How to Live in Buenos Aires on 100 Pesos a Day

Buenos Aires is a very affordable city compared to North American Metropolosis's and Europe.  It is possible to live here for cheaply.  However I have not been able to live here for 100 pesos a day.  Certain foods are very expensive.  But if you stick to a budget of purely greasy street food and don't drink or party too much it would be possible to live here for 100 pesos a day.  This would be in true original gypsy fashion.  Obviously this 100 pesos is not including accomodation.

Croisscants are a great cheap option to start the day.  There are many bakeries all over Buenos Aires that have fresh goods made daily.  Three small and sweet croisscants go for 10 pesos.  Other options

1. Free Hostel Breakfast
2. Empanadas-10 pesos each (1 might suffice).  More of a lunch option though.

 There are many buffet options in Buenos Aires including Chinese Food Buffets.  They will still have the typical Argentine food like Empanadas as well, however they will not have chopsticks.

 You go take as much as you want.

Then you way it out by the Kilogram and pay by your weight.  This delicious treat ended up being 36 pesos.  It was very filling and I was very surprised to find that pretty much everything in it had squid.  There were a few disgusting foods in it that I had to throw out, but for the most part it was very delicious.

So far we have had breakfast and lunch for 45 pesos.

 Now if you are not going to take a siesta like me, you will need something to pick you up.  Coffees are a terrible option in Bunos Aires.  They go for about 30 pesos each so they are not good for staying on a budget.

 There is a very popular energy drink in Buenos Aires called SPEED.  It is even more popular than red bull.  This will only set you back 10 pesos.

Make Sure to bring your own waterbottle and drink lots of tap water.  Its free and is very delicous and does not make you sick.  Take advantage of the free things in life when you are in Buenos Aires.



In Buenos Aires all the locals drink mate.  It is more than just a drink it is a way of life.  It gives you lots of energy with its caffeinne and it has ten times the antioxidants of green tee.  Argentinians each have their own particular way of preparing the mate but it always involves this type of cup with a straw.  You drink out of the straw and when you run out of hot water, you pour more hot water into the cup.  The mate leaves just stay in there for up to ten steeps.  This is the best pick-me-up drink in Buenos Aires.  A setup for a cup, straw and a bag of mate will go for 45 pesos.  But try going up to any Argentinian you meet that is drinking mate and they will most definitely eventually share with you over conversation.  Mate is a very social drink here in Buenos Aires and is a very big contributor to the relaxed and laid back lifestyle.

Once you have your cup this is essentially free as long as you can get hot water, so I will say that we are still at 45 pesos, and high on energy too.

OK so you need an afternoon snack.  Go to the grocery store and buy some avocados, onions and tomatoes as well as some crackers and you can have a delicious snack.  Unfortunately vegetables are expensive in Buenos Aires so this will probably cost you around thirty pesos.

Now we are at 75 pesos.

For Dinner you are going to need to eat greasy because we only have 25 pesos left.  For 25 pesos you can probably get two of these with a pop.  These are called super panchos.  Hot dogs are very famous down here.

Other Options

1. The Mcdonalds Super Value menu is about 15 pesos an item.
2. Empanadas and coke.  Probably can get this for 25 pesos as well.  The flavours Ï have seen for empanadas so far are carne(pork, beef chicken), spinach or verdura (vegetable).
3. ....

I talked with an exchange student about making your own food.  They feel it is cheaper to eat out in Buenos Aires than it is to make your own food.  They might be right, and not just a lazy university student that is used to having their mom make all their meals.  To buy all the ingredients to make a curry: rice, lentils, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, tomato sauce.  Is probably going to set you back 100 pesos.  Still cheaper than buying in Canada but an expensive option for sure.  However this is healthy and making food in hostels is a great opportunity to meet other people.

Germans and Canadians drinking Argentinian wine and eating Indian Food.  Definitely a multicultural connection if I have ever seen one.

So if you want to live cheaply in Buenos Aires, just be prepared to not be eating very healthy and maybe to be hungry at times.  Sometimes it's worth it to spring a little bit of money to eat healthy and make new friends.

Dias Dos

OK.  Second day in Buenos Aires.  Went to school, learned a lot, went out on a nice walk, went out to party, forgot everything I learned.  Most of these pictures are from the walk in town I took in the afternoon.

This is on my walk to school.  Buenos Aires is such a huge city!!!!! I was walking with a local today down a street like this and they got lost and were not sure where they were.  There are about 10,000 spots in my estimation in Buenos Aires that look like this.

A pic of my class and some of my classmates working hard at planning where we will be partying tonight.

Graffiti tags on the walk home from school.  Literally every store, apartment and business in Buenos Aires is littered in graffiti tags, and they never get buffed (removed).

A kiosk in a mall in Buenos Aires.  These kind of stores are really popular in the downtown touristy area that I am staying.  Again there are like 4 billion of these stores.  Literally in every mall there are about ten stores all selling the same trinkets (mate cups, thermos´s and Che Guevera Lighters).

Another kiosk.

Burger King is really big down here.  Probably even bigger than McDonalds.  I am pretty sure this is a sign of high culture.

Dirty (Buenos Aires) Snitches

This guy was just waving a flag in the middle of the street.  He was actually controlling the traffic so that the pedestrians could cross the street.  The city must pay him.

A grocery store I bought fruit in in Buenos Aires.  So far I have found fruit to be about the same price as Canada.  A mango and an orange for about $3 Canadian (30 pesos).

 Beautiful restaurant patio and some construction.  So much construction going on on the streets of BA right now.  I think its just cause its Winter.

Busy Street Crossing.  Starting to get closer to rush hour.  This is downtown at a fancy hotel street corner in the business district.

 Ran into this amazing park on my walk.  look at the Golden Lamp posts. 

 Traffic trying to jaywalk to the park.  Good thing I have health insurance ;)

 Kids playing soccer at a statue in the park.

 Offices in downtown Bunos Aires

 Beautiful views from the same park.

 Beautiful Tower in Buenos Aires getting close to the Ocean (but still havent seen it yet)

 Railtracks in downtown in the port district.  Not sure if they are still operational.

 In Buenos Aires when your car breaks down, you don´t call the Kidney Foundation.  You just push it to the sidewalk and leave it there.  JK this is the only car I saw like this.  Buenos Aires is a very clean and beautiful city.

 Walked by what looked like a jalopy shanty town on the side of these railtracks.  Walked inside and turns out....

It was another mall with thousands of small kiosks selling stuff.  This one was slightly more reasonalbly priced than the ones in the touristy area.

 Walked across the busy street to the Subway Station.

 Stopped at this place to see if it was a nightclub.  Turns out it sells Panchos, which are essentially hot dogs.  Hot dogs are very popular in Buenos Aires.  Fifty percent of the meals in my kitchen hostel involve hot dogs it seems so far.

 Riding the Subway.  In Buenos Aires it costs 5 pesos (about 50 cents) to take the subway.  You pay with digital cards that you can recharge at virtually any kiosk or tienda in the city.  You scan them at a turnstill at the subway station.

Beautiful tiles on the walls of the Subway Station.

 During Rush Hour the Subway Stations get very busy.  But the trains run all the time.  There are four different legs of Subway tracks that all connect at some points.

 Official Taxis in Buenos Aires.

 A Main street during Rush Hour.

 Went to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  They Keep soap in a Fish Bowl.  I guess you are supposed to dip your hand in it

 Shot of the restaurant.

 Free Bread you get as an appetizer which they end up charging you 14 pesos for.  Not bad, the dip is very rich and made of blue cheese.

 Argentina is notorious for steaks.  This particular cut was called Beef Chorize (avec frits).  It was delicious but definitely on par with the best Alberta beef I have ever had.  In Argentina it is polite to sprinkle salt on your steak.

 Outside shot of my restaurant.

 A kid on the street corner handing out leaflets/coupons to a restaurant.  This is very common in the touristy parts of Buenos Aires.  I am not sure what they pay these kids but they are literally out there all day.  Hopefully they make more than a free meal but maybe they are family with the restaurant owners.

Alright.  Another Day in BA, another Parade in Paradise!  Thanks for reading.