Inflation – the theme pops up in nearly every conversations I have with Argentinian friends. Rising prices are a real problem for most of them. It hits the poor most. The government has been criticized by the IWF for not keeping proper data on inflation.

My friends tell me that every week prices go up, amounting to 2-3% every month. They never know what they will pay for a product the next time they go to a supermarket.

At the end of the year, that adds up to a massive loss in purchasing power. Some friends are looking for a second job to cover for the loss, because their salary hasn’t kept up.

I can also feel it, in comparison to my last visit in 2011, things ain’t that cheap anymore. In the supermarket, an Argentinian chain and not fancy Carrefour, I walked home with two plastic page worth 50 €… felt like Delhaize shopping.

The best indication are the menus in restaurants. Once printed, they need to be adapted fast. And often. This one has been changed three times… and maybe they also peel them off before the whole thing gets too messy.

I could have made a deal if I brought in Dollars or Euros in cash, and exchanged them on the black market for the unofficial rate, that is way lower than the government-set exchange rate of roughly 8 Pesos for 1 Euro.

However, I just did not want to travel with huge amounts of cash, so I’m relying on the official bank ATMs.

Money counterfeiting is also rampant. My host Marcello told me about the tricks and how to counter them, right on the first night. For example: you fold a 100 Pesos note in a certain way, and pay with it in the taxi, slowly unfolding it. Have it marked with a tiny circle or something.

Like this, the taxi driver won’t try to quickly exchange it for a fake one and refuse it as payment… Keep the money in your sight and if they try to claim you’ve given them a fake one, refuse it, say you marked it a certain way and that this note was not your note.

It’s weird to see how this economy works – when you’re basically not trusting the money, or the taxi driver, or the server in a restaurant….

Coins are really hard to get by here… I would need them for the washing machine and the dryer. However, so far I may have had three peso coins… but a number of 2 Peso notes.

Meanwhile, the government has issued a new 100 Pesos note, with Evita Peron’s image.

Clever Argentinians took bundles of this Evita note, went to New York, and sold them as souvenirs at a special price in front of the Broadway show…

You gotta give it to them: they do have a sense of business, and making the best out of what’s at hand.