Author: drdan

Travel Weeks 50-51

So, I think I can finally call myself a digital nomad, as I have moved from the stage of going through tutorials to actually coding and getting things to work on a real server.

Days 345-359:

Vea Supermarket	670
Lettuce and tomato	60
Total:	730 ARS (USD 5.60)

After noting that the Vea sold packages of 8-10 jalepeno-like chili peppers in the produce aisle, I had a moment of brilliance when I realized that I could pickle them so that I wouldn’t be pressure to eat them all in one weekend. Furthermore, since I was already sitting on half a head of cabbage, I decided to make sauerkraut as well. The logical conclusion to these culinary insights was to make choripan over the weekend, stuffing the baguette with so many vegetables that I could on fit half a sausage in each sandwich.

Carrefour	1050 ARS
Total:	USD 8.05

The coup de grace came on Monday when I dedicated the third and final chorizo into a fried rice with two day old rice cooked in chorizo juices, sauerkraut, carrots, green onion, jalepenos, and egg. My mouth is watering at the memory of the dish that stretched three meals.

At the Carrefour, the most notable purchases were a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and a jar of dulce de leche. I’ve been craving a Hong Kong-style milk tea, but they don’t seem to have sweetened condensed milk in Argentina. Dulce de leche is not an appropriate substitute.

Atomo	556
Starbucks	750
Lomoro Helado	280
Vegetables	80
Total:	1666 ARS (USD 12.77)

I finally got around to buying olive oil (250) for real at the Atomo, where I also picked up a bottle of wine (221 on sale) in anticipation of the next presidential debate. However, since I am still not drinking, I bought a half-kilo of gelato for the Veep debate at a much cheaper ice cream shop. (Not as good, but mostly because I ordered something I thought was chocolate-based, but turned out to be a white, pink, and purple cross between chewing gum and birthday cake flavor). Starbucks upped their prices so much that I won’t be buying coffee there ever again.

Vea	665
Onions	30 (?)
Total:	695 ARS (USD 5.33)

Decided to try a recipe for a warm lentil salad involving onion, carrot, celery, and chard (which I think is called “acelga” here). For some reason, the Vea has the best price on carrots, the acelga was cheap enough, and I appreciated the convenience of not having to buy a whole celery. I had to pop over to the neighborhood vegetable stand for some parsley (which they gave me a handful of for free) and onions. Of course, I’ve been forgetting to jot down these costs, but I think it was 30 pesos (rounding up from 20 something with one extra onion).

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I didn’t need to show my passport at the supermarket because Friday is apparently the weekend and the province just adopted a new weekend liberalization policy so that people can go out Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays without restrictions based on their document number. I took advantage of the “Covid holiday” to take a walk on Saturday up to and around the Central Mercado, which I had never been into before. I’ll have to go back to do some shopping because although there are maybe only 10 counters (2 for meat, one for produce, etc), I found loose leaf Chinese tea and whole dried chili peppers and other tempting items.

Vea Supermarket	564 ARS
Total:	USD 4.32

I guess Columbus Day, or Indigenous People’s Day, is a holiday in Argentina. When I checked the online newspaper to see if it was the case, I found that the President of Argentina had announced that Mendoza and some other areas would have to return to lockdown like in March, meaning no more running in the park for me. Within hours, the governor of the province (who is of a different political party) gave a live address rebutting the order.

I didn’t really need to go to the store, mostly shopping just on impulse–3 tomato purees for the price of 2! chicken hind quarters at 105 pesos per kilo! Tortillas! Peanuts! I swung by the vegetable shop to buy spinach (which, along with asparagus, is fresh and in season right now), but their supply hadn’t been delivered yet. I grilled the first chicken quarter to eat with a salad, but decided to cook the other two adobo style.

Rent	10,000 ARS
Total:	USD 76.65

I was supposed to pay on October 2, and I had the money ready to go, but I decided to wait for the landlord to ask me for it. It was a long wait.

Carrefour	1615
Lettuce and tomato	60
Total:	1675 ARS (USD 12.84)

The chicken adobo was good, but since I was sitting on tortillas and leftovers, I wanted to make tacos. Fortunately, the Carrefour had a half pineapple (86) ready to purchase. It turned out to be a much more expensive trip than I was planning and I even had to turn back an item (684 peso bag of Starbucks coffee grinds) at the register to be able to afford the bill. I bought bananas, prunes, more of the breakfast mix, a big block of cheese, conditioner, and intensive lotion for my dry, dry skin. The adobo chicken tacos with diced pineapple and pickled jalepenos were amazing.

Vea	830 ARS
Total:	USD 6.36

The best part of making tacos is using the leftovers (after 2-3 meals) to make empanadas. Of course, that didn’t stop me from buying more tortillas as well. I’m noticing that the same brand of tortillas went from 68.63 pesos on Monday to 70.69 pesos of Friday! I bought some apples, discounted cheese (Carrefour is usually the best for cheese), and 3-for-2 bars of dark chocolate.

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Running Total: 5927.60 USD (RMB 39,701)
Daily Average: 16.51 USD (RMB 110.6)

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The Cost of Starbucks

The Starbucks thing annoyed me, so I decided to check the logs to see how much it has cost over time:

Date	Price (ARS)	Cost (USD)
January 15	470	$7.99
March 12	520	$6.71
July 1	610	$5.78
September 7	650	$5.56
October 7	750	$5.75

Inflation and devaluation are an interesting combination!

Travel Weeks 48-49

Days 330-344:

This new shared house with an impromptu coworking space (for a small e-commerce business) in the downstairs has proven to be the perfect stimulus for me to find my groove again. I have my own little work station where I spend at least four hours a day grinding away on “work,” which is still currently defined as learning about web development. In the last week or so, I’ve realized I’ve been neglecting my Spanish studies and have redoubled efforts on that with a textbook review and vocabulary exercises. I really can’t wait to get my own language learning platform off the ground because I’m noticing Spanish words slipping in when I try to think in Chinese.

Carrefour Market	880 ARS
Total:	USD 7.53

Not much to note here other than I’ve developed a taste for “breakfast mix” (cashews, almonds, raisins, and sunflower seeds) and otherwise splurged on some salami, cheese and crackers for a lazy weekend afternoon snack.

Vea	985
Veg and eggs	120
Total:	1105 ARS (USD 9.45)

I wasn’t able to do any shopping on Monday because, otherwise unbeknownst to me, the city went into a 72-hour quarantine lockdown over the weekend to prevent people from celebrating “Student’s Day” with barbecues or whatnot. Fortunately, I had enough food to stretch two extra days (though a bit light on the fresh salads). I picked up ground beef and tortillas to eat tacos from Thursday through Sunday, corn flakes, and a big bottle of Listerine, which was a good price (320).

Carrefour Hypermarket	1612
Lettuce, tomato, potatoes	60
Total:	1672 ARS (USD 14.30)

I had to use my calculator app while shopping to make sure I could actually cover the grocery bill before hitting up the Western Union for more cash at an even higher exchange rate (now up to 130.4 pesos to the dollar). I bought lots of yogurts, and a 500g bag of “breakfast mix” (which I hope I am able to ration for a while), and a 250g bag of ground coffee (253 pesos) to tide me over until my next Starbucks trip (which really isn’t a big deal, I just didn’t want to run out of coffee on the weekend or take a second trip out in one day). I also picked up some fresh pasta and puff pastry sheets to turn the taco meat leftovers into a sort of pie instead of the usual empanadas. It is nice to have such a selection of fresh pastas in the fridge aisle that are only marginally more expensive than dried pasta. I suppose eventually I’ll upgrade my tastes a step further to buying truly fresh pasta from the shops where they make it (like the one that is 20 feet from my front door).

Helado Mailho (1/2 kg)	390 ARS
Total:	USD 2.99

I wanted to go to the Vea to take advantage of buy-one-get-one free imported Nestle cereal, but it seems that it was another unexpected holiday “Dia de la comerciantes” and the supermarket was closed. It wasn’t a big deal since that taco pie provided enough leftovers to last two days. The important thing was procuring some ice cream to preemptively reward myself for a live televised event on Tuesday night, especially since it is still too early to start drinking again.

Vea	680
Veg (pepino, ajo, banana)	170
Cabbage, verdeo, pomelo	130
Total:	980 ARS (USD 7.52)

It’s crazy that I still go out of my way by four blocks to shop at the old vegetable stand around the corner of my previous flat, but all of the vegetable shops near my new house leave me disappointed by their price or selection or quality. Despite having to skip a Monday grocery shopping trip, I didn’t really have much to buy at a supermarket, mostly just taking advantage of some weekly specials. It is weird that they have bags of “commercial” carrots that are cheaper (50 pesos per kilo) and better quality than any of the vegetable shops (typically 60 pesos per kilo). The most exciting thing is that after several weeks of gathering soy sauce, sugar, corn starch, and msg, I can exercise some Chinese cooking muscles with kung pao chicken as the first dish on the menu.

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As predicted, this period was really cheap, averaging $2.79 a day in expenses. At 216 dollars a month, I could stay in this house and work on my project for the duration of the pandemic.

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Running Total: 5795.68 USD (RMB 39354.4)
Daily Average: 16.85 USD (RMB 114.4)

Travel Weeks 46-47

Days 315-329

Rent (1 month, 30 days)	10,000
Vea Supermarket	1242
Broccoli, salad, garlic	150
Total:	11392 ARS (USD 97.45)

I moved into a new house with roommates to expand my quarantine bubble and recuperate my sanity. The cost of rent is less than half what I was paying and the house is located about a ten minute walk south from the last apartment. I get to explore a new supermarket, where I have a membership card (gifted from the German) and I invest in laundry detergent because I have finally have access to a washing machine!

Tomato, eggs, chili peppers	300
Vea	900
Total:	1200 ARS (USD 10.27)

The produce shop next to the Vea turns out to be a little expensive. I definitely overpaid on the eggs and tomatoes, but I am otherwise excited to make chili over the weekend after stocking up on dried beans and popcorn that were on sale.

Starbucks Coffee	650
Contact lenses	1500
Kitchen stuff	490
Soy sauce	110
Produce	120
Total:	2870 ARS (USD 24.55)

It has been nearly four months since my last purchase of contacts lenses, which only lasted so long because I only wore them for a couple hours every other day. While looking for a postcard in the tourist shops of the main shopping street, I stumble across a store with reasonably priced kitchen stuff. I would love to buy a wok or a medium size sauce pan, but settle for impulse purchases of a salt shaker, a plastic colander, and a liquid soap dispenser. I’m saving so much money on rent, that I don’t mind investing small amounts here and there to improve the environment.

Post card	60
Atomo	716
Bakery	90
Lettuce	50
Total:	916 ARS (USD 7.84)

The old Atomo hasn’t updated their stash of spices in a while, so they are lacking the ones I really need (curry and cumin). Also, they seem to have figured out that the hummus was under priced (I swear it cost 70 pesos when I bought it last Sunday), and upped the price to 135. So, unfortunately, that will not become a regular purchase. I get a fancy hand soap refill at the Atomo so I can start using the soap dispenser and kick myself hard for wasting money. Over the various homes I’ve stayed, many have lacked hand soap at the kitchen, so I’ve sometimes kept my eyes open at the supermarkets for a soap+dispenser. I only ever saw the refill pouches, so when I saw the dispenser at the kitchen store, I snatch it up (because I’m realizing I don’t want to have to walk to the bathroom to wash my hands after doing any cleaning in the kitchen). However, lo and behold, the Atomo has a selection of soap+dispensers available for less than I spent on the dispenser. So, I basically flushed 199 pesos down the sink.

I swing by a local bakery to get some flat bread to enjoy the hummus and a collection of “masa” (little cookies). It was quite a bit of money just for lettuce, which tends to run 40 pesos per kilo. The tendency to just round up is a bit severe when you are buying just a little.

Vea	1070
Vegetables (Onion, carrot, potato, tomato)	180
Carrefour Hypermarket	1114
Cucumber, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes	50
Total:	2414 ARS (USD 20.65)

Neither the Atomo nor the Vea had any curry spice, so I had to make an additional trip to the Carrefour Hypermarket as well. The vegetable stand I visited didn’t have any ginger either, so I needed that as well. I make chicken curry over the weekend. I do some more shopping to improve the house by buying a toilet tank drop-in (because without a definite cleaning schedule, god knows how often the toilet gets scrubbed), air freshening gel (for obvious reasons), and a floor rag. While I would love a cushy bath mat for when I step out of the shower, I’ll settle for something cheap (99 pesos) to stomp my wet feet on.

This is also the beginning of my quest to find garbage bags. It’s rather complicated to explain, but the trash liners for the kitchen bin are way too big (like double the size of the wastebasket) and it annoys me, so I grab a roll of them at the Vea (125 pesos). They turn out to be too big still. At the Carrefour, I grab another roll (139 pesos), which turn out to be too small.

Carrefour Market	550
Total:	USD 4.70

After a futile attempt to go to the post office, I pass the Carrefour on the way back. I don’t need much, other than I am looking for a balsamic vinegar reduction. I swear I had bought one at this Carrefour back in May, but despite keeping my eyes open since last week, I can’t find any anywhere. I need olive oil too, but I pass because there is only Carrefour brand available and it is quite expensive too. What I do spend money on is paper towels (another lavish expense for the shared house at 64 pesos), a third attempt to buy the right garbage bags (129 pesos and still too small!), and a bunch of yogurt because I thought it was on sale, but I didn’t notice the club membership logo (and I have yet to actually sign up for the Mi Carrefour Tarjeta). I give up on the quest for the right size garbage bag for that damn waste bin. At least I have bags the right size for the bathrooms and stored in the bathrooms for when I discover way too late that someone threw out the garbage but didn’t replace the bag.

International Postage	270
Atomo	600
Pomelo and salad veggies	140
Total:	1010 ARS (USD 8.64)

The line at the post office was more reasonable to send the post card. Argentina is apparently not processing international parcels, but they accepted the postcard, warning me that there are no guarantees as to when (or if) it will ever arrive. Boy, that was expensive. I could have bought two decent bottles of wine for that. I swing by an Atomo in the city center on a whim, and find good olive oil at a price I can accept (209 pesos). They don’t have reduced balsamic, so I give up on that and settle for a regular liquidy typo modeno.

Update (9/17): As if to confirm the theme of throwing money away, that bottle of olive oil turned out to be a bottle of balsamic vinegar. I was familiar with the brand/packaging so I didn’t look closely at the words on the label which said “Aceto” (Italian for vinegar) when I was expecting “Aceite” (Spanish for oil).

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It was a rather expensive two weeks (11.60 a day) with lots of splurging on various high cost items, however that includes the entire month’s rent and since I am not drinking alcohol for the month of September, the next period should be pretty cheap (I’m guessing about 4 dollars a day). I understand it is not my responsibility to be buying cleaning supplies or whatnot for a house that I am sharing, but it is easier to drop 100 pesos here and 100 pesos there.

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Running Total: 5753.89 USD (RMB 38866.4)
Daily Average: 17.49 USD (RMB 118.1)

“Travel” Weeks 44-45

Days 298-314

Though I had enjoyed my Scandinavian modern apartment, after two months through Airbnb, I was starting to get tired of its little flaws and hesitating on committing to a whole extra month. Meanwhile, someone booked a block of time in the middle of the next month. That left two weeks and change in which I was able to negotiate an extension at a cash price, allowing me to save money with the stronger exchange rate.

Rent (15 days)	11000 ARS
Total	USD 94.10

Atomo	1190
Vegetable Shop	250
Total	1440 ARS (USD 12.32)

I decide to make empanadas (fried, because the oven doesn’t work). I catch sight of a 3-for-2 promo of Stella Artois Noir, and enjoy my first beer in a very long time. Thus begins a week long 5-lb weight gain.

Carrefour	1098 ARS
Total	USD 9.39

As if the empanadas and the pound of taco meat I prepared on Wednesday weren’t enough to last me through the weekend, I cannot shake my hankering for butter chicken, taking advantage of a 70% off the second yogurt promotion at the Carrefour. As usual, I now gravitate towards the snack aisle grabbing two bags of galletitas.

Personal phone credit	110
Salad	230
Total:	340 ARS (USD 2.91)

Keeping in touch with my former roommate from Germany, we decide to have dinner together on Friday. I top up my phone credit (for the first time since before the quarantine) in case I need to call for a reservation. The poor phone companies in Argentina have resorted to desperate spamming of promotions: “Add 50 cents of credit and we will give you 2 GB free!”

Vegetables (broccoli)	160
Drinks	2000
Total:	2160 ARS (USD 18.48)

I eat out in a restaurant for the first time since before the quarantine, and it was the first food I hadn’t cooked myself in a long time as well. We are the only customers on the outdoor terrace and having arrived first, I fill out the health questionnaire and have my temperature checked. I am unable to order a beer while I wait because “bars” are not allowed to operate during the national emergency and the definition of a bar is ordering a drink while not simultaneously ordering food. However, once we’ve put in our order for parrillada para 2 and mozarella sticks, there is no limit and we have several rounds of draft beer on top of the glass of wine each included in the dinner promotion. Since the German really wanted to celebrate in style, we head across the street after dinner for more drinks and see how loosely some premises comply with regulations. A round of chocotortas for dessert is enough to order a pitcher of cocktails in the surprisingly crowded bar, where the waitresses had to remove their masks in order for you to understand them over the music. I really hope I don’t die. My friend paid at the restaurant, I paid at the bar, and we called it even.

Atomo: Wine and stuff	610
Die Oma bakery	500
Uber	148 ARS (USD 2.06)
Total:	USD 11.55

So, apparently the asado at the restaurant wasn’t enough, so the last hurrah for a German in Argentina continues with a barbecue at the house he had been renting since we separated back in May. Fortunately, I am allowed out of the house on Sunday morning, so I swing by the Atomo to grab two bottles of wine and the German style bakery which I had been dying to try forever to get an assortment of pastries and alfajores. I book a car out to the suburbs and the two of us eat and drink and eat and drink. Between the Friday night drinks and Sunday session, my weekend is ruined and I remember what a hangover is.

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Despite the partying, the daily average over this period (9.29) was still fairly low. And with the end of living in that apartment, after 2.5 months, I can update the quarantine costs chart below:

Location	Days	Daily Average (USD)
Hostel	148-159	9.70
House 1	160-174	12.95
House 2	175-186	14.42
Apartment 1	187-201	11.37
Apartment 2	202-238	9.17
Apartment 3	239-314	10.73

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Running Total: 5579.79 USD (RMB 38158.5)
Daily Average: 17.77 USD (RMB 121.5)

“Travel Week” 41-42

Days 281-297

The days blur together and it is hard to tell the passage of time. I’ve taken up running on the M/W/F schedule when I am allowed to go outside. Police stationed in the park occasionally check my documents to confirm that I am out on the allowed days. Some afternoons reach a balmy 20 degrees, but the occasional cold front reminds me that it is still technically winter.

Carrefour	1480
Onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers	180
Total:	1660 ARS (USD 17.02)

Nothing much exciting other than a bunch of impulse purchases including alfajores (which I have been craving forever), cookies, and donuts filled with dulce de leche.

Fruit, broccoli, cabbage	280
Total:	USD 2.87

Carrefour	1970
Onions and bell pepper	70
Total:	2040 ARS (USD 20.91)

This shopping trip was a little expensive because I was out of coffee beans again and bought a 500g bag at the supermarket (600+ pesos) to save money after a month of “fancy” coffee.

Atomo	730
Salad and citrus	220
Total:	950 ARS (USD 9.74)

In which I discover that the dried beans and popcorn at the Atomo cost 10-30 pesos less than at Carrefour.

Chicken	100
Broccoli, ginger	110
Total	220 ARS (USD 2.26)

I make butter chicken. It is delicious.

Carrefour	860
Total:	USD 8.82

I also pick up cash at the Western Union inside the Carrefour at an amazing new exchange rate of 119 pesos to the dollar. The alfajores are on sale (70% off second box of six) and I ruin my diet over the weekend on top of the steak, salad and pasta.

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Since the rent for this period was accounted for in the last post, you can see that I average 3.62 per day on food.

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Running Total: 5431.04 USD (RMB 37555.6)
Daily Average: 18.29 USD (RMB 126.4)

“Travel” Week 38-40

Days: 260-280

Carrefour

894 ARS (USD 9.16)

Really went in for the junk food on this shopping trip with potato chips, cookies, and cereal on top of my fairly regular purchases of eggs, milk, steak, cheese and popcorn. No wonder I’ve been having trouble with my weight these past three weeks.

Atomo	300
Vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, potatoes, tomato)	230
Total:	530 ARS (USD 5.43)

After the comfort food weekend, I decided to pivot with a big pot of vegetable soup. The Atomo lacks the selection of the Carrefour, but I can always count on it for deeply discounted butter.

Produce

350 ARS (USD 3.59)

I seem to have forgotten to jot down my purchase in my notes, but I know I had to have gone out to buy something this day because after eating soup for two days, I ate salad for most of the rest of the week before subsisting on rice and chickpeas over the weekend. The number seems a bit high considering my average spend at the produce shop is about 200 pesos, but that is the difference between what I have in my pocket and what I picked up at the Western Union.

Airbnb (31 days, July 18-Aug 18)

221.24 USD

Carrefour

1260 ARS (USD 12.92)

Once again caving into my sweet tooth, I picked up dulce de leche, a package of medialunas from the bakery section and raisin bran.

Wine and olive oil	620
Cherry tomatoes	20
Total:	640 ARS (USD 6.56)

It finally occurs to me that although the Chinese supermarket has a couple of reasonable priced bottles of wine, most of the items are slightly more expensive than Carrefour or Atomo (because they are rounded up to increments of 5). Though, they have a reasonable priced bottle of olive oil (180 pesos), so that was something.

Laundry	400
Coffee beans	800
Carrefour Hypermarket	1420
Total:	2620 ARS (USD 26.86)

It must have been at least two months since I last had clothes professionally laundered, so even though I only wear jeans to go outside and I don’t go outside much, they were starting to get pretty grubby. One of the five cafes between my apartment and the Carrefour Hypermarket had a sign advertising retail sale of coffee beans, which turned out to be both more expensive and not as tasty as the Starbucks, so I won’t be patronizing that shop again. At the Carrefour, I bought AAA batteries for my scale, which despite being on sale, still cost me an arm and a leg. Having broken two of the three drinking glasses in the apartment (tipping over in the sink while doing dishes), I bought some new cheap and on sale glasses as well. Finally, because the Carrefour happened to have jalepenos in the produce section, I decided to make fajitas, salsa, refried beans, and burritos over the weekend. And, aha! I also forgot to note the produce run for tomatoes and onions, the cost of which is already included in the mystery shopping trip above. That is the problem of a reliable produce shop one block away, I can go and come back so fast I forget to write down what I spent.

Atomo	970
Fruit and salad	200
Total:	1170 ARS (USD 11.99)

I went to the Atomo because I wanted wine, which averages 20 pesos cheaper per equivalent bottle in the Carrefour. I also discovered on this shopping trip that the dried beans are also notably cheaper (74-79 pesos a bag instead of 99). I picked up some steaks and chirizo as well. In the produce shop, I stocked up on grapefruit and mandarin oranges, which I have been eating a lot of the last few weeks since they seem to be the most “in season” of the fruits.

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Despite the worse exchange rate, it appears my average daily spend during this period is just under 11 dollars, which is slightly better than the last post.

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Running Total: 5369.42 USD (RMB 37,452.8)
Daily Average: 19.18 USD (RMB 133.8)

“Travel” Week 35-37

Days: 239-259

The new location, dubbed “Scandinavian” in the Airbnb listing was nicely decorated and more suitable for hunkering down for the coldest, darkest months of the year.

Rent (30 days)

221.24 USD

The apartment was to the west of town, two blocks off the main bar street and closer to Parque San Martin. I saved myself the trouble of taking an Uber and walked my stuff over in two trips (about a 15 minute walk). Though I had reached out to the hosts about a cash price, the blue exchange rate they wanted for dollars to pesos meant it was cheaper to just put it on my credit card with Airbnb’s slightly more than 10% service fee.

Atomo	850
Carrefour Hypermarket	2460
Beer	120
Total	3430 ARS (USD 32.48)

I went a little bit crazy on my shopping and if I had grabbed a single stick of gum at the Carrefour, I wouldn’t have had enough cash to pay the bill. I invested a few dollars in buying a kitchen towel, garbage bags, and cooking utensils because despite the large kitchen, my hygge home had a cold kitchen. Where I really went overboard was the craving to do a picada platter over the weekend (salami, cheeses, olives with wine). Of course, I also took advantage of the reopening of the bars and my proximity to try a pint craft beer. It was a disappointing experience. If table service in Argentina was sketchy before the pandemic, it is a virtual nightmare now.

Carrefour	440
Vegetables	120
Total	560 ARS (USD 5.30)

Mostly just replenishing milk, eggs, and yogurt, but I also sprung for a bag of potato chips. I decided that I should relax and allow myself some sort of treat with each shopping trip.

Chinese supermarket	580
Garlic	40
Total:	620 ARS (USD 5.87)

I mostly just stocked up on wine at the Chinese supermarket, which for some reason has the best selection of cheaper bottles. I picked up something I thought was popcorn (one of my current addictions) but it turned out to be some other form of dried corn, which I later followed the recipe on the back to make a creamy soup.

Carrefour

911 ARS (USD 8.63)

I normally don’t buy fruits or vegetables at the supermarket because the prices are too high, but I found some apples, navel oranges, and prepped salad significant discounts applied. This was the beginning of my “pasta week” where I decided to cook a different pasta dish every day, beginning with using up the leftover curry lentils that were hanging out in my fridge.

Starbucks	610
Milk & Cheese (at Carrefour)	190
Total:	800 ARS (USD 7.57)

I picked up new cash from the Western Union at a much worse rate than my last transaction. For fun, I tried to spend all my old cash across the Starbucks (it is so nice to drink something other than supermarket coffee) and getting the cheese and milk I needed to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. Having exactly 210 pesos I went into the Carrefour and picked up 211.96 worth of goods, counting on them rounding down to be exact. However, at the register, the cheese scanned at a higher price. Fortunately, Carrefour has a policy that they refund you twice the difference between the label and the register.

Atomo	478
Carrots, apples, bell pepper	200
Total	678 ARS (USD 6.95)

I picked up chorizo, white wine, and more spices at the Atomo to make a bolognese sauce and went to a fruteria in the neighborhood. I took a run at the park in the afternoon because the weather was fair.

Suprema (boneless, skinless chicken breast)	200
Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mandarin oranges	100
Total:	300 ARS (USD 3.07)

Tried out a new community shop where the meat counter and vegetable counter are separate. I was pleased with the prices and selection. It’s easier when the vegetables are all laid out with names and prices on them. After a week of pasta, I need a lot more salads in my life.

Carrefour Hypermarket	1420
Apples, lettuce, bell pepper	160
Total:	1580 ARS (USD 16.20)

Needing to fancy up my salads, I got some cheese, sliced olives, and a seed mix on top of my regular random shopping. It turned out to be much more than I was expecting, but after three weeks, I needed to restock a bunch of shelf-stable foods.

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Since I paid a whole month, but this post only covers three weeks, I’d have to prorate the rent to estimate my daily expenses. It looks like I am still living quite cheap at about 11.50 a day. I could definitely be living cheaper if I stayed in the last apartment, but this one is much nicer. I get to actually enjoy Netflix on a TV screen!

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Running Total: 5071.67 USD (RMB 35510.8)
Daily Average: 19.58 USD (RMB 137.1)

“Travel” Weeks 29-34

Days 202-238:

The new place was a bit of a disaster zone, with empty coke bottles mixed into the pile of used sheets and dirty dishes stacked up in the sink. There was also no door handle on the unit, the hot water heater broke after the first use, and I spent the first 5 days showering with cold water until the landlady’s son was able to fix the unit.

Uber to apartment

USD 1.50 + 10 ARS

Laundry	250
Carrefour	2060
Don Pedro (vegetables)	400
Total:	2710 ARS (USD 25.67)

I’d been making due with hand washing and rewearing indoor clothes, but I reached the point where I needed to freshen up. The Carrefour bill was especially high because I needed more coffee beans (602 pesos) and I splurged on the second cheapest bottle of whisky (361), plus steaks and cheese.

Carrefour

1511.75 ARS

The Carrefour market is on the same block and easy to get to, so the French retailer gets my money. Highlights include steak, ground beef, and IPAs.

Carrefour	1004
Contact lenses	1100
Total:	2104 ARS (USD 19.93)

Despite mostly wearing glasses, it was time to change out my contact lenses again. Fortunately, many shops were opening back up and it was easy to buy a pair. I went to a bigger Carrefour to look at their kitchen utensils, buying a spatula and a new knife (which still turned out to be pretty dull).

Carrefour

864 ARS

Shopping highlights include Quilmes beer on sale, cooking oil and liquid hand soap.

Laundry

400 ARS

I took the pile of dirty sheets that had been left to me to the cleaners… it turned out to be three sets of linens.

Rent for 15 days

9000 ARS

I chickened out of asking for a discount on the next period of rent despite suffering through a lack of hot water, inheriting a dirty apartment, and racking up charges on cleaning supplies.

Atomo	710
Carrefour	1052
Vegetables	330
Total:	2092 ARS (USD 19.81)

When I realized I had loosened the purse strings a bit too much in the first week and a half of living in the apartment, I made myself go a whole week without shopping for more food (and more importantly, alcohol). Atomo is another supermarket, which sells much cheaper spices than anywhere else, but for other items (especially eggs) the Carrefour is cheaper. I dropped 334 on new toothpaste, dental floss and mouth wash.

Carrefour

666 ARS

For some reason, I decided to buy oatmeal (137) and a jar of peanut butter (230). I ended up eating all the peanut butter within three days.

Carrefour

412 ARS

Highlights include chicken breasts and a jar of dulce de leche, which I also basically just ate with a spoon over the next couple of days.

Atomo	957
Produce	200
Chili peppers	10
Total:	1167 ARS (USD 11.05)

I wanted to make chili, which took some work tracking down something picante. The Atomo had a great sale on Patagonia beer, but the discount didn’t come up directly at the cash register, so I had to actually speak more than “si” and “no” for the first time in however long. I also really splurged on the chili, buy ground beef and a big chunk of beef for stewing.

Carrefour	700
Rent for 7 more days	4500
Total:	5200 ARS (USD 49.24)

The only exciting purchase was that I decided to invest in a pepper grinder (170). I also decided that I would rather move to a different apartment with nicer furnishings, so I had to pay an extra week to bridge the gap until the next apartment becomes available.

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So I spent grand total of US$249.22* over these 37 days, plus the previous expenses for this chunk of time equals 339.28, so I averaged USD$ 9.17 a day in living costs.

*this includes the 19 cents of credit card foreign currency transaction fees for taking the three Uber trips.

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Running Total: 4764.36 USD (RMB 33783.1)
Daily Average: 20.02 USD (RMB 141.9)

“Travel” Weeks 27-28

Days 187-201 (Q39-Q53):

I bid adieu to my French and German housemates when it was time once again to relocate. It’s amazing how “hot” the rental market is during a national shutdown. I was worried that my costs were going to go up, but I found a charming one bedroom apartment at a great price and with only one consumer of food in the house, it was easy to splurge on items and milk them for their full value.

Uber to Apartment	120
Rent (15 days)	10600
Chinese supermarket	660
Vegetables	60

Atomo supermarket

1200

With the introduction of a new restriction that you are only allowed outside of the house to shop or walk depending on the last digit of your DNI (documento nacional identidad), the Chinese owner of the shop I prefer banned me from the shop for being a foreigner.

Carrefour	1468
Vegetables	170

Atomo

851

Rent (15 days)	9000
Round trip Uber	305* + 30 (tip)

Someone booked out my apartment right out from under me, but I was able to find a new one for the next chapter of the quarantine life. I had to get more cash and go pick up the keys to the place from a suburb of Mendoza. I’ll have to update this when I see how much the Uber really costs.

15 day total

24464 ARS ~USD 260.37 (1844.4 RMB)

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Running Total: 4515.14 USD (RMB 31983.9)
Daily Average: 22.46 USD (RMB 159.1)

Because the daily average for the trip as a whole doesn’t reflect the current reality, I was curious about my daily expenses in each of my living situations:

Location	Days	Daily Average (USD)
Hostel	148-159	9.70
House 1	160-174	12.95
House 2	175-186	14.42
Apartment 1	187-201	11.37

“Travel” Week 26 +/-

Days 175-186 (Q27-Q38)

Don Pedro groceries	680
Rent (12 days)	9200 ARS
Shared Cost Normalization	1800 ARS
Don Pedro veggies	220
Don Pedro	65
Carrefour	560
Vegetables	80
Pizza and beer (groceries)	1270
Ice cream (delivery)	540
Total:	14415 ARS (173.09 USD) (RMB 1225.4)

We had to move to a different Airbnb house because the previous one was booked by someone else (despite a nationwide lockdown). The owner insisted that we pay three nights through the Airbnb platform, which cost almost as much as the cash price for the remaining nine days. With the higher daily price and losing my privilege of the master bedroom, I suddenly became more aware of the extra costs incurred by my profligate housemates, who a lot of things I don’t yet I am on the hook for paying for. When one made a 4,000 peso grocery trip to buy wine, salami, cheese, and 8 overpriced imported grapefruits, I made a decision that I would be responsible for my own meals and expenses. We settled up the expense sheet and without me cooking for them everyday, they figured out how to stretch that last subsidized grocery order. Meanwhile, I started a diet in which I cut alcohol and carbs, and began twice daily cardio in the home gym. I definitely let the diet go in the last week and traded pizza and ice cream for a final Sunday asado.

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It was a bit more expensive to live in this house, but still under 14.50 USD per day for this period.

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Running Total: 4254.77 USD (RMB 30122)
Daily Average: 22.87 USD (RMB 161.9)