America’s Cheapest?

Roving Latin America Editor Lee Harrison assures us that Uruguay is the most affordable place you’d want to spend time in the Americas. Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, et al. …sure, they’re cheap, he agrees. But Uruguay’s cheaper.

Our man in Argentina, Paul Reynolds, disagrees. “Argentina, not Uruguay, is the cheapest place to spend time on this continent,” he asserted over dinner the other night, “no matter what your editor says.”

You’ve got to remember two things before you make any judgment yourself. First, are you talking about the cost of spending time in the country as a tourist…or as a resident? These different lifestyles carry different price tags. Second, while you’re in the country, whether passing through or establishing your new home, how do you intend to live? As a local…or as an expat abroad? Again, these two lifestyles vary…as do their accompanying costs.

I admit it…I like to be comfortable. I like hot water. I enjoy nice dinners out with a good bottle of wine. Jack and I appreciate a DVD player. Lief and I will go out of our way for wi-fi or broadband. And I’m a big fan of Maytag.

On the other hand, it’s the local experience of a town…of a neighborhood…the culture and the traditions of the people…the way they spend their Friday nights and their Sunday afternoons…that attracts me to new locales in the first place. I like to be part of the local scene, not isolated in a gated community of gringos.

When planning a budget for a move to another country, be honest with yourself about your own priorities and preferences. Don’t kid yourself that a “local-style” kitchen or laundry room will suffice…if it won’t. Admit and make a list of the comforts, services, and conveniences you don’t want to give up…then find out how much it’ll cost you to preserve them in your new home.

Back to Uruguay versus Argentina. Here are my and Lief’s impressions:

Apartments in Buenos Aires are not the bargain they were after the crash, certainly, but they’re also much appreciated from levels even 18 months ago. Indeed, we believe they’re at their highest levels in history…certainly in recent history. Prime apartments in Recoleta and Retiro, the two chicest addresses, are pushing $3,000 per square meter and more. (When we bought three years ago, these same apartments were trading for $1,000 per square meter and less.) You may still find one that strikes you as a good deal but realize you’re probably paying more for it than anyone ever has. Our contacts in the city say prices are still moving up but less swiftly.

In Montevideo, on the other hand, right now, it’s reported that you can buy the best the city has to offer for less than $1,000 per square meter. We’re making the 20-minute flight from B.A. later this week to see for ourselves.

The real estate buy in Argentina today is in the interior of this big, beautiful country. Ranchland, farmland, wine land…a finca, a vineyard…these products are almost irresistibly priced right now.

Looking beyond property, you’ll see that:

Taxis in B.A. are metered and can be cheaper than taxis in Panama, which is saying something. Our family of four took a taxi from Recoleta to San Telmo last Sunday morning (to shop at the weekly San Telmo market) for less than $3.

Maybe the best bargain in B.A. and Argentina are the restaurants. You can have a full meal with wine for as little as $4 a head. It’s hard to spend more than $10 per person.

B.A. dry cleaners are the most affordable I’ve encountered. We’ve had clothes dry cleaned everywhere from Paris to Panama, London to Managua, Ireland to Honduras…and nowhere compares with the Argentine capital, where we paid this week about $1 per item.

Lief had his hair cut in Salta for $7, which he considers expensive. (He pays $1.50 in Granada…and, when desperate, $40 and more in Paris.)

Jack is interested in seeing “Pirates of the Caribbean II” this week. We noticed, passing the movie theater down the street, that tickets cost 7 pesos, or a little more than $2.

Generally speaking, things are priced in pesos what they might cost you in dollars…and the current exchange rate is 3 to 1 (pesos to Greenbacks). In other words, a pair of leather boots in Cafayete cost me 55 pesos ($18). In the States, I would have paid at least $55. In Paris, they might sell for 55 euro ($70) or better.

You’ve noticed, I’m sure, that these are the impressions of a couple of tourists. We’re enjoying an extended stay in Argentina…but we’re hardly living like residents, so our perspective of the cost of living is skewed.

What cost electricity? A telephone? Local taxes? Parking? A repairman for your washing machine? You’d have to ask Paul.

And, when you do, he’ll assure you that Argentina is the most affordable country in the Americas, be you a tourist or a resident, a local or a gringo. I’d add that you should come find out for yourself. This is a nice place to spend time…even if it’s not, absolutely speaking, the cheapest place in the hemisphere.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living