After my blog article about my stay in Bali, I was asked some questions on Facebook and Instagram. Maybe one was even from you! Of particular interest was the answer to the question of how much the monthly costs are. Love to tell you everything I know and what you need to know about it here.
As a special feature, will disclose in this article my personal monthly expenses.
In addition, I give tips on how to still reduce the Bali costs of the appropriate category if you want to live low budget and more minimalist for only 430€/ month.
To begin with, how much you spend depends directly on your lifestyle, of course! I can only report from my personal experience. Overall, I live minimalist. However, I have already been in Bali for 3.5 months and have tried different things, so I think I have a good overview.
The money in Bali
In Bali you pay in Rupiah and mostly with bills. Coins are used less. This is mainly because the money has little value. 100.000 Rupiah (abbreviated 100k Rp) are around 6 €. Bills are available up to 1.000 Rupiah, whereas it is also 1.000 Rupiah coins are available.
My Bali costs per month
Accommodation
235 € per month
4 ways to stay:
1. Accommodation Shared Villa: 480 €
2. Accommodation room in Guest House: 180 €
3. Accommodation room resort 470 € (235 € for two per person)
4. Accommodation hostel bed: 90 €
The range is, as you can see, large! Even more extreme is of course sleeping in luxury hotels. Nights for 500 € or more are also available. I personally tried Guest Houses, a Shared Villa and a Resort.
The resort and the villa were the most impressive accommodations. I absolutely felt like I was living in luxury. I enjoyed the accommodation in the resort only for one week, but I also asked there the monthly price.
Here are a few impressions for you:
Minimalist food
If you want to eat minimalistic and healthy at the same time, it is best to eat everything raw (In the latter case you have to wash super thoroughly and best peel everything. The hygienic conditions here are different than at home.), or you cook at home.
Super cheap is, as I said, also the local food. Only unfortunately very, very much oil is used. The cooked vegetables are dripping with fat, if you compare it with the food I know from Germany. Also the very famous Nasi Goreng I think is not very healthy, because it is really only rice with a little bit of vegetables.
I eat until noon the very cheap fruits that you can find at the many street stalls. Yesterday I bought a dragon fruit for 60 cents and paid the same for a small papaya. Wonderfully cheap!
Around noon I often eat oatmeal and for afternoon and evening I cook rice with vegetables. The latter is unfortunately very rare at street stalls. That’s why I asked the supplier of a restaurant to supply me with vegetables. (I have only his WhatsApp contact – if you want it, write it in the comments and I will send it to you by mail) For 6 € I have my vegetables for the week.
Minimalist and very healthy food you can definitely eat for 150-200 €.
Zucchini in Bali – 2 pieces 0,60€
Eggplant in Bali – 2 pieces about 0,40€
Fun
100 €
Here I am not so the expert. Sounds really boring. & I really enjoy just being in this beautiful place and don’t do a lot of trips or partying.
At the beginning I went out more. In the touristy Old Mans for example or at Luigi’s Hot Pizza, where you can enjoy the best pizza and go dancing afterwards. As already written, food is more expensive in tourist places.
And yoga I do here of course! The hours are not cheap. Usually around 8 € per unit, which lasts about 90 minutes. I have also paid in Berlin.
Of course you can make many trips! To all the neighboring islands.
One trip I made was to one of the nearby islands, Gili Trawangan. I mean, the ride took me ca. 60 € cost and accommodation for 3 nights under 40 €.
Transport
50€
Important topic!
Here one drives Scooter. With a car you get stuck in traffic and besides, everything is so close together that you simply do not need a car.
You can rent a scooter here for 750k Rupiah. That is barely 50 € per month. I personally do not drive myself here, but with "Gojek". It’s a cab app, except that you don’t drive cars with it, but with an experienced local on the back of the scooter. That’s almost as cheap as renting my own scooter. I drive to the beach with a travel time of about 12 minutes, for example, for 60 cents. The cab prices here are not at all comparable to Germany.
A normal car-taxi is available for about three times that amount. I can get to places that are an hour away for less than 12 €.
Health insurance
35 €
Cheaper than in Germany.
I was very surprised when I saw that the foreign health insurance at Hanse Merkur is cheaper than when I am insured at home. And much cheaper! It costs me only 35 €/ month. This saves me a lot of money!
Visa
50 €
This is an item to plan for. I have a Visit Visa which allows me to stay 2 months and then extend up to 6 months monthly. Each extension costs me around €50.
Cell phone
5 €
When you get here, you should get a regional SIM card if you want to use mobile data. The SIM card is cheap and can be easily topped up with an app.
I download a flat rate to my cell phone every month and pay around €5.
Conclusion
Here I have shown you my personal Bali costs, as you can see in the subheadings on minimalism, you can live here but still much cheaper. For 430€ it also goes if you sleep in the hostel and always cook yourself and enjoy the fruits, vegetables and rice of Bali or eat only in warning. That’s quite an announcement, isn’t it? &