Chile Forum

Carlos, you have to think in purchasing parity terms, not look at what $14 buys you in Canada. For $14 you buy great fruit and vegetable for a family of four for a week. That said, make no mistake, except for a small middle and upper class, standards of living are still far from Canada's down here. As you said, there are more people willing to work for cheap, and less people with disposable income to hire them.

I'm sure there are opportunities to pursue here, but you won't always be able to take services that succeed in Northern America and sell them in Chile. Let's take an example. In Europe there are successful self-service stations where you can clean your car yourself with higher pressure water. Here in Chile (where I'm living at least), if you simply park your car in a busy, affluent area, sneeze and you'll find someone to wash it while you go shopping. Why would you want to go a place where you have to clean the car yourself then?

"Are there thrift stores in Chile? Someone mentioned that name brand clothing was expensive. I believe the culture in Chile as in most other South American countries is one of give your old clothing to your relatives as opposed to giving them to a thrift store which supports a worthwhile charity through their sales."

Yes, one of my clients (I wholesale vintage clothing) has many thrift stores scattered thru Chile. He buys containers full of clothing from the US and Canada VERY INEXPENSIVELY and retails it in his stores. I'm afraid you'd be hard-pressed to compete with his prices. Sorry to be a wet-blanket on this idea.

murf wrote:I may get "blasted" for this one, but there's a Wallmart in Mendoza (for the visa runners) with all the usual junk from State side at good prices.

Boy...what I would have given, when I was in Santiago trying to find some simple things, for a Wal-Mart! I remember asking a few young people if there was a Wal-Mart in Santiago and I was shocked...I tell you shocked...javascript:emoticon(':shock:') when they laughed and said no. 5 million people and no Wal-Mart???

Running around to 10 different stores to find ten different items was no picnic .

Carlos

PS. I was just kidding about the being shocked part ... in reality I thought it was funny but rather frustrating too.

otravers wrote:Carlos, you have to think in purchasing parity terms, not look at what $14 buys you in Canada. For $14 you buy great fruit and vegetable for a family of four for a week. ...

I think part of my misunderstanding of Chile has come about as a result of my relatives there spending a whole heck of a lot more than $14 even during the time I was there going out to eat at restaurants and the like. None of them make anything like $20 a day wages - they make a lot more than that.

So I never had any contact with people that live on $20 a day or less while I was in Chile. I knew they existed but I never really got a handle on their daily lives and how they survive.

Price wise I also never saw fruits and vegetables and other staples that were so cheap that one could live on $14 worth for a week on them.

I guess one would have to have local knowledge as to where to get things cheaply.

Carlos

Carlos[/quote]I generally agree with what you said (Vicki or Greg not sure which one said it :)) but there is something to be said with regard to buying things for the sake of convenience.

Not to diminish the general thrust of what you said (Vicki or Greg) which I am wholeheartedly behind where it is practical but I just thought I would point out why it's really more beneficial for us to buy things that are disposable at times than to make it ourselves.

Carlos, I agree with you on this in part. However, if you lived a life where you didn't HAVE to make $20 an hour, then it makes sense. But I certainly understand and concur to some degree. I actually have made soap before, but it's not very good quality, and the thought of working with lye and boiling fat should not be considered lightly! I have, and will continue to try to be less wasteful, everything from buying staples in bulk, to using empty tin cans for silverware containers in our fish camp cabin. Martha Stewart would shoot me.

Anyway, everyone has to find there comfort zone in the wage against excess and consumerism. I don't begrudge anyone convenience, ever. And finally, while my moniker says Vicki and Greg, he rarely gets on the computer but I include him anyway so if he ever jumps on the forum, he won't be just "Vicki".

Vicki...you sound like a very reasonable tree hugger (for lack of a better nick name) . I mean tree hugger in the sense of someone who respects nature, tries not to excessively consume our natural resources, and is otherwise a good example of these things and not in it's more derogatory uses.

Carlos