That's certainly been my experience. The gap is even wider for alcohol. A glass of decent red wine in a restaurant here is $15-25, a pint of beer is $8-12 and martinis are $15-22, plus 30% for tax and tip.
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What happens if Argentina gets too expensive? What are alternative cities/countries to move to when it's overpriced in Argentina?
- Thread starter Larry
- Start date
import export
Well-known member
Correct. People complaining about food prices usually are the expats that are stuck with weaker lower blue dollars that have not been to the United States in a while. Prices here will give most people sticker shock. Even in smaller cities. Went back shortly before Thanksgiving and was surprised at the price of everything. Not just restaurants but even at the store. Like you said @daveholman everything is 50% more than a few years ago.
import export
Well-known member
That is where they get you anywhere. I think everywhere that is the case with booze. Nice restaurants they get you even more. I was in a restaurant even here in Rio and the amount they charge on craft cocktails and some wines is border line crazy. But in the USA it is worse because of all the state and local taxes, service fees and tip. The cost of two drinks is the cost of 2 full meals back a few years ago! I am not sure how people aren't more upset about this.
VINO
Well-known member
That is where they make all the money in restaurants. It's not on the food but the drinks!
James Bond
Well-known member
This is something that takes getting used to. We are in the States visiting my relatives. It is shocking the amount of tips and service fees they charge here in the USA. Coming from Europe we don't leave so much if at all in some countries as it is included. In Argentina 10% is fine.
Here you order a drink and by the time you are all said and done it is 30% more than the advertised price! Why don't places just list the total price with all the taxes already on it? We got sticker shock coming here from Spain. People say food in BA is expensive but even with the higher prices it is less than here in the USA. And the prices have all the taxes included on them. Only thing we need to add on is 10% tip.
Here in New York we ate at a restaurant and I left 10% and the waiter embarrassed me. I was paying for my family for dinner. He stopped and asked what was wrong with his service. I was shocked. I didn't know what he meant. He said that 10% is embarrassingly low and expected more. It was an uncomfortable situation.
lemonade
Active member
I just joked the other day because I met an expat and he said the same thing. He was an Australian guy and was complaining about prices being more than America. I asked him when he was last in the US and he admitted he was never there before! He said he heard that prices in the US were the same as here. I joked and told him that he shouldn't compare prices unless he has been here. @daveholman my favorite burger is from Five Guys and the prices are astronomical for a burger, fries and drink!
Vince
Well-known member
5 Guys has awesome burgers but prices have gone up! $23 for a small fry, burger and drink.
Uncle Wong
Well-known member
5 Guys has taken a lot of flack online about their price increases. Doesn't seem to be slowing them down. I was looking at a Reddit post of people complaining about 5 Guys and someone posted about finding this old receipt from 5 Guys from 2013. It reminded me of Buenos Aires because you all are dealing with crazy inflation just in one year let alone 10+ years that people here are complaining about.
daveholman
Well-known member
One of the first questions I asked in these forums when I decided to move to BsAs is whether menu prices I saw included the 21% VAT, or if that was added at the end, like a sales tax in the US.
When they assured me the menu price includes the VAT, I thought...those prices aren't that bad.
Betsy Ross
Well-known member
Yes 21% is included on all the prices already. It is the same in most places in Europe which is nice including tip. In BA you still just need to add on 10%. When I visit my sister in Santa Barbara you get shell shock because you think it will be one price and then all the charges start coming on. One restaurant we went to added a mandatory 20% tip, they added 5% healthcare fee plus 9% sales tax.
earlyretirement
Moderator
@James Bond,
Sounds like you are getting a lot of company in Spain. So many Argentines moving to Spain.
Sounds like you are getting a lot of company in Spain. So many Argentines moving to Spain.
Not surprising so many people have to leave Argentina. Things are very difficult here right now.
Uncle Wong
Well-known member
Well it's good they are included but bad that they keep moving up. I wonder if Argentina will ever see stable inflation like the USA has? Argentina gets more inflation in one month than we get in 1 year.
Thanks for the update. I wonder if this chart will keep going up? From the sounds of things it sounds like it will keep going up. But I guess if you have a paid off place you probably can get by relatively affordably.
Cardiac Arrest
Active member
I think a lot of expats have left or are leaving soon. I sat next to some American girls at a coffee shop in Soho last weekend and they said they were leaving soon. They moved here a little over a year ago and were commenting how crazy everything was now. Everything from laundromats, food, coffee shops, groceries, healthcare to just about everything else.
I asked them where they were going to go and they said probably just back to the United States for now. Maybe Mexico after that. One said she would go to Brazil but they don't speak any Portuguese at all. I asked them if they spoke much Spanish and they said enough to get by.
I think if it gets much more expensive many more will leave.
Digital Nomad
Well-known member
I hear a lot of the same thing. Lots of expats complaining online too about the drastic cost of living change from last year. I keep hearing last year wasn't realistic but then they tell me this year isn't either. 🤣
What keeps people hear I think is family. Many I spoke to locally say their families moved to Spain and some are heading there soon. Many have businesses they can't leave. My girlfriend's dad has a few companies here. He is always complaining but it seems like if he left he couldn't manage it remotely. Sounds like the entire thing would fall apart without him.
Things can't keep going up forever and the million dollar question is when will it reach its peak?
A lot expats and long-term tourists seem to not like to cook and are constantly eating out. It makes sense when it was affordable and for many may be a hard habit to break or new skill to learn. Not sure if this is the case, but kinda the impression I get. Do most here eat out a lot, and have cut back to moderately priced places or do you find yourself cooking more often?
I keep hearing about many moving to Spain. Is it really that much cheaper, all-in?? My understanding is rent is more expensive but daily things such as food and grocery are now less expensive there. Or is it more life-style, efficiency, and opportunities just much better and cost is just one of many variables?
Good question. I think about the huge distance between Argentina and the major economies in the world, 10hr flight from the US (if you can get a direct) and 16+ from Europe. There has to be an added cost to that even if the place was functioning well, which it obviously isn't. Spain is a short hop to EU/UK and has had to operate under EU supervision for 20+ years.
Vince
Well-known member
The thing about Argentina is it sometimes can be difficult to predict. If everyone could do it then everyone would get rich. Even the top economists are puzzled here often. There is a limit to how high prices go because people just stop buying which is what we are seeing today. Before we left many people were slowing down beef consumption. So there is a fine line with how high prices can go. Already most restaurants are at that level. I doubt they can keep going up. At a certain point if they try to mark it up they will lose sales and lose more money. (That won't stop them from trying first!)
People here have a dining out culture. People need to learn to break that habit and with the high cost most already have cut back. Before inflation was so terrible people were in a hurry to spend their money and I think that is also why people dined out more. Now with costs so high and inflation slowing down I think it is slowed down with dining out. New habits and new budgets.
I like Spain and cost of living there is reasonable from what friends tell me. Dining out is less than Buenos Aires. Rents are more but groceries are very cheap there. We have many friends and family that moved there and very happy.
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