Bali is one of those places many people think about visiting. It's a beautiful tropical island after all. For some, one visit turns into two, and then three and before they know it they're making plans to stay here for a whole year while they decide the best place for them to live.
Location is obviously an important factor in helping make a decision, but so too is the cost. Not just the cost of renting, leasing or buying a villa but also the cost of actually living here. There are some important things to consider:
- Are you single?
- Are you married?
- Do you have kids? If you do, how old are they?
- Are you retired?
- Do you want to start a business?
- Do you want to live like a millionaire or on a shoestring? Or somewhere happily in between?
By the way, making a list of these sorts of questions will go a long way in helping you make the right sort of choices because Bali has a lot of options to choose from.
Let me give you some insights into my own situation.
My wife and I have a young daughter and we like to live comfortably. Not over-the-top luxury for sure but we also don't want to be sweating it out with a noisy ceiling fan hiding away from mosquitoes in the middle of the night.
We like good food, good wine and cool places to chill on a Sunday. And for people who find themselves in the same boat there are some pretty average fixed monthly expenditures. To help clarify these let's use a young expat family with one child living in a 3-bedroom villa.
Here's what you'd be expecting to be spending money on:
Internet
You can't live without it right? It's worth noting Bali is pretty well connected in the most popular areas of Seminyak, Canggu, the Bukit and Ubud and most every villa or house will have an internet connection. Some connections are better than others and I've heard stories of people with the same provider having different degrees of success because of where they live, so it's a suck it and see approach. The bottom line is it's easily available everywhere. At the time of writing expect to be paying around IDR 1 million per month for a good fiber optic 10 MB connection.
Electricity
Electricity bills will very much depend on what kind of place you decide to call home. If you're one of those people who likes the AC running all the time in your 3-bedroom villa and have a pool pump to run then expect to be paying between IDR 2.5 – 3 million a month.
If you're a bit more frugal and you don’t have a pool and only use the AC at night you could bring this down to around IDR 1.5 million a month.
It's also worth noting there is a minimal electricity bill based on the amount of power your place is wired up for. So if you move into a 3-bedroom villa with loads of electricity available, you'll be paying for it even if you don't use it.
Housekeeper
Nearly everyone I know in Bali has one. And for people like me having one is a real godsend! They clean the whole house, do the laundry, run small errands and do the occasional spot of cooking and babysitting, but it’s best to clarify this before you hire.
For a good housekeeper with a pretty basic but certainly understandable level of English and experienced with young kids expect to be paying IDR 2 million a month for part time and up to IDR 3.5 million for full time.
Pool/Gardener
Living in Bali without a garden is like going to a ski resort with skis and it's very likely you’ll be living somewhere with a pool or a garden or both.
I'm putting these two roles together because you can often get one person to do both jobs, which can get done three times a week. The average cost for this is in the region of IDR 800,000 per month.
Mobile Phones
You can get prepaid packages of around IDR 150,000 a month very easily. These often include a set amount of free calling minutes, text messages and data for surfing the internet, watching YouTube or using WhatsApp.
Transport
Let's assume you know how to drive a bike or a car and yes, to be on the safe side you do need a driving license. An easy to use scooter will cost around IDR 700,000 a month and for a small car expect to pay somewhere in the region of IRD 3.5 million a month.
And these days we are blessed with something called GoJek, a simple fantastic service that's easily available with the GoJek App that uses bikes or cars to pick you up from wherever you are and they take you to where you want to go for pennies. They also do food deliveries!
Summing it all up
If we look at these average monthly outgoings, this is how much I think it can cost you to live in Bali as young expat family with a toddler:
- Housekeeper (Full time): IDR 3.5 million
- Gardener (3x a week): IDR 800,000
- Internet: IDR 1 million
- Electricity: IDR 2.5 million
- Two Mobile Phones: IDR 300,000
- 1x Scooter: IDR 700,000
- 1x Car: IDR 3.5 million
That totals up to just over IDR 13 million per month, which at today's exchange rates is just shy of USD 1,000.
These figures are guidelines only, designed to give you a rough overview of what to realistically expect. If you need more accurate breakdowns get in touch with someone who lives here and knows the scene.
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