It is the end of the month and my bills have arrived. This makes me feel so grown up that I now have to pay the electricity, gas and other bills that get pushed under my door. Here in Argentina they are called "facturas", which is suspiciously the same word for sweet pastries sold at the bakery around the corner. My favorites are "vigilantes" that are these long doughy things that have cream and glaze on top.
Anyway, the other kind of "facturas" are probably a headache for most people in Argentina as no one has any money. For me, however, it is fun because mine are actually really low for a couple of reasons. One, I live alone and do not consume much. Two, most utilities are hella-subsidized by the state. Even though I guess this is considered personal information, I thought I would include my bills for the month.
Electricity - $11.20 (less than 3 dollars)
Gas - $16.79 (a little over 4 dollars)
Telephone - $17.25 (a little over 4 dollars)*
Internet, Cable and other Telephone Combo - $156.51 (less than 40 dollars)
*I do not use one of my phones, even though I pay for it. My apartment contract states that I cannot disconnect it, and it is cheaper to pay for it and get a different package of internet, cable and telephone than anything else. Who else do you know how two phone lines in Argentina? No one!
So my total comes to $201.75 (or about 50 dollars), but keep in mind that the majority of it is my special internet/cable package.
There you have it. My monthly utilities bill in Buenos Aires. If you compare how much I make (which I won´t state here) to how much the bill is, it is pretty ridiculous, but I like to think about it in dollars because it makes me feel better.
P.S. They play Ghost Whisperer waaaaaay too much here. Do people watch this show?
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No, that show and love girl hella-suck. Murphy you earn PESOS so stop thinking about your bills in DOLLARS because you are fuelling the "Argentina is so cheap" myth AND IT'S NOT. I was earning a similar salary in dollars (in Aus) that I was getting in pesos in Argentina, for example, 2000 dollars/pesos. The other day in Aus I bought 2 packs of mushrooms, an avocado and a pack of strawberrys and it cost me $4.50 AUD (about the same US). In Argentina that costs 20 pesos!!!
ReplyDeleteYour gas seems suspiciously low for someone who cooks, do you not take hot showers?
ReplyDeleteCarly - I live in my own world where I make dollars but live in pesos.
ReplyDeleteAlice - Normally it is higher, but this last month I haven´t been cooking at all. Also, we have central heating for water, so I think that is included in the expensas, which I didn´t talk about.