a poor wasteland, but also luxury restaurants and cafes are charging high prices. the contradiction is due to one of those premises being wrong 😛


sure thing, checking meow...maybe you can do the rough numbers (see attached), hopefully i'm not doxxing myself, since radical leftists have a penchant for trying to destroy people's lives over political opinions 🤐

we don't have a Rates problem here, we have a TAX problem...part of that 259k Pesos is 79k Pesos in taxes!!! what is that, like 30%????


today's update 28Mar2025 is:

Blue 1280-1300
Official 1043-1103
MEP 1299.77 (almost exactly the psychological/arbitrary 1300!)
Crypto 1313
and Santander's "Dólar MEP" instant convert 1291-1299 (Venta/Compra)

Wow electricity rates there are even more than BA. And the government is not done removing subsidies so it will go even higher. Maybe for an American it is ok but that is a lot for an Argentine to spend. Solar seems like it would be a good idea in sunny Mendoza. Not sure how much they would kill you on import taxes.

...and for those who are about to get their DNI, check out the sweet perks - never go to a Cueva again! just have a Dollar account, and when rates are good, sell USD to buy ARS. attached screenshot of how easy it is. anyone else in the oldtimer group have a better bank/system for getting Pesos? i don't need Pesos that much, but this has been working great for me the past year (attached screenshot)

It is convenient but most people don't declare a fraction of their real income. Mostly the cash is so nothing shows up on paper.

Wow that electricity rate is not cheap! That makes it about 24 cents per kwh yes? That is USA prices. Heck even more than some states here.
That seems very high for locals that don't make much. What is the local reaction? $200 USD bill in your place that you said isn't too big? I could easily see like $500 US bills in bigger places?


But my Argentine friends do not like doing anything through their banks because the government sees all of that. They just use cash. Not because it is a better rate but more for privacy reasons they tell me.

You beat me to it Uncle Wong. Correct. Government can see all your banking activity and also credit card spend so many just use cash to avoid that.

 

[earlyretirement]

i'd say like 1.6x from the signs i've seen, but i never go to places with high prices. i ate my 2nd-best-ever Lomito last weekend with a buddy from the pool/gym, and we paid 32,000 Pesos for a MASSIVE amount of food, probably 3 people eating to max, and a 2.25L soda, plus tip, on a Sunday, in a suburb called Godoy Cruz at a nice family parilla. so about $12 USD per person maybe at that MEP rate then? still "expensive" but man was it fantastic and i ate so much i wasn't hungry for the next meal 😛


i've thought about trying to have my lady bring back a flexible panel to try it out. i know the most ideal setup would be in sunny Mendoza to have 2 panels or whatever it takes per Split a/c unit, then you could heat and cool as needed since it's completely sunny like 300 days out of the year here. for sure when subsidies are fully gone, in the interim between local small-scale nuclear, Solar could be a thing! what Argies need really is just dual-pane glass, insulation, and caulking hahahahahah


when i get a second place, i would love to host your fam on a trip here. or if you end up here for business, the lower level is yours, no worries...my father-in-law cancelled on coming here this year, so it's not luxurious but we have a nice place and of course the best dog to have coffee with in the morning : )


always are deals, if you don't buy impulsively and have a mind for savings. and yes going to expensive restaurants is expensive, but cooking is overwhelmingly cheap in 95% of cases. flour, beans, stew beef, eggs, sugar, etc. are fantastically cheap in Dollars (which every Argie has saved)



eh, supply and demand follows the law of scarcity; there obviously are enough people, otherwise the restaurant wouldn't be open. we can't have it both ways; no tourists anywhere and BsAs is a poor wasteland, but also luxury restaurants and cafes are charging high prices. the contradiction is due to one of those premises being wrong 😛


sure thing, checking meow...maybe you can do the rough numbers (see attached), hopefully i'm not doxxing myself, since radical leftists have a penchant for trying to destroy people's lives over political opinions 🤐

we don't have a Rates problem here, we have a TAX problem...part of that 259k Pesos is 79k Pesos in taxes!!! what is that, like 30%????


today's update 28Mar2025 is:

Blue 1280-1300
Official 1043-1103
MEP 1299.77 (almost exactly the psychological/arbitrary 1300!)
Crypto 1313
and Santander's "Dólar MEP" instant convert 1291-1299 (Venta/Compra)

Thanks for the offer @StatusNomadicus that is really kind of you. I have a lot of offers to stay at nice places out there. I have a client that owns some luxurious properties out there. But definitely my next trip to Mendoza we will meet up and break bread. It would be great meeting you in person.

Meals sound much cheaper in Mendoza vs. BA. Some decent affordable meals are to be found in BA but many places were really expensive. I like eating at nice places and really was surprised they are so high in BA. I spent less in Paris and London than in many places in BA.

Electricity outside of BA is even higher. And they are going to go up a bit more. I think they are only covering 80% of the actual cost of providing the electricity in BA right now.

Wow that electricity rate is not cheap! That makes it about 24 cents per kwh yes? That is USA prices. Heck even more than some states here.
That seems very high for locals that don't make much. What is the local reaction? $200 USD bill in your place that you said isn't too big? I could easily see like $500 US bills in bigger places?


But my Argentine friends do not like doing anything through their banks because the government sees all of that. They just use cash. Not because it is a better rate but more for privacy reasons they tell me.

Correct. It's all about the privacy. You have to remember that the statistics are not right about incomes, etc. People have more money than is portrayed. People don't like using their bank accounts or credit cards in Argentina because many are working under the table in black and not paying taxes on this income. So they don't want a lot of activity officially. That's why the cuevas are always popular but many deliver to your houses so it's not like it's not convenient.

Much of society will always be under the radar in Argentina and cuevas will always be popular.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

That seems very high for locals that don't make much.

i can't keep stressing that a huge amount of Argies have "generational wealth" in Dollars that most USA folks can't comprehend. they don't 'make much' on paper because only the silly people make salaries "in the White" because the gov't has been so tyrannical for decades.

Argentines aren't as poor as the internet says. they have just mastered evading the State, out of survival and necessity to pass wealth to their family.

i watch everyyyyyyyyy day as Locals buy things that are more expensive than in the USA. mushrooms in Mendoza, for example. 5,000 Pesos ($4 USD) for a 250-gram pack. that would be what, a dollar at Kroger stores? $2 if it wasn't on sale? Mushrooms have been 4,200 to 5,000 Pesos for a tiny pack for at least 8 months. are they all rotting, you'd ask? nope! they get purchased. by the people here who essentially have no bills:

1. get free SUBE card from some category.
2. get subsidized groceries from something else.
3. get monthly welfare checks.
4. get a pension/retirement, on top of investments abroad.
5. have huge amounts of USD $100 bills that can be converted into Pesos at the best rate, when needed.
6. get discounts on everything with CencoPay, CarrefourCredit, MODO, MercadoPago, pay less than tourists and Residents with locals-only pricing.
7. have no mortgage because you inherited a house that is paid-off.
8. electricity and food are the only expenses.

see how Locals have it so cheap? you'll know when they actually can't afford electricity rates, because their A/C won't be running while windows are left open, cracks in insulation, missing caulking, window pieces unrepaired for years, etc.

just know the contradiction seems to be there because the communists are lying to you @Uncle Wong - i promise the widow that lives 2 doors down from me hasn't worked in years and gets a monthly check, AND has a ton of Dollars in her house and in foreign accounts. Argies just won't tell strangers because it's hard to trust people when the government has been so tyrannical

that's why they buy $3 cans of 473mL Amstel and 15,000-Peso/kg luxury cuts of beef for their constant Asados...there are billions of dollars in Argentina, and not that many Argies (yes the Bolivians and Venezuelans might actually be poor, sure, there are poor everywhere and always will be)

banks

sure, and if taxes are higher than the 40% MODO discount, it might make more sense. but they're using cash overwhelmingly because on paper they are poor, but under their mattress is more money than you've seen in your life 🙂 like 80% of the economy is hidden, and 20% of the US Dollars in circulation are in Argentina

some prices for the haters (see attached photos), info from my receipt today:

Flour kg = 549 Pesos
Sugar kg = 899 Pesos
Crackers 500g = 1,120 Pesos
Eggs x30 big brown = 8,000 Pesos minus 40% MODO fri-sun = 4,800 Pesos !!!!!!

and last month i snagged a shitload of beers:
Budweiser liter = 1,450 Pesos

and this wasn't even a discount day....it was just a regular Thursday at Vea/cencosud. imagine how cheap they would be without the 21% tax, which was 3,004 Pesos added to my 25,000 Peso bill 😛

also attached from last weekend was one of the top 5 Lomito sandwiches i've had in the past year - Cordoba still wins by 5% but mannnnnn i could eat that sweet steak sandwich 2x/day and not get bored of it

 

[StatusNomadicus]

so it will go even higher. Maybe for an American it is ok but that is a lot for an Argentine to spend

and people will adjust to the real-world rate. Argies overall are incredibly wasteful of utilities, because they have been nearly 'free' for so long. gotta change. close the door. use insulation. run inverters instead of On/Off Mini-Splits. get dual-pane glass. the rest of the world has figured this out, and here they will, also

and see previous post about the generational wealth....the poor in Argentina likely don't even have A/C, so it's sort of moot. my gym trainer lives in an apartment without A/C and he's fine other than Jan/Feb/Mar when he just goes to bed later and uses a fan. he's a local and isn't interested in getting A/C, just like folks in France and Washington State and San Francisco. some people just don't need it

many Americans are poor, as well. of course

cuevas will always be popular.

only as long as there's a need for a Black Market. if drugs were de-criminalized in the USA, the cartels would lose all their power. likewise, if there were no National-level currency communist restrictions, there would be no need for secret financial offices, because the government wouldn't be able to see your bank account; it would be private between the bank and you. these things aren't crazy ideas; they're the result of the Enlightenment and with Blockchain we're even closer to this type of individual-level decentralization. black markets only exist and thrive with an oppressive State

 

[Betsy Ross]

i can't keep stressing that a huge amount of Argies have "generational wealth" in Dollars that most USA folks can't comprehend. they don't 'make much' on paper because only the silly people make salaries "in the White" because the gov't has been so tyrannical for decades.

Argentines aren't as poor as the internet says. they have just mastered evading the State, out of survival and necessity to pass wealth to their family.

i watch everyyyyyyyyy day as Locals buy things that are more expensive than in the USA. mushrooms in Mendoza, for example. 5,000 Pesos ($4 USD) for a 250-gram pack. that would be what, a dollar at Kroger stores? $2 if it wasn't on sale? Mushrooms have been 4,200 to 5,000 Pesos for a tiny pack for at least 8 months. are they all rotting, you'd ask? nope! they get purchased. by the people here who essentially have no bills:

1. get free SUBE card from some category.
2. get subsidized groceries from something else.
3. get monthly welfare checks.
4. get a pension/retirement, on top of investments abroad.
5. have huge amounts of USD $100 bills that can be converted into Pesos at the best rate, when needed.
6. get discounts on everything with CencoPay, CarrefourCredit, MODO, MercadoPago, pay less than tourists and Residents with locals-only pricing.
7. have no mortgage because you inherited a house that is paid-off.
8. electricity and food are the only expenses.

see how Locals have it so cheap? you'll know when they actually can't afford electricity rates, because their A/C won't be running while windows are left open, cracks in insulation, missing caulking, window pieces unrepaired for years, etc.

just know the contradiction seems to be there because the communists are lying to you @Uncle Wong - i promise the widow that lives 2 doors down from me hasn't worked in years and gets a monthly check, AND has a ton of Dollars in her house and in foreign accounts. Argies just won't tell strangers because it's hard to trust people when the government has been so tyrannical

that's why they buy $3 cans of 473mL Amstel and 15,000-Peso/kg luxury cuts of beef for their constant Asados...there are billions of dollars in Argentina, and not that many Argies (yes the Bolivians and Venezuelans might actually be poor, sure, there are poor everywhere and always will be)


sure, and if taxes are higher than the 40% MODO discount, it might make more sense. but they're using cash overwhelmingly because on paper they are poor, but under their mattress is more money than you've seen in your life 🙂 like 80% of the economy is hidden, and 20% of the US Dollars in circulation are in Argentina

some prices for the haters (see attached photos), info from my receipt today:

Flour kg = 549 Pesos
Sugar kg = 899 Pesos
Crackers 500g = 1,120 Pesos
Eggs x30 big brown = 8,000 Pesos minus 40% MODO fri-sun = 4,800 Pesos !!!!!!

and last month i snagged a shitload of beers:
Budweiser liter = 1,450 Pesos

and this wasn't even a discount day....it was just a regular Thursday at Vea/cencosud. imagine how cheap they would be without the 21% tax, which was 3,004 Pesos added to my 25,000 Peso bill 😛

also attached from last weekend was one of the top 5 Lomito sandwiches i've had in the past year - Cordoba still wins by 5% but mannnnnn i could eat that sweet steak sandwich 2x/day and not get bored of it

Very true about locals having more money than they claim they have. Many people are working under the table and almost every business has a component where they are not charging IVA even though they are supposed to. It's too high so people cheat. Lots of poor too here. I have many friends that have money but they are also feeling the pinch and dining out far less.

If you look at the numbers about 10% of the population traveled outside of Argentina for vacation. Most to Brazil in January. That doesn't sound like people that are struggling.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

they are also feeling the pinch and dining out far less.

for sure, my lady was recently in the USA and said that dining out has become even more expensive for more people. probably a global thing, not necessarily just Argentina or US economies. although, i will say that i had lunch with a local in Mendoza and they didn't seem very shocked to spend 42,000 Pesos on a two-person dish and a 17,000 Peso bottle of wine for a classy but not 5-star meal downtown...after 10% tip it was about 65,000 or $50 USD for 2 people for a normal amount of food! they live on a State pension just fine because they have nearly zero bills, and aren't upper-class by any means...lives in a small apartment and spends money on food and travel 🙂

i was shocked that someone would spend that on a meal that i could have made for less than $10 USD, and a bottle of wine that is probably $6 USD at a grocery store.

but it's important to note that normal folks like us choosing not to dine out for a few months while prices are crazy...this isn't necessarily a sign that aRgEnTiNa Is ExPeNsIvE iN dOlLaRs NoW as the handful of peronists here like to lie about....it's probably just a sign that we're finally admitting that we've been in a global recession for a while now, and the individual choices of billions of people are part of the free market. with higher prices means less demand, so supply is too high and then prices go down naturally. choosing to eat a $20 USD burger in Palermo is signaling to the Market that it's a good price. vote with your "Dollar" or Peso and cook more, or seek-out cheaper places 🙂

but overall the metric of 'people aren't going to nice touristy restaurants anymore' doesn't to me reflect that Argentina is expensive, but that it's just currently not a time where it makes sense to dine-out more than 1x/week. which is what i've been trying to stress here the past few months: Argentina is still incredibly affordable for necessities, compared to the US and EU. globally prices are going up, inflation is here to stay, Comrade Trump's tariffs are going to wreck even more people, so claiming that suddenly Argentina is expensive while ignoring the rest of the world is silly. if the cost of gasoline goes up in 100% of the world, would it make sense for me to claim that suddenly Argentina is too expensive to buy gas? 😛

just did grocery delivery from Coto and Carrefour - fantastic prices on so many things! 100k Pesos got me sooooo much stuff, which probably would cost $250 USD in other places. Carrefour today 07Apr has a 20% MercadoPago discount online, for example

Coto = 999 Pesos for a liter of whole milk, 1,700 Pesos per kg of bananas (i can get cheaper nearby, but still decent).
Carrefour = 1,690 Pesos for a liter of beer, 858 Pesos for a four-pack of cheap toilet paper https://www.carrefour.com.ar/papel-higienico-sol-mayor-hoja-simple-x4-30-mts-751997/p

too easy to buy things in bulk every couple weeks and spend half of what others are spending when they go to the store daily for immediate needs. this is something i choose to do constantly, not just when there's a recession. as well as not patronizing expensive restaurants when there are many with good prices. or you can cook, and also avoid ingesting Seed Oils and margarine 24/7, which almost all restaurants use



also of note for those researching, the cost of my internet for my Mendoza house and 2 cellphone data plans is a total of 25,000 Pesos, 10% off using a specific digital wallet, so about $17 USD per month 🙂 - what does internet and phone data x2 cost in the USA? with T-Mobile it's $125 USD.

back to MEP, today's rates on market open:

Blue Dollar 1,290 "Compra" / 1,310
MEP 1,340 (estimated real-world ~1,252)
Santander instant MEP 1,325.54 to trade Dollars for Pesos
Crypto 1,358
Western Union 1,318 +fees

 

[StatusNomadicus]

update for the economic chaos, for posterity 07Apr2025:

Blue Dollar 1,325 "Compra" / 1,345
MEP 1,370 (estimated real-world Visa/Mastercard ~1,280)
Santander instant MEP 1,355 to trade Dollars for Pesos (1,362 Compra)
Crypto 1,379
Western Union 1,331 +fees

the market has been moving! good for tourists, probably not ideal for normal Argies trying to hustle and save USD

 

[earlyretirement]

i can't keep stressing that a huge amount of Argies have "generational wealth" in Dollars that most USA folks can't comprehend. they don't 'make much' on paper because only the silly people make salaries "in the White" because the gov't has been so tyrannical for decades.

Argentines aren't as poor as the internet says. they have just mastered evading the State, out of survival and necessity to pass wealth to their family.

i watch everyyyyyyyyy day as Locals buy things that are more expensive than in the USA. mushrooms in Mendoza, for example. 5,000 Pesos ($4 USD) for a 250-gram pack. that would be what, a dollar at Kroger stores? $2 if it wasn't on sale? Mushrooms have been 4,200 to 5,000 Pesos for a tiny pack for at least 8 months. are they all rotting, you'd ask? nope! they get purchased. by the people here who essentially have no bills:

Yes very true. I point this out many times. There is a tremendous amount of generational wealth in Argentina. Don't get me wrong. There is a LOT of poverty as well. Lots. But if you go to many wealthier neighborhoods (Recoleta, Palermo, Belgrano, Nuñez, Puerto Madero, Northern Suburbs) a ton of these people are extremely wealthy.

I have said many times my wealthy Argentine friends put my wealthy American friends to shame. And it is lots and lots of people. You have to remember that Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world at the turn of the century. Their GDP was ahead of Germany and France. Lots of wealth was created and that's how you also see so many restaurants/bars always full no matter how bad the economy is. It's been like this since I came down in 2001.

Much of their income is totally off the books. Very little is getting reported. Go to buy an apartment or house and legally you are supposed to pay 21% IVA tax on realtors, lawyers, etc. Very little of that gets reported and it's like that on many things. People just declare the minimum to avoid issues.

Because the taxes are so high, people just evade them. In the USA this doesn't happen because people can have severe issues but in Argentina it's totally different so you can't go by what people say they make.

update for the economic chaos, for posterity 07Apr2025:

Blue Dollar 1,325 "Compra" / 1,345
MEP 1,370 (estimated real-world Visa/Mastercard ~1,280)
Santander instant MEP 1,355 to trade Dollars for Pesos (1,362 Compra)
Crypto 1,379
Western Union 1,331 +fees

the market has been moving! good for tourists, probably not ideal for normal Argies trying to hustle and save USD

Yep I've posted for a while now that the peso is inflated and artificially high. It needs to come to reasonable levels. I posted a bunch about the situation on X. I'd expect more turmoil and the USD to go up.

 

[VINO]

for sure, my lady was recently in the USA and said that dining out has become even more expensive for more people. probably a global thing, not necessarily just Argentina or US economies. although, i will say that i had lunch with a local in Mendoza and they didn't seem very shocked to spend 42,000 Pesos on a two-person dish and a 17,000 Peso bottle of wine for a classy but not 5-star meal downtown...after 10% tip it was about 65,000 or $50 USD for 2 people for a normal amount of food! they live on a State pension just fine because they have nearly zero bills, and aren't upper-class by any means...lives in a small apartment and spends money on food and travel 🙂

i was shocked that someone would spend that on a meal that i could have made for less than $10 USD, and a bottle of wine that is probably $6 USD at a grocery store.

but it's important to note that normal folks like us choosing not to dine out for a few months while prices are crazy...this isn't necessarily a sign that aRgEnTiNa Is ExPeNsIvE iN dOlLaRs NoW as the handful of peronists here like to lie about....it's probably just a sign that we're finally admitting that we've been in a global recession for a while now, and the individual choices of billions of people are part of the free market. with higher prices means less demand, so supply is too high and then prices go down naturally. choosing to eat a $20 USD burger in Palermo is signaling to the Market that it's a good price. vote with your "Dollar" or Peso and cook more, or seek-out cheaper places 🙂

I think that restaurants in BA can be as much or more than the US depending on where you go. $50 dollars for 2 people is not difficult to spend in BA. Many times I will spend even up to $100 for 2 people with a glass of wine or 2 each.

If you own a property you can get by for very little in Argentina. Argentina is expensive in dollars for some things. Rents and utilities are still a deal. But it is not just Peronists that are saying how expensive it is. Many expats are writing the same thing. Look at some popular foreigners that post and you will see them complaining too so this is not a local thing. Here you see a huge Milei fan and he is posting that Melbourne, Australia is cheaper than Buenos Aires now. So @StatusNomadicus perhaps you haven't been to BA in a while but it is certainly not cheap here and has nothing to do with a Peronist or not.

 

[Blockchain]

they have just mastered evading the State

It seems like just about everyone in Argentina avoids as much taxes as possible. I met a ton of people when I was there in many different jobs and they all had income off the books. My friend just bought an apartment and she was telling me wild story of how they didn't even use the real price on the title deed! That is wild. No capital gains taxes if you don't show a gain! Unreal.

It looks like even Milei evaded taxes before he became President.

Milei's private dinners, cash and political transparency

What's at stake in a US$20,000-steaks case...

www.batimes.com.ar

 

[StatusNomadicus]

My friend just bought an apartment and she was telling me wild story of how they didn't even use the real price on the title deed!

i TRIED to declare 100% when i bought my normal house, and the Seller refused to do the deal. my Notary said it would be suspicious to have the only property in Mendoza that was worth what it actually was worth on ZonaProp. i ended up having to declare 40% - i don't know if you can even find a normal Argie to do that kind of deal. maybe only earlyretirement has been successful at declaring 100% on his buildings/apartments

a huge Milei fan and he is posting that Melbourne, Australia is cheaper than Buenos Aires now.

he needs to provide proof, then. for what lifestyle? a luxury apartment in the best area, dining out 3 times a day? i've never been Down Under, but these vague posts with no prices, details, comparisons, etc. aren't helpful. with a quick Twitter search i found the opposite:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. https://x.com/AnonymousFrypan/status/1909122053342626253

so, who's lying? i was in BsAs in November 2023...it was still "expensive" then in many places, even at the end of the cheap Steak Bro era. i could walk 15 minutes and see Don Julio's $120 USD steak, then a 40-cent empanada, then a sweet happy hour burger and beers deal for mega cheap, then a sushi/exotic place with $40 USD prices per person.

context is everything. maybe i should make a signature spot for each of my posts that says 'yes any city in the world has restaurants and businesses that will take money from the foolish and wealthy who want to flaunt their status'

but overwhelmingly, zero people here have offered proof of high prices at stores. earlyretirement is the only one sharing receipt photos...but he and i have opposite tastes, and i would never go to any of the restaurants he goes to in San Diego, either (i'd be at the taco restaurant ran by a family, with cheaper and homemade food).

so, @VINO not to pick on you but you're the one commenting - you've seen my hundreds of pieces of data here over the past year. you know i post prices from CABA stores like Carrefour and Jumbo....so what else would you like me to do? i think those who are in the camp that their life of luxury in Buenos Aires is changed and now they have to pay normal world prices, after a short era of economic misery and 60% stated poverty...are not going to change their pre-decided opinion, no matter the evidence.

but for the rest of the people who want to visit Argentina, i think we do a disservice to would-be folks by saying that Argentina is now unlivable or more expensive than comparable cities. i know it would have dissuaded me from coming here, if everyone repeated that ARGENTINA IS NOW EXPENSIVE IN DOLLARS, more than Australia! highly doubt it; the onus is on the one making the claim

i completely disagree that anything has changed when it comes to prices in Argentina, but i can't clone myself and walk the streets of BsAs; all i can do is use websites and Google Streetview. for me:

A. Buenos Aires has a luxury lifestyle option for people who want to pay for it, just like any city in the world.

B. Argentina is overwhelmingly still cheap in Dollars for a basic living (Uber, apartment, buying groceries, bus).

C. sure, subsidies are going away and now a $5 USD electricity bill for 3 months out of the year will be more realistic to the rest of the world (be more conscious of waste, and vote for local Nuclear power plants).

D. those who haven't been outside Argentina after ~2022 or so haven't felt the pain that people in the USA are still feeling. see posts below; the USA changed a lot after the Plandemic and its money-printing. not to mention the decline in safety and services post-2014 anti-cop era. Argies don't have debt...people in the USA have so much debt and most people don't have $500 saved for a small emergency. completely different situations.

2025: https://x.com/Imperial_Syndic/status/1908189947213070624
2025: https://x.com/YdoUH8M3/status/1908315395830014099
2024: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1790389946211016915
2023: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1695883280095072435
2023: https://x.com/BowTiedOx/status/1708356003014549862
2022: https://x.com/MacroAlf/status/1512813845278081027
2022: https://x.com/KevinRobertsTX/status/1574493949804380160
2021: https://x.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1410794968600530946

anyone want to argue any of the A/B/C/D above?

 

[earlyretirement]

i TRIED to declare 100% when i bought my normal house, and the Seller refused to do the deal. my Notary said it would be suspicious to have the only property in Mendoza that was worth what it actually was worth on ZonaProp. i ended up having to declare 40% - i don't know if you can even find a normal Argie to do that kind of deal. maybe only earlyretirement has been successful at declaring 100% on his buildings/apartments

Ha, you don't know how many deals I have had to walk away from over the past 23 years because sellers refused to sell unless we declared some crazy low number like that. 40% is just too low for most of our investors because remember you have a 15% capital gains tax when you sell. You are stuck doing the same thing but you might not be able to find a buyer that will do that. But yes it's true that almost all sellers won't sell unless you use a fake lower price. Here in Buenos Aires most ethical Escribanos won't allow you to go less than 70% of true value.

Yes, I have been successful on hundreds of properties declaring the full value. Also, on pozo developments they use the real price too with reputable developers. However, even there many times local buyers will insist on using fake lower prices. When possible I always like doing things legally but to be honest it is difficult to do every transaction 100% in white just because this society makes it almost impossible with currency controls, high IVA taxes, etc. Even if you want to do things legal it doesn't mean you will be successful.

he needs to provide proof, then. for what lifestyle? a luxury apartment in the best area, dining out 3 times a day? i've never been Down Under, but these vague posts with no prices, details, comparisons, etc. aren't helpful. with a quick Twitter search i found the opposite:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. https://x.com/AnonymousFrypan/status/1909122053342626253

so, who's lying? i was in BsAs in November 2023...it was still "expensive" then in many places, even at the end of the cheap Steak Bro era. i could walk 15 minutes and see Don Julio's $120 USD steak, then a 40-cent empanada, then a sweet happy hour burger and beers deal for mega cheap, then a sushi/exotic place with $40 USD prices per person.

I don't think people need to get angry and call one person a liar and another not. Everyone has different tastes, styles and budgets. So for one person that has a simple life that doesn't go out much, eat out in restaurants much, etc. and say prices are cheap and another that does and contradicts then. Who is right or wrong? Both? Neither?

Argentina is still MUCH cheaper overall than most places in the first world when you factor in the cheap rent and transportation costs getting around. However, in many, many restaurants prices are already more than many places. I posted lots and lots of receipts from different areas of California, Buenos Aires, Paris, London, etc. That doesn't mean they are cheaper than BA. Just in some categories. A fairer assessment would be to say that some things are less expensive and some things are more expensive.

Just about all the locals in BA complain about the higher cost of living. I'm heading down again in a few weeks and will post some more receipts.

context is everything. maybe i should make a signature spot for each of my posts that says 'yes any city in the world has restaurants and businesses that will take money from the foolish and wealthy who want to flaunt their status'

but overwhelmingly, zero people here have offered proof of high prices at stores. earlyretirement is the only one sharing receipt photos...but he and i have opposite tastes, and i would never go to any of the restaurants he goes to in San Diego, either (i'd be at the taco restaurant ran by a family, with cheaper and homemade food).

so, @VINO not to pick on you but you're the one commenting - you've seen my hundreds of pieces of data here over the past year. you know i post prices from CABA stores like Carrefour and Jumbo....so what else would you like me to do? i think those who are in the camp that their life of luxury in Buenos Aires is changed and now they have to pay normal world prices, after a short era of economic misery and 60% stated poverty...are not going to change their pre-decided opinion, no matter the evidence.

but for the rest of the people who want to visit Argentina, i think we do a disservice to would-be folks by saying that Argentina is now unlivable or more expensive than comparable cities. i know it would have dissuaded me from coming here, if everyone repeated that ARGENTINA IS NOW EXPENSIVE IN DOLLARS, more than Australia! highly doubt it; the onus is on the one making the claim

i completely disagree that anything has changed when it comes to prices in Argentina, but i can't clone myself and walk the streets of BsAs; all i can do is use websites and Google Streetview. for me:

A. Buenos Aires has a luxury lifestyle option for people who want to pay for it, just like any city in the world.

B. Argentina is overwhelmingly still cheap in Dollars for a basic living (Uber, apartment, buying groceries, bus).

C. sure, subsidies are going away and now a $5 USD electricity bill for 3 months out of the year will be more realistic to the rest of the world (be more conscious of waste, and vote for local Nuclear power plants).

D. those who haven't been outside Argentina after ~2022 or so haven't felt the pain that people in the USA are still feeling. see posts below; the USA changed a lot after the Plandemic and its money-printing. not to mention the decline in safety and services post-2014 anti-cop era. Argies don't have debt...people in the USA have so much debt and most people don't have $500 saved for a small emergency. completely different situations.

2025: https://x.com/Imperial_Syndic/status/1908189947213070624
2025: https://x.com/YdoUH8M3/status/1908315395830014099
2024: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1790389946211016915
2023: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1695883280095072435
2023: https://x.com/BowTiedOx/status/1708356003014549862
2022: https://x.com/MacroAlf/status/1512813845278081027
2022: https://x.com/KevinRobertsTX/status/1574493949804380160
2021: https://x.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1410794968600530946

anyone want to argue any of the A/B/C/D above?

If you have dollars to spend you can't really complain. The poor locals earning pesos are the ones who can complain. I saw that post on X by that poster. A good case study of someone that moved here when things were really cheap, saying how everything was going to be awesome in Argentina, rented an apartment in BA, left his home country of Australia comes to BA and then has to end up working for an Australian company and now complaining that BA is more expensive than Australia. LOL. That is Argentina in a nutshell. It can change drastically year to year. And who knows, in another year it can be cheap again.

 

[Betsy Ross]

i TRIED to declare 100% when i bought my normal house, and the Seller refused to do the deal. my Notary said it would be suspicious to have the only property in Mendoza that was worth what it actually was worth on ZonaProp. i ended up having to declare 40% - i don't know if you can even find a normal Argie to do that kind of deal. maybe only earlyretirement has been successful at declaring 100% on his buildings/apartments

Wow! 40% is very low. Aren't you worried about the capital gains tax because your gain will look even bigger? The same thing happened to me when I bought. I walked away from the first 2 apartments because of this. Then I figured out that there was no way to buy what I wanted without doing this. We aren't accustomed to lying or cheating taxes as Americans. Took me a while to get my head around this.

I think I had to end up using 65% but there was no capital gains tax when I bought. That was added later so I won't have any when I sell.

 

[earlyretirement]

so, who's lying? i was in BsAs in November 2023...it was still "expensive" then in many places, even at the end of the cheap Steak Bro era. i could walk 15 minutes and see Don Julio's $120 USD steak, then a 40-cent empanada, then a sweet happy hour burger and beers deal for mega cheap, then a sushi/exotic place with $40 USD prices per person.

Cost of living has gone up dramatically @StatusNomadicus for most people in Argentina over the past year. Yet another person I know throwing in the towel and moving out of Buenos Aires as it is too expensive now. This is my sister in law's boyfriend's brother and his wife. Both engineers with decent jobs and a 2 children. They studied in Argentina and got their degrees and have lived in Argentina for the past several years. First in Rosario and in Buenos Aires the past 3 years. They are finally throwing in the towel as it's gotten too expensive to make it in Argentina. They are moving back to Colombia.

Talk to just about anyone with kids and they will tell you how the cost of living has drastically gone up.

 

[James Bond]

i TRIED to declare 100% when i bought my normal house, and the Seller refused to do the deal. my Notary said it would be suspicious to have the only property in Mendoza that was worth what it actually was worth on ZonaProp. i ended up having to declare 40% - i don't know if you can even find a normal Argie to do that kind of deal. maybe only earlyretirement has been successful at declaring 100% on his buildings/apartments


he needs to provide proof, then. for what lifestyle? a luxury apartment in the best area, dining out 3 times a day? i've never been Down Under, but these vague posts with no prices, details, comparisons, etc. aren't helpful. with a quick Twitter search i found the opposite:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. https://x.com/AnonymousFrypan/status/1909122053342626253

so, who's lying? i was in BsAs in November 2023...it was still "expensive" then in many places, even at the end of the cheap Steak Bro era. i could walk 15 minutes and see Don Julio's $120 USD steak, then a 40-cent empanada, then a sweet happy hour burger and beers deal for mega cheap, then a sushi/exotic place with $40 USD prices per person.

context is everything. maybe i should make a signature spot for each of my posts that says 'yes any city in the world has restaurants and businesses that will take money from the foolish and wealthy who want to flaunt their status'

but overwhelmingly, zero people here have offered proof of high prices at stores. earlyretirement is the only one sharing receipt photos...but he and i have opposite tastes, and i would never go to any of the restaurants he goes to in San Diego, either (i'd be at the taco restaurant ran by a family, with cheaper and homemade food).

so, @VINO not to pick on you but you're the one commenting - you've seen my hundreds of pieces of data here over the past year. you know i post prices from CABA stores like Carrefour and Jumbo....so what else would you like me to do? i think those who are in the camp that their life of luxury in Buenos Aires is changed and now they have to pay normal world prices, after a short era of economic misery and 60% stated poverty...are not going to change their pre-decided opinion, no matter the evidence.

but for the rest of the people who want to visit Argentina, i think we do a disservice to would-be folks by saying that Argentina is now unlivable or more expensive than comparable cities. i know it would have dissuaded me from coming here, if everyone repeated that ARGENTINA IS NOW EXPENSIVE IN DOLLARS, more than Australia! highly doubt it; the onus is on the one making the claim

i completely disagree that anything has changed when it comes to prices in Argentina, but i can't clone myself and walk the streets of BsAs; all i can do is use websites and Google Streetview. for me:

A. Buenos Aires has a luxury lifestyle option for people who want to pay for it, just like any city in the world.

B. Argentina is overwhelmingly still cheap in Dollars for a basic living (Uber, apartment, buying groceries, bus).

C. sure, subsidies are going away and now a $5 USD electricity bill for 3 months out of the year will be more realistic to the rest of the world (be more conscious of waste, and vote for local Nuclear power plants).

D. those who haven't been outside Argentina after ~2022 or so haven't felt the pain that people in the USA are still feeling. see posts below; the USA changed a lot after the Plandemic and its money-printing. not to mention the decline in safety and services post-2014 anti-cop era. Argies don't have debt...people in the USA have so much debt and most people don't have $500 saved for a small emergency. completely different situations.

2025: https://x.com/Imperial_Syndic/status/1908189947213070624
2025: https://x.com/YdoUH8M3/status/1908315395830014099
2024: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1790389946211016915
2023: https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1695883280095072435
2023: https://x.com/BowTiedOx/status/1708356003014549862
2022: https://x.com/MacroAlf/status/1512813845278081027
2022: https://x.com/KevinRobertsTX/status/1574493949804380160
2021: https://x.com/DanPriceSeattle/status/1410794968600530946

anyone want to argue any of the A/B/C/D above?

It is mind boggling that you keep trying to argue that prices that prices are the same as last year. Everyone is telling you that life is more expensive for them. Everyone. People like me posted how we had to move out of Argentina because life got too expensive. You have foreigners online that are complaining how Argentina got more expensive for them. You have digital nomads that have left BA because of higher cost of living.

I am not calling you a liar but just want to try to understand. Do you think everyone else in the world is lying? Every friend, every family member, every one that my girlfriend knows, all her family are all complaining about high cost of living. Sure their salaries went up a bit but not matching the increase in cost of things.

Great and dandy that your costs don't seem to have gone up much. But are you discounting everyone else out there and everyone on the internet that keeps telling you how expensive things have become? Not just expats but locals too?

Just trying to understand.