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Holy Inflation!

By on in Randomness

We’ve now been back in Buenos Aires for a little over two weeks after being in the States for just over three months. The first thing we noticed upon being back (aside from the poor paper towel and toilet paper) was the amount that prices have increased.

We didn’t imagine that prices in three months would have gone up so much, but after being away, the price changes were very apparent:

  • Our normal order of a pizza and a dozen empanadas from La Guitarrita (with the La Nacion discount) went from $75 pesos to $98 pesos. (30%)
  • Our usual weekly grocery shopping went from $550/week to $700/week! (27%)
  • My haircut is now $65 pesos. This was actually a bargain as it only went up from $50 pesos a year ago. (30%)

And the official government numbers show 9% inflation? Sure it is.

While Buenos Aires may be affordable (if you’re earning dollars), it is definitely no longer cheap. Coming from New York City, you may find things to be a bit of a bargain, but comparing it to many smaller suburban cities, I’d say prices are pretty close when you’re shopping for groceries or goods. The one place where BA still beats the US is in services. House keepers, nannies, health and beauty services, etc. are still a bargain.

cheese balls 300x224 Holy Inflation!

No Cheese Balls in Argentina?

Anyhow, we had a great time in the States, but it’s nice to be back, especially as the weather starts to warm up.  We are still missing many of the things we grew used to having in the States though (even if this is the normal whiny expat list)…

  • TJ Maxx, Walmart, Home Depot and Hannaford – variety, variety, variety and much cheaper prices
  • Sugarfree Red Bull. For some reason, only regular Red Bull exists in BA.
  • Organic, pre-washed salads
  • Deli lunch meat…turkey, roast beef and all the other options
  • Stonyfield Farms Organic Yogurt – nothing in BA compares to the creaminess of this.
  • Sushi (not any cream cheese to be found)
  • Good Chinese food
  • Dill pickles
  • Peanut butter – we’re out of the jar we brought back already
  • Online shopping, especially Amazon.com who somehow can ship me a couch and loveseat in two days
  • Streaming music and video – Pandora, Hulu, and HBO GO
  • Electronics purchases – $50 for a refurbished Vizio soundbar that is now in BA with me. $99 for an HP Touchpad. A new Kindle. Ahhh…I am going to save so much money now.
  • The mountains of Vermont (minus the flooding)
It’s amazing that after three months we have to go through this adjustment period, but that just goes to show that even after being here for almost three years, there are a lot of differences – both good and bad.

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  • Gabriel Fuller

    So true! Inflation her is a bitch. And I agree with all of the things you miss EXCEPT for chinese food. It's true that chinese food in BA sucks, but I found a gem! It's in Palermo Soho, Uriarte and Niceto Vega on the corner. Incredible Chau Fan al Curry and their Spicy Chicken dish is pretty incredible too. For 60 Pesos! You get a nice hefty dinner for 4 people with rice and a meat dish! Can't beat it!

    • DaVe

      Thanks for the tip. We'll have to check it out. We have managed to get pretty decent Chinese in Barrio Chino too, but it's nice to get quick Chinese anywhere in the States and have it be pretty good! We did manage to have good Thai at Floating Lotus on Arribenos this past week too!

  • Bobby Walsh

    You are right about the inflation, but the other things you have no idea what you are talking about. No good Chinese food? WTF?? Have you ever been to Barrio Chino. No good Sushi? WTF!? There is great Sushi on every corner in Soho and Holly Wood. NO Peanut Butter?? Again…WTF are you talking about…Barrio Chino and any specialty store has it, and cheap. NO CREAM CHEESE?? Where do you live in BA?? They eat cream cheese on everything! I have been here for 6 years now, my advice to you is leave your bubble.

    • DaVe

      Bobby, I definitely have to respond to this one…

      Chinese food: I've been to Barrio Chino many times. There is decent food, but come on, great? No way. You can get good Chinese food anywhere in the States. Here, you can get decent Chinese food if you go to Barrio Chino. Try one of the random Chinese places anywhere else…ughh. Compared to NYC it's much worse.

      Sushi: It is horrible here. The only decent sushi comes from the very high-end places – Osaka, Paru, etc. And when I mentioned cream cheese, I was pointing out that I was happy that the sushi back in the States did not have any. Here it is a requirement to have cream cheese in everything. That is not sushi. How about something other than salmon? Red tuna – almost nonexistent here. Toro? Spicy roll? Crab? Lobster? Nada. Maybe your 6 years here have dulled your senses.

      Peanut Butter: I admit you can find peanut butter in Barrio Chino. It all has sugar. There is no organic, natural peanut butter anywhere.

      Like I said, some of these are whiny expat complaints, but I was pointing out the many things we'll miss from the States. My Argentine wife would be in full agreement with all of these.

      Argentina has it's benefits too, they're just getting more and more expensive to appreciate. I just paid $27 pesos for half a kilo of strawberries and 6 bananas this morning. I'm sure I could have gotten that cheaper in the States.

  • http://iargentina.tumblr.com Jay

    Dave I spent a great deal of time on your blog today soaking up all the great information. I am spending a whole month here and what a surprise that we are also in Palermo Hollywood (Arevalo and Nicaragua) so a lot of places you mention we are checking them out.

    BA has been a pleasant surprise for us but like you we are surprised that even with our Massachusetts roots with high prices for almost everything we find that whatever we see is highly overpriced. We are wondering how the Argentinians survive.

    We are not complaining too much about the prices because we are merely visiting and a month is flying by despite the higher than expected prices.

    Keep up the good work because we might revisit next year and your blog will be helpful again.

    • DaVe

      Thanks, Jay. Yeah, the prices are high and going higher. There have been a lot of wage increases, but no one knows how long they can keep that up. Now, with the recent dollar issues, it will be very interesting to see how it all turns out.

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