Can You Visit Bali On A Budget?
If we’re to do what we’re doing for two years, we need to stick to our set budget as much as possible. Blow it and we’re back before planned. Two years of adventure awaits us providing we can be travellers rather than tourists.
Our budget is $75nz per day. This is includes food, drink, transport and attractions and of course all the other little incidentals along the way.
I know I’m was supposed to leave spreadsheets behind in my previous life, but sometimes a girl has just got to have spreadsheet in her life. So yes, I do keep a spreadsheet of our daily expenses and therefore track our progress.
It sounds tedious but it is truly the only way that you can keep account of what you spend. Some days we went over and some days we were well under. We don’t want our budget to inhibit us from doing something that we really want to do. We don’t want to miss out on that ‘once in a lifetime experience’. It’s more making sure that we don’t eat at the posh tourist restaurants, going for massages every second day and doing our own laundry.
Walking the streets reveals the best surprises
Transport
Transport was our highest cost in Bali. Their long distance public transport isn’t the best so we opted for a private driver. It was a bonus for us as the trip north included a lot of stops at attractions we wanted to see on the way and we couldn’t if we were on the public shuttle service. We also walked A LOT. Some days we were clocking up over 14km as we just kept wandering around. This not only kept our costs down but we saw so much more than if we had a ride everywhere.
Food
Street Food is the best way to keep the costs down
We found that food costs varied a lot depending on the area and in some places we had to search hard to find good local food at a reasonable cost. Beer was also surprisingly expensive. Still cheap compared to NZ prices but often double the cost of a meal here. Needless to say, we did have to limit our consumption which wasn’t a bad thing.
By searching out the local cuisine, we discovered some fantastic tasting authentic food, at a realistic price.
Accommodation
There were no 5 star resorts for us this time. The majority of our accommodation was home stays or guest houses. We used Booking.com or AirBnB and on occasion we walked the streets and just looked for signs out advertising rooms and if we liked the area and the look of them (and if we could barter a good price – including breakfast) then we’d book in. Our average cost per night was $25nz. All accommodation included A/C, wifi, breakfast and the majority had a pool.
Excursions
Our two big excursions snorkelling and day trip to Lombok was well worth the cost as these turned out to be our most memorable activities in Bali. Gili Air was also a hit with us although it cost more to be there an on the mainland.
So the long and short of it is – YES, we travelled Bali on a budget and came in $100 under budget.