My cost of living in bali & Bali compared to Jakarta

harrydevries

I used to live in Jakarta for quite a few years and only about one year ago decided to relocate to Bali. My only regret is that i did not do that sooner.In my opinion now the only reason to stay in Jakarta is if you actually have your job there and cannot move. For me i became quite flexible a couple of years ago in my job because it is internet based so i did not have to stay in Jakarta because of my job. Still i stayed quite a long time in Jakarta because i was probably too lazy or too used to the city to consider relocation to another place. My last holiday on Bali however opened my eyes and soon after i moved to the island.In my opinion if you are flexible to stay where you want there are not many advantages that Jakarta has over Bali. There are (in my opinion) however numerous advantages that living in Bali has compared to Jakarta.The only advantages (again in my view) that Jakarta has over Bali are:1) The girls (there are many more beautiful and classy girls in Jakarta compared to Bali)2) The shopping (Jakarta has undoubtedly more malls and supermarkets where you can buy western stuff etc)One thing about the girls in Jakarta, when it is holiday season lots of them tend to migrate to Bali (Kuta) for a holiday and i find them already quite hard to approach in Jakarta (often snobby) but when they are in Bali they often are in Holiday mode and therefore much easier to approach. Not that i ever tried to land one but many of my bule friends living around Kuta meet them on the Beach or in the (more upscale mostly) clubs in Kuta.The advantages of life in Bali are numerous1) cheaper accomodation (i can easily find a reasonable Kos around Kuta for 1 milllion where i would pay 2 or 3 juta in Jakarta)2) Cheaper restaurants and better sea food3) the drinks in pubs and restaurants and in clubs are much cheaper then in Jakarta.4) Nightlife is much cheaper around Kuta compared to Jakarta5) Less traffic jams6) Less pollution7) Easier to meet easy going people compared to Jakarta8) People are generally much less snobby in Bali9) Easy to get around in Kuta because it is small and less congested then Jakarta10) Holiday mood in Bali11) Easier to go somewhere nice like a beach or a nice place or the mountains compared to Jakarta12) The weather is nicer, more sun less rainetc, etc etcRegarding my cost of living in Bali:Accomodation (Kos) I am staying around Seminyak close to Nakula in a 1 million rupia per month Kos. I pay 100.000 extra per month for renting a fridge and the lady that cleans my room (every day) also takes care of our laundry for which i tip her 150.000 rupia per month. Electricity and water and security are included, but i regularly buy a pack of smokes or a beer for the security guys which costs me another 100.000 per month. (It seems to be good to be on good terms with security, one never knows when it comes in handy i guess)So in all my accomodation costs me 1350.000 rupia.We rent one motorbike which costs about 1 million per month with petrolI am a gym addict and a very healthy eater, so our food tab is quite high compared to most people. We buy a lot of Western imported stuff and lots of meat, chicken, tuna etc in the deli store. I also eat lots of eggs which are dirt cheap, but the muesli, yoghurt, nuts and stuff really add up.Our tab at the supermarket is about 50.000 per day or 1.5 million per month. We also eat out once a day after work which costs us about 1.2 million per monthOur food tab in total will be about 2.7 millionToiletteries etc add another 500.000 per month.We don't really go out a lot mostly just on a saturday or friday night which costs me about 1.6 million per month (spend about 400.000 on the night)Additionally i meet my friends 2 or 3 times per week over a few bintangs etc another 1.2 million per month on averageInternet modem/mobile packet/buying dvd's/going to the movies/buying clothes probably add another million rupia per monthGym: 465.000 for 2 peopleFor Visa runs i reserve 1 million rupia per month in allmiscellaneous another 1 millionSo in total i spend:Accomodation: 1350 KTransport: 1000 KFood: 2700 Krest: 500 KEntertainment: 2800 K (i should cut back on that)Communication, movies: 1000 KGym: 465 KVisa: 1000 KRest: 1000 KThis is about 12 million per month or 1000 euros, my girlfriend puts in about 2 million per month (almost her whole salary :icon_sad:)

sakumabali

That was very....detailed, welcome to the forum Harry :-)

sunnycoast

Great info and in detail, thanks Harry. It gives people a very good idea of what to expect and where they could spend more/less depending on their lifestyle.What about your healthcare? You don't have an insurance or is it paid for from your employer?

davita

@harryGood luck with your fiscal management...I hope, if you are a foreigner working in Bali, it doesn't get afffected by the new Bali proposal to tax your employer by Rp1M per month.

harrydevries

I work offshore for a dutch company so the fiscal things are taken care of (unfortunately i still have to pay the full income tax, called loonbelasting in The Netherlands)I hope there will not be a Balinese tax collector knocking on my door anytime soon to collect additional taxes, because of some kind of new regulation but one never knows here :PI did not add in healthcare but i have a Dutch packet valid all over the world (with the exception of Canada and USA) i don't have to pay for because my employer takes care of that.I made this so detailed because it is a really good help for oneself to see where the money goes and more importantly where too much money goes.For me that part is definately the entertainment part, the tab therer is way too high and from now on we plan to spend at least 1 million less on entertainment per months which should be easy.We could also save on our food bill (or at least i could, because i take care of 3/4 of that). So that means cutting the Yoghurt and Muesli and nuts and other expensive stuff from my diet (can still buy peanuts which are also healthy and cost close to nothing)

hinakos

Nice post.Im assuming its a Tiger your renting?........otherwise you can save some $$ there too.

werecoming

That's a great post Harry, It's hard for people lik eme who are planning on living in Bali to get their head around the actual cost that don't have to be paid for when on Holidays. (Elec, Internet, etc).My wife and I are planning on moving to Bali at some stage in the next year or so. We are budgeting on worst case scanario of living of $3,000 (AUD - 30 million rupiah) per month. Now I'd like to ask a question if I may. Including comfortable accomodation (villa with a pool, maybe sanur) we are expecting to have a comfortable lifestyle (nothing over the top). Does anyone think that this is unrealistic, based on the info i've gathered I'm expexting this to be achievable.

harrydevries

Actually the money i am planning to save on entertainment and food, lets say 1,5 million in all we are planning to spend on weekend trips to Ubud, Padangbai, lovina, batur etc etc...That will mean extra costs for accomodation at least and maybe some other extra costs that would normally not be spend if we stay at home.But that is ok because it is much better to spend it on those trips then on stupid drinking and stuff

Rambutmerah

I find it hard to belive that anyone should have to count on spending 30 mill a month living in Indonesia. I have lived 12 yrs in Lombok (not any more) . We had a really good living standard but spend a fraction of 30 mill. Had our own house on Gili Trawangan but rented another on main land Lombok for 20 mill/year. A nice 2 story house (no swimmingpool), not a fancy Bali style villa but a nice new house in an area with mixed local/expat recidents. Used swimmingpool facilities at one of the hotels. Bought most of our food at the local market. Going there in the morning all the products are fresh. Using a motorcykle for transport. We eat out a lot, travelled a lot. I took care of the house and laundry myself, easy for a 2 person household. An average month with food, electricity,water, toiletteries, Indovision, clothes and other necessitys we usually spend 5-6 mill. Not including our travels and hotel expenses.

Mark

Interesting thread. Like anywhere, I suppose one's living costs depend on lifestyle, location and risk tolerance. The old line, 'how long is a piece of string' applies here. I was doing some planning myself, and actually come closer to werecoming's numbers than to Rambutmerah's (of course there would be a difference between Lombok and Bali, especially for housing and food/entertainment costs). When figuring in things like comprehensive health insurance (including evacuation coverage), a reserve fund for extraordinary dental and local medical expenses, a reserve fund for travel, car ownership, household staff, gym/yoga membership, occasional spa treatments etc the costs add up. Of course, I'm sure that it is possible to fly completely by the seat of one's pants and spend very little, all the more so if you are young, healthy and fearless (or just thrifty, undemanding and uninsured). However, for those who enjoy sleeping with aircon, having a morning dip in the pool, an afternoon massage and a sip of Macallan in the evening followed by a nice dinner, all whilst having a backup plan in case things go wrong, life in Bali is not so inexpensive.

SHoggard

Harry,It would be interesting if you were to give a similar accounting for Jakarta so we can see what you're comparing Bali against

Rambutmerah

MarkYou'r right in saying that it's cheaper in Lombok but not by a big extent. We could have rented a much fancier house but for what reason? How many rooms does 2 people need? Shopping at Heros or at the western delicatessens would have doubled our costs. I didn't include my health insurance (with evacuation) in the sum, cost 6 milll/yr. If a person wants to spend 30 mill a month it's of no problem to me, I merely tried to say that it's an awful lot of money for Indonesia. My husband earned less then 1 mill a month and would have had to work 2,5 yrs for that money. We had a great lifestyle and with reserve funds in the bank we had no worries in the world. I was neither young nor careless, simply economising a bit on the everyday costs.

hinakos

Sorry to hijak the thread somewhat.....but Rambutmerah can you please let us know what insurance company you are using that gives health insurance with evac for only 6 jt / year? I'm over double that, and I shopped around (i thought!)ThanksHinakos

werecoming

no.idea

Harry, the one thing that stood out to me is the 100,000 per month to rent a fridge. Have you checked the price of buying one? They are seriously cheap.

Rambutmerah

Hinakosduring my yrs in Lombok I keept a small apartment in Sweden for my yearly visits. I had it insured with a Swedish insurancecompany and through that company I was able to get an additional insurance for health- and dental care abroad. Included evacuation if needed with SOS InternationalAs I bought my tickets using my VISA card I had a free insurance for the first 45 days of my Indonesian stay and from day 46 until it was time to go back for a visit my International insurance steped in. Started all over when I went back again.

hinakos

ok thanks for clearing that up. that might actually work for me too.

sunyata

sakumabali

I agree with you, Rambut Merah ... those who put their fat wallet on the table also drive huge cars, build huge houses, etc. Hard to leave the ego behind and assume some simpler ways of living. Anyway, each to their own ....[/QUOTE]WTF? To each his own, and what do you care about it anyway? Fat Wallet, Huge cars, huge houses are nice

gilbert de jong

WTF? To each his own, and what do you care about it anyway? Fat Wallet, Huge cars, huge houses are nice[/QUOTE]where's that 'like' button when you need it...(y) for your comment sakumabali..and to add, I don't see how it ties in with the thread, nor do I see rambutmerah saying stuff that sunyata agrees with???