Work From Bali
If you know Bali as a tropical paradise, you are not wrong. If you associate the island with holiday getaway, honeymoon, or even your dream trip, you’re not wrong either. But, what if I told you that Bali is also a great place to settle for longer and not just for a week? Many people from all over the world dream to visit the island and some dream to work and live from Bali. Even the Indonesian government is also introducing the “WFB” Work From Bali during the pandemic in order to help the economy in the island float as it is so reliant on the hospitality industry. Apparently, their “tactics” work because many Jakartans, especially those with higher income earners, move to Bali to work from the island. When there are many people writing about their cost of living as expats, there are less people who actually write about the cost of living for regular Indonesians like myself. Is it expensive? How much does it actually cost to live on the island? What’s the difference with the cost of living in Bali vs Java? Not only that I will cover my living expenses and my experience thus far as a regular Indonesian, I will also share the estimated cost for expats to live on the Island. One thing that I think is positive about people moving longer in the island is that it’s more sustainable and also we actually contribute to the local economy much more than when we’re just coming for a couple of days. Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Accommodation
The first time you land on the island, you might still want to live in a nice villa or some nice hotel with a beach view but if you plan on living long term, homestays and guesthouses are your go-to accommodation. There are many accommodations on the island that you can choose based on your budget from 50$/week to 500$/week it all depends on your budget. I have talked to locals who work at the bar and she told me that she spends 450.000IDR/month for her “kos” and foreigners mostly spend around 2.500.000 to 3.000.000/month and that too for 2 people. Meanwhile, in my first and second week, I spent a total of 4.900.000 just because I chose to stay at a hotel with a nice swimming pool. That too, was a bad deal. In the end, I found a homestay that costs only 630.000/ week since I rent the place weekly. However, I learned that it could have been cheaper If I just got them monthly. With the amenities I got such as room, daily cleaning, wifi and AC room with shared kitchen at a prime location, I would guess 1.600.000 to 1.7000.0000/month would suffice. So learn from my lesson, It is much cheaper if you rent it monthly instead of weekly/daily.
Accommodation budget cheapest : 118$/month
Transportation
The second part that I want to cover is transportation. It is very important that you know if you live in a close proximity to the beach, getting online transportation would be difficult. But if you live slightly away from it, you might have no problem getting around with online transportation such as gocar or grabcar. However, for extra convenience and if you are confident about driving around, you can rent a motorbike starting from 700.000IDR/month to 1.000.000/month. Again, because I rent it weekly and I got a foreigner’s price it was 490.000/week for me. Now that I learned how to get around in this place, the next time I am coming back, I am only going to spend 700.000/month for the motorbike.
Motorbike budget cheapest : 48$/month
Gasoline : 14$/month
Co-working space
This is for you guys who are working online and remotely. There are many co-working places to choose from on the island. It all depends on your preference and also if you want to get work done or is okay with socialization. If you are looking for a community co-working with friendly and helpful people, I would suggest looking into Dojo coworking. They have different plans that suit your need to get things done. What I like about the place is that I can socialize and attend so many workshops and learn something new from it. The place is also close to the sunset point, so if you are tired of working, you can walk and watch the beautiful sunset then go back to work after. I got the 30 hours plan which cost me 350.000IDR/month but from what I learned, 30 hours only lasted for 5 days for me. So, the next time I am visiting, I am going to choose the unlimited plan which is going to be around 1.000.000/monthly subscription.
If you are in the web3 and blockchain industry, T-hub might suit you better as it is a great place to network with web3 enthusiasts and alike. There are also tropical and bwork which I heard are more serious and less community feeling. If you don’t like co-working, you can also work from cafe to cafe as well which could end up more expensive.
Co-working budget cheapest : 25 $/month or 70$/month * Indonesian national card holder price.
Food
Bali can transform you into a foodie even if you are not. Eating here depends on your preference and budget. If you are eating from a cafe and restaurant, expect to spend around 150.000IDR/person. But if you are eating at a local vegan/vegetarian warung, no worries they also sell chicken. It will cost from 10.000IDR to 250000 with free water. But let’s say my budget for a day is 100.000/day for food. Now, coffee, to sustain my caffeinated life, I honestly say that I do not go to starbucks and spend way cheaper in Bali than any other places in Indonesia where I always have to go to starbucks. So, I spent around 20.000IDR-50.000IDR/coffee and my coffee expenses that I round up is about 50.000IDR/day.
Food budget cheapest : 208$ IDR/person
Coffee budget cheapest : 105$ IDR/person
Lifestyle
You have to know that in Bali, you will find yourself attending events at least once during your stay. If you are lucky, you can find free events with free flow cocktails, drinks for all genders. But it is always best to budget at least 150.000IDR-200.000IDR for one time going out. You can definitely customize this one. For me, I went out about 3-4x a week and even daily when I first arrived. But now, I am going to make a rough estimation that I go out about 4x/week and each time cost me 200.000IDR
Lifestyle budget cheapest : 222$ /person
Traveling Budget
You are already in the island of paradise, why won’t you check out places? Some places are free but some places have an entrance fee. It all depends on whether if you are Indonesian or foreigner. I spend about 200.000IDR each time I go out. I go out just about once every week and for a total of 4x months. So, I spent less on the traveling budget than I did for the lifestyle budget.
Traveling budget cheapest : 55$/person
Misc
It can be anything from laundry to even a visit to a doctor and emergency money. I would suggest at least having 2.000.000 ready for the extra misc expenses around the island. Laundry itself is pretty cheap and thus far, I spend about 200.000IDR for a month which is about 14$/month.
**Misc budget cheapest : 140$/person
For Foreigner, there might be extra cost for the visa which is around 65$ so, be ready for those visa expenses and also PCR/antigen expenses.
Now, let’s round it all up!
Accommodation budget cheapest : 118$/month
Motorbike budget cheapest : 48$/month
Gasoline : 14$/month
Co-working budget cheapest : 25 $/month or 70$/month * Indonesian national card holder price.
Food budget cheapest : 208$ IDR/person
Coffee budget cheapest : 105$ IDR/person
Lifestyle budget cheapest : 222$ /person
Traveling budget cheapest : 55$/person
Misc budget cheapest : 140$/person
= 980$/month calculated with the most expensive price.
Once again, you can remove some expenses such as lifestyle budget or even coffee budget. As you can see, among them all lifestyle a.ka. Socializing and going out with friends cost a lot to me. And this place was based on the cheapest experience that I could have instead of something that I experienced that actually doubled the price of all these. It’s kinda crazy, I know but if you can minimize the cost of food while traveling , you can live just half a fraction of what I did in Bali. All people's lifestyles are different but with my budget above, you can live very comfortably here. But again, you can definitely make it cheaper.
Let me know if you have questions!
Mac's Pinmapple Travel List
 | Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated. |