How Much Does It Cost To Live In Bali?

One of the most common questions I am asked, and the question I asked most often before moving here, how much does it cost to live in Bali?

So I am going to share my full cost of living for my first 4 weeks living in Canggu, Bali. I have been tracking all of my expenses since I arrived here and will be breaking them down into the following categories; accommodation, eating out, groceries, leisure activities, transport, phone, and laundry.

I will not be including the cost of my flights or visas, as these will vary for everyone depending on where you are coming from and how long you decide to stay. I also will not be including travel insurance, or any subscriptions such as Netflix, Spotify, et cetera.

I will be listing all expenses in IDR, euro and US dollars, with currency conversions to euro and US correct at the time of posting. For any other currencies or updated exchange rates, you can simply use the IDR amount and do a quick conversion here.

Accommodation

My biggest cost for the month was obviously my accommodation. For a private room in a guesthouse, with a private bathroom, a shared pool and a shared kitchen, I paid 4,926,000 IDR (EUR318.40/USD314.74). This included free electricity, WiFi and drinking water, with cleaning every third day. Many places have risen their prices considerably as the world is opening up post Covid and Bali is getting busier, but there are definitely still good accommodation deals to be found in Canggu, especially if you look in Berawa which is where I stayed for my first month.

Eating Out and Ordering In

My second biggest expense was for eating out and ordering in, with a total spend of 3,536,000 IDR (EUR228.65/USD225.90). I’m sure that anyone who has lived in Canggu will agree that it generally actually costs more to cook at home here than it does to eat out or order in. And with so many amazing restaurants and cafes offering such a huge variety of cuisines from all over the world at such affordable prices, you can literally eat somewhere different every single day and not run out of new places to try for a really long time.

Click here to read my post on eating out for €10 a day in Canggu.

Groceries

My total spent on groceries was 1,733,000 IDR(EUR112.06/USD110.71). As I’ve already said, cooking at home isn’t really something that’s widely done in Bali, and particularly among the digital nomad population in and around Canggu, so this amount was mostly for things like toiletries and some snacks. I also have a pretty unfortunate caffeine addiction and get through several cans of caffeinated soft drinks each day, and this cost is also included in my grocery bill.

Leisure Activities

I spent 415,000 IDR on leisure activities (EUR26.83/USD26.52). This included 3 massages and one trip to the cinema. Canggu has a great beach culture. Enjoying the sunset at the beach is one of the most popular things to do, and entry is free at most beaches. I also spent a lot of this first month just exploring my surroundings and getting to know the area.

Transport

I spent 305,000 IDR (EUR19.72/USD19.49) on transport, or three Grab journeys to be more exact. I don’t rent a scooter as I would not feel safe driving one and the traffic in Canggu is terrible so I prefer to just walk as much as possible. I also don’t really see the need to have a scooter as rideshare apps like Grab and Gojek are so affordable and accessible, so I just use those when I need to go somewhere where walking is not an option.

Phone

I brought an unlocked phone with me and bought a local SIM with some data included when I arrived. I also topped up the data once during that first month, bringing my total spend for my phone and data to 240,000 IDR (EUR15.52/USD15.33). Data top ups are very cheap here, and my guesthouse had free WiFI, as did most restaurants and cafes, so my data usage was mainly for using Google maps and staying contactable when I was on the go, and also for those rare times when the WiFi was sketchy and I needed to use my data as a hotspot.

Laundry

This cost was so low that I feel a bit silly even including it, but it is a necessary expense so I think it deserves a mention, however small it was. I had my laundry done twice during the month, and the total cost for both times was 32,000 IDR (EUR2.07/USD2.04). Most guesthouses and even the more expensive villas don’t have laundry facilities, and self service laundromats aren’t widely available, so doing your own laundry generally isn’t even an option.

Grand Total

And so the grand total for my living costs for my first month here in Bali was 11,187,000 IDR, which is roughly equal to EUR723.25 or USD714.73. I didn’t live a rock star lifestyle, but I certainly didn’t scrimp on comforts or luxuries either. I enjoyed experiences like massages and eating out regularly which I wasn’t able to afford back in Ireland and I have found Canggu to be a very affordable place to live. Watch this space for more posts on how much it costs to travel to some of the other areas in and around Bali.