How much spending money for Bali?
Updated on the 7/4/2020
Bali is amazing. The good thing about Bali is you can spend a fortune here, or you can be as thrifty as you want and spend close to nothing. The question is, how much money will you be spending in Bali for a week?
I am a pretty frugal backpacker. I try to be conscious of my spending.
However, I didn’t want to be counting my expenditure throughout my journey and go all panic because I have overspent by 5 dollars on a glass of mojito, which happened multiple times.
Many have told me that I didn’t need much spending money in Bali.
If you are only travelling around the mainland, it’s actually fine. You won’t require much spending money once you are in Bali.
This is an overview of how much things cost in Bali:
Spending Money in Bali - Food
I think food contributes the most of my expenditure in Bali. I love food too much. Soon I will be posting another article on all the places in Bali that you should try if you love traditional Balinese cuisine!
- Super cheap, nameless warungs - 20k for veggies and rice
- Cheap restaurant - a plate of Nasi Campur at Warung Murah cost around 40k
- Moderate restaurant - ayam bakar (grilled chicken) and rice can cost up to 80k in Warung Mina
- Expensive restaurant - obviously sky is the limit. A full meal at Bebek Tepi Sawah can cost 200k
- Food stand - 5 sticks of satay for 30k
- Mango milkshake - 15k
- Australian-styled coffee - 35-50k
- Normal Balinese black coffee - 5-20k
Spending Money in Bali - Groceries
I actually think that eating out is cheaper than buying groceries if you’re just in Bali for a week or two. If you do want to allocate some spending money in Bali on groceries, these would be the common items:
- 1.5L bottle of water - 6-10k
- Cup noodles - 7k
- Local veggies - just bargain. Or just buy those that actually has a price on them
- Chicken breast - 30k in Denpasar, prices are higher outside of Denpasar
- Fruits - bargain. Buy those in season. Rambutans can be as cheap as 20k per kilo.
- Rice - around 20k per kilo. If you are lazy, you can get it for 3k-6k per serve from most eateries.
Expenditure in Bali - Alcohol
Lemme tell you what – you can EASILY overspend in Bali if you don’t watch your budget!! It’s really chill and nek minute you are 5 beers down and 25 dollars poorer.
- Cocktail in beach clubs (Potato Head) - 100-150k
- Beer at beach bar and restaurant (La Plancha) - 65k
- Beers in a minimart - 25k
- Beers in a supermarket - 20k
- Cheapest beer in La Favela (I think it was Bintang, couldn’t remember much) - 50k
Expenditure in Bali - Transport
Bali is an island. But it’s definitely not a small island. On top of the traffic jam, you are looking at spending at least 3-5 hours on the road if you are moving to different areas (Sanur to Seminyak itself can take 2 hours ONE-WAY YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT).
- Kura-kura bus - different fares depending on where you wanna go http://kura2bus.com/page/ticket_info
- Gojek short ride - 3-10k
- Gojek long ride (Seminyak to Tanah Lot) - 65k
- Hire driver + car - 500k per day
Accommodation - how much to spend in Bali
- Budget double room in Kuta - 120k
- Budget hostel in Ubud - 50k
- Budget double room in Seminyak - 100k
- Mid-range double room in Sanur - 180k
Other necessities
- SPF 50 Nivea sunscreen - 150k
- Cheap sunglasses - 30k-80k
- “Italian” gelato - 30k (definitely a necessity)
- Cheap hat - 80k
- Small head and shoulder shampoo - 20k
- Small toothpaste - 12k
- A tailor-made suit - 100k (another necessity)
How much money did I spend in Bali?
I spent around 7,500,000 rupiah during my 2-week stay in Bali.
My vacation consists of a lot of street food, some of the best meals in high-end restaurants, cocktails at beach clubs during happy hour, a lot of gojek rides, some (or a lot) of clubbing, some massage, some cheap shopping, some hostel nights…
There might or might not be a staycation at a chalet by the beach. And also 1 full suit and 3 shirts – all tailor-made.
I could’ve done it cheaper but I didn’t want to! After all, it doesn’t cost too much to splurge a little in Bali.
If you are wondering about how much spending money you should have while in Bali, 3 million rupiah for a week is way too much for a budget traveller.
5 million rupiah per week for spending money in Bali is a good estimate if you wanna splurge a little with the few extra spas, massages and surfing classes.
Where to stay?
Accommodation options in Bali are plenty. However, depending on your budget and where you wanna stay, you can narrow it down to a few.
These are the accommodation that I like the most during my stay in Bali so I am gonna share it here.
Budget – Hostel prices in Bali start at 5$ AUD but if you want a little privacy and don’t mind paying a bit more, I recommend staying at Pondok Taksu Bali – Kuta area (cost around 120k per person per night). Most of the cheaper accommodation options are at Kuta. Personally, I much prefer Seminyak.
Comfortable – If you are going to stay at Seminyak, stay at M and D Guesthouse. Not only it’s close to everywhere you need to go, they also have superb service. Feeling hungry at 11pm? No problemo, because countless eateries are literally right outside of you.
High-end – To pamper yourself, stay with Karmagali Suites at Sanur Beach. I much prefer Sanur as compared to Nusa Dua because Nusa Dua is just tooooooo pricey. Karmagali Suites is an adult-only accommodation so you can be sure that no kids will be there to bother your lazy afternoon!
Get a cheap SIM card online
I speak Malay, which is a very close language to Indonesian.
However, every time I go to Indonesia, I always get charged a higher price as compared to the locals.
To save yourself that hassle, just get a cheap SIM card online!
You can pick it up when you arrive at Ngurah Rai International Airport. It costs 100,000 IDR/ 5.70 EUR/ 10 AUD for 30 days of internet (6GB) and other perks.
Please book a transfer from Ngurah Rai Airport
It is really hard to get out of Ngurah Rai International Airport without getting hassled and overcharged by taxi drivers.
Also, you can’t order a rideshare service (Uber/ Grab) from the airport.
There is no public transport that runs to the airport.
The best way is just to book a private transfer from Ngurah Rai Airport to wherever you are staying. After all, it costs only 226,000 IDR / 13 EUR / 22.60 AUD.
Trust me, it is much much easier and the taxi that you get on the spot is going to overcharge you.
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