Argentina is a good destination for those who wish to travel without spending much. Avoiding currency exchange transactions in dubious places, the Brazilian tourist can enjoy an international trip without spending much in Argentina, advised the professor of São Paulo School of Economics (FGV/EESP), Samy Dana, in his blog Caro Dinheiro (Dear Money).According to him, despite the risk, it has been interesting to go around with a few Brazilian Reais (R$) or dollars in the pocket to use in local transactions and take advantage of the currency in the country. The current exchange quotations are, on average, 6.61 pesos per dollar for the official exchange rate and 10.90 pesos for the parallel dollar. And 2.81 pesos per Brazilian Real for the official exchange rate and 4.22 pesos per Brazilian Real in the parallel exchange rate. Moreover, the tourist dollar is worth R$ 2.46 for the selling exchange rate, and the transactions in official establishments are taxed at 0.38% of the IOF (Tax on Financial Operations), he said.For the tourist who has R$ 1,000 to be converted to pesos and wishes to follow the official quotation, for example, the best option is to barter, thus getting 2,799.32 pesos in the transaction. As for those who are willing to use the parallel exchange rate, there is a slight advantage in first converting Brazilian Reais to U.S. dollars, and then, exchange the dollars for pesos.At the end of the transactions, we end up with 4,414 pesos, while with the direct conversion, the total is 4,220 pesos. The difference is not too large, which only makes the dual operation interesting if we have the assurance of a good quotation for the dollar. Otherwise, the Brazilian Real can be used, since the exchange for the U.S. currency is not much higher, recommended Samy.Please click here and visit the column Caro Dinheiro (in Portuguese).