Living expenses in Bali

[Ziggy]

RE: Hello to all................

Stupid question from a very green person who is playing with the idea of coming to live in bali! (I will be making several trips beforehand)
What are the living expenses like? say a 3-4 bed villa? electricity, phones, PC's,food...etc.. i know its a difficult question to ask with maybe no straight answer but is there a family outthere with any answers?

 

[Bert Vierstra]

RE: Hello to all................

Hmm a 3-4 bedroom villa?

There are villas-houses for sale between 60,000 US and 1 million+ US, but you can rent a 3-4 bedroom house starting at 700 USD a year.

Balinese homes can be bought starting at 10.000 USD appr.

You can lease land at 120 USD per 100m2 per year, build a house for 3000 USD. You can buy a beach plot in the south for 1 million USD, use an architect that costs 160 USD per hour to look at your plot and have him design a house that costs you another million.

Nasi Jingo costs 17 dollarcent, a typical McDonalds meal 2,5 dollar, an Australian steak in Kuta may cost you about 10 USD, a kilo of rice around 28 dollarcent, a fresh Tuna from the market of about 3 kilo about 3 USD.

We do our cooking with elpiji (yes that is LPG or liquid petroleum gas), one bottle or 14,7 kg is around 5 USD. I takes around a month to empty it. You could get you own wood (there is plenty for free at Jimbaran beach) put a few stones together, and you cook for free.

I spend USD 200+ a month on telephone bills, because I use the internet a lot.

I bought a PC for around USD 1300, including DVD writer, 1GB of ram and 17 inch LCD monitor, but you can get a simple one for 500 USD as well.

My electricity bill in Singaraja with one AC is about 40 USD a month, water from the city around 15 USD a month.

Why don't you buy this one from me [brl:1nk88euj]http://www.real-estate-bali.com/bali-beach-front-villa/[/brl:1nk88euj] ?

8)

 

[Ziggy]

Nice house but I think this would be a little over budget for me! I did have a look at some of the beach side villas on your website above and thought the http://www.bali-information.com/bali_pr ... &c=27&pn=3 was really nice! i know its little small but what sort of prices is it to have extensions built once your house is built!
I know this ones already sold but does the builder plan on building more of these on the north coast?

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Small? Not really.... 1400 sqm of land and 215 sqm inside....

I already asked him if he is going to build some more at this price.

He is thinking about it....

You can add extra guesthouses at around 150-250 USD per sqm...

Prices of building materials have gone up so the news ones will be more expensive anyway...

 

[Ziggy]

Thanks Bert!
Was the land included in the price or is that an extra. The look like really well put together houses, Just the type of place that the missus would find acceptable!! LOL i made the mistake of showing her a $1,000,000 villa! Of course she wants that now! I better have a go at the lottery again!

 

[Sanurian]

Hi Ziggy

I think I would be inclined to rent a house for a year or so for two major reasons:

(1) It's much cheaper to do that, and
(2) You'll be able to see first-hand what problems need addressing

I live in Sanur at the moment, in a rented house. It has 3 bedrooms (AC in two of them), living room, 3 bathrooms (two with hot water), a kitchen, two garages, telephone, relatively big electricity supply, more than adequate garden, solar-panel (for the hot water), etc. It costs me about Rp25 million/year. As usual, there are always other expats who have better and cheaper places. Another reason to try before you buy.

I think it's better to do this rather than 'buy' some place too quickly in case you find it's too noisy, the roof leaks when it's raining, or the 'neighbours' are a pain.

It's virtually impossible to figure these things out unless you're living here. Give it some thought. If you have the money to 'buy' something, go slowly and with lots of care. (That's not to say what Bert has to offer is no good - just be patient).

As the Balinese/Indonesians say:

Pelan-pelan

(Slow - but sure)

 

[Ziggy]

Hi Sanurian
thanks for your thoughts! Sounds like excellent advice. I dont mind spending that amount of money on renting!
I will keep everyone up to date with my plans , the ups and downs, the good times and the bad!

 

[joe_fox]

Hi all,
I saw what you say about to rent a apartment in Bali. I wish to can rent a apartment that can pay 700 - 1000 USD /year. I have searched by internet but it seems that in internet the cost to rent a apartment start from 1000 USD by month. Maybe the difference come from the impossibility from the small owners to put offers in internet. Anyway can someone help me in that ? i wish expatriate in Bali in April. Best regards

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Don't worry Joe,

There are plenty of cheap places to rent.