Why is Bali So Cheap?

We usually hear about how low the prices are in Asia. We hear that, since Asian countries are less developed, the workers earn less money, and the overall purchasing power is lower. This is part of the reason why Bali is so cheap. But, in fact, there are also other reasons why Bali is not expensive. So, why is Bali so cheap?

Bali is extremely cheap because daily expenses are way lower than in other countries. Meals, hotels rooms, shopping, transport fees, and every other expense are all much cheaper. Basically, the most expensive thing you will need to buy is a ticket to get to Bali. After calculations, it costs around $80 dollars per day to live a great life in Bali.

How much does one day in Bali cost?

To help you realize the range of prices we are talking about right now, we will run a virtual experiment. From my desk in France, I will live a classic tourist day in Bali. At the end of the day, I will summarize all the expenses and give you the total amount I spent.

How cheap is Bali: the program

Let’s first detail the program of this busy touristic day. Let’s say I arrive in the morning in Bali, enjoy the beach until noun, eat in a restaurant, and head to a temple for the afternoon. Then, we eat dinner in another restaurant and finally get to a hotel to book a room.

How cheap is Bali: the results

To make that day as real as possible, I found real restaurants and hotels. The prices are from real menus and stores I found online. After doing some research, I was able to find a complete breakfast for Rps 60,000 (Rps representing Indonesian Rupiahs). This is equal to around USD 4. Then, I was able to find two meals at around 100,000 for both lunch and dinner. In USD, this costs $6,78 each. When we sum those three meals together, we arrive at around $18 to eat one day in Bali.

If I wanted to travel on a budget, I could have found cheaper options, but I went for a touristic approach.

Then, the entry to Bali Museum costs Rps 20,000 or $1,36. Finally, a hotel room for a couple costs around $70.

Since I only considered the food was for one person, I need to divide the price of the hotel room. Otherwise, the sum would not really make sense. A part of it would take two people into account, and the other would not.

When we sum all our expenses, we arrive at $54,36. For that day, no taxi was needed, and we are not partying during night time. This is just for a relaxed day in Bali. Since taxis cost around $10 each, we can easily round that up to $80 dollars.

This is also the range of price that Christian LeBlanc will find during his experiment. Keep reading to check it.

Stepping back from this experiment

This experiment helps to realize that a casual day in Bali is not expensive for a person earning dollars, or euros. However, this is not the case for someone earning the local currency of course. Then, this experiment also hides some factors.

First, it does not count the flights’ tickets, which is definitely what costs the most. To see how much it costs to book a ticket to Bali, the best is to check the prices with a flight comparator. You can use Jetradar for that point.

Note that this is part of an affiliate program and that if you book a ticket with that link, I will get a commission of it. The website is very secure, and I use it to book my own tickets.

Then, this experiment does not take the taxi into account. It does cost money to travel from the airport to the hotel for example. Also, at night time, you may want to book taxis to get home. However, taxis are relatively cheap in Bali. We are talking about $10 for a taxi (of course, this depends on how long the drive is).

Finally, if you really feel insecure about traveling to Bali, you may take travel insurance. This will definitely cost you a lot, compared to what you will spend on the way.

A digital nomad shares his experience in Bali

If you think that digital and nomad are two words that can’t be read in the same sentence, you are wrong. Indeed, digital nomads are the people who can work only thanks to an Internet connection. This means that they can work anywhere in the world, as long as they have WiFi. Classic digital nomads jobs are developers, online English teachers, and so on.

Why is Bali a great place for digital nomads?

What does Bali have to do with those weird persons working on their laptops at the beach? The answer is pretty simple. Basically, since they work online, digital nomads usually earn USD (US dollars). They earn a strong currency, which they can exchange massively to get Rupiahs (Indonesia’s currency). If you want to read more about that point, I wrote an article about digital nomadism on another website. By clicking to this link, you will land on an informational website about teleworking, remote workers, and digital nomads.

Christian LeBlanc’s experience in Bali

Since an image is worth a thousand words, a video is definitely the best way to show you how much a day in Bali costs. For that point, I found a very precise video created by Lost LeBlanc.

This 30 days-experiment is probably the best resource you can find on the web about that topic. Indeed, this YouTuber lives an active life and really digs deep into the expenses. He is living like everyone and he shows you the reality on the spot.

The results of his experiment are detailed on his blog talking about digital nomadism. After summing everything up, we arrive at $83/day to live in Bali. Now, if you ask yourself “How much does it cost to live in Bali?”, you can safely answer “It costs less than a hundred dollars per day to live in Bali”. This takes into account the rent, shopping, taxis, and every single expense.

I hope that this article was helpful and that it covered your request. If this is not the case, you can either leave a comment down below in the comment section or send me an e-mail. I will get back to you as quickly as possible. If you want to read more about Bali, I recommend that you read the other article I wrote about this place, which will give you ideas about what to do in Bali.

See you somewhere in the world!