Economy No dollar purchases (for locals) unless travelling abroad?

[Extraname]

I have the pleasure to say I've been to just about every one of these cities on the list and I'd gladly live in the USA vs. most of these cities any day of the week.

Plus, with the crash in real estate prices, you can buy a nice property in most desirable cities in the USA for a big discount vs. just a few years ago. These cities on this list are nice but check out the cost of living or price of real estate in a desirable area in many of these cities and it will be much more expensive than the USA.

As to produce, most major metropolitan areas in the USA have great farmer's markets where you can get organic produce that is really amazing.

USA has it's fair share of problems but I would argue with anyone that the quality of life there is very good if you have steady income coming in.

You think? and why do you equate quality of life to money? I have to be honest here. Most of the rich Americans I know and I know some really rich ones, they are misserable. They are greedy self centered and frankly evil. Their children are typically a mess.

And I know poor Argentinians that are not greedy, in fact here.. not in BA.. I have yet to meet a greedy person.

Even my lawyers here are not like the creepy slimey lawyers in the US.

All this may be another story in BA but I am not in BA.

 

[Gerarder]

You think? and why do you equate quality of life to money? I have to be honest here. Most of the rich Americans I know and I know some really rich ones, they are misserable. They are greedy self centered and frankly evil. Their children are typically a mess.

And I know poor Argentinians that are not greedy, in fact here.. not in BA.. I have yet to meet a greedy person.

Even my lawyers here are not like the creepy slimey lawyers in the US.

All this may be another story in BA but I am not in BA.

You have not met a single greedy Porteño?? I find that quite hard to believe as some, especially with ex-pats, seem to think that an ex pat is the equivalent to a human ATM machine.

 

[RichardES]

You have not met a single greedy Porteño?? I find that quite hard to believe as some, especially with ex-pats, seem to think that an ex pat is the equivalent to a human ATM machine.[/quote]


read it again YankiGallego Tom doesnt live in Bsas ie the vipers nest of sleazy corrupt lawyers and all round scammers. I can quite believe outside of Bsas that good honest values exist, much the same as in Ireland where it wasnt your average Meath farmer flushing the country down the toilet!

 

[Gerarder]

LOL sorry, i did read that wrong. Yes, you are correct. Argentino is a totally different breed from Porteño. I'd say that about 1 out of every 3 Porteños, once they learn you are foreign, will try some funny business to get more bang for your buck. Either that or they will always try to one-up you in a competitive way that almost seems silly:

IE: You- I am chewing mint gum. Porteño- Oh yeah? Well I am chewing DOUBLE mint gum.

 

[earlyretirement]

Good quality of life I don't equate to money or being rich. But the sad truth is quality of life no matter in what country you in, finances are a factor in that and you must factor it in.

And Yanqui makes an excellent point. From my many years of living in Argentina, I can tell you with all sincerity that there is a much larger percentage of the population that just has very little ethics compared to first world countries like Canada, the USA, UK and most places in Europe.

Porteños, in large percentages would hesitate to try to cheat you or what they deem "ethical" is different than what most people from first world countries would deem ethical. In many cases I just think it comes to them growing up with what their parents consider ethical and it isn't what I'd consider ethical.

For the most part, you just don't have that hassle/scam factor like you have in Buenos Aires. And it's not just towards ex-pats. I've seen local families screw local family members so it's not just towards ex-pats. It's more so a way of life there and culturally how many were raised.

Any one that owns a company of any size there will know what I mean. You will have employees that will just be lazy and will stop performing waiting to get fired so the company has to pay them severance vs. quitting.

I love Argentina and always will but I have to call it as I see it and there is a severe hassle factor and lots of red tape in Argentina and you have to consider those kinds of things when you factor in true "quality of life".

 

[StarLucias]

LOL sorry, i did read that wrong. Yes, you are correct. Argentino is a totally different breed from Porteño. I'd say that about 1 out of every 3 Porteños, once they learn you are foreign, will try some funny business to get more bang for your buck. Either that or they will always try to one-up you in a competitive way that almost seems silly:

IE: You- I am chewing mint gum. Porteño- Oh yeah? Well I am chewing DOUBLE mint gum.

That reminds me of something that happened last week at the family-owned frozen-yogurt place I frequent (down on Talcahuano and Paraguay.) They recognize me when I come in, they know I'm from the States, we chat about Miami, etc. On my first visit back after 4 months away, the owner (who had never rung me up before) tried to give me change for a $50 after I'd paid with a $100. I stood there waiting until I got the whole, "oh, perdon!", "I thought you gave me a $50, here's the rest of your change, sorry about that" schpiel. Maybe it really was an honest mistake -- I'd like to think so, since I'm such a good customer there, and in the US, a small-business owner would NEVER risk alienating a regular -- but after going through the exact same thing last year at Est General (having to demand my $80 from the manager after a waitress short-changed me and vanished), I have to wonder whether, no matter how loyal of a customer you are, some business owners figure it's worth *trying* to short-change you in the hopes that you won't notice...

 

[Gerarder]

Yeah, they have done that to me before even at places where I'm a frequent customer. They also love to add things to your bill that you haven't ordered and hope you don't see it and just pay it.

 

[earlyretirement]

That reminds me of something that happened last week at the family-owned frozen-yogurt place I frequent (down on Talcahuano and Paraguay.) They recognize me when I come in, they know I'm from the States, we chat about Miami, etc. On my first visit back after 4 months away, the owner (who had never rung me up before) tried to give me change for a $50 after I'd paid with a $100. I stood there waiting until I got the whole, "oh, perdon!", "I thought you gave me a $50, here's the rest of your change, sorry about that" schpiel. Maybe it really was an honest mistake -- I'd like to think so, since I'm such a good customer there, and in the US, a small-business owner would NEVER risk alienating a regular -- but after going through the exact same thing last year at Est General (having to demand my $80 from the manager after a waitress short-changed me and vanished), I have to wonder whether, no matter how loyal of a customer you are, some business owners figure it's worth *trying* to short-change you in the hopes that you won't notice...

I doubt it was an "honest mistake". Business owners absolutely wouldn't confuse a 50 with a 100. The biggest problem of Porteños is they have a very short-sighted view with business and customer service.

Even with good customers, I've seen and experienced getting cheated. Even if they stand to make much more money with you over the long haul. They would rather make the money TODAY vs. making it over the next 10 years with you. They have such a "make as much as you can today" type of attitude.

It's like they have this attitude that they are getting screwed somehow or everyone else is doing it so they might as well. It's almost a way of life there with many people. Sure, not everyone is like this but many, many people and businesses there are like that.