One Month’s Spend for Travellers, Retirees and Nomads
Planning an extended stay in Ubud? Wondering what the cost of living in Ubud might be? One of Bali’s most fascinating cities has a lot to offer in the way of outstanding cultural experiences and affordable living. Also, it’s a common destination for travellers, digital nomads and retirees. .
When we decided to travel the world full-time, we set a monthly budget for ourselves of $2000 Canadian dollars (about $1,600 USD) per month. We know that it will vary depending on where we are in the world, but we plan to stick to it as best we can and hope it all evens out in the end.
All figures below will be in US dollars. All costs are for both of us combined as a couple, not per person.
Let’s see how our cost of living compared to our budget:
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Cost of Living in Ubud – Accommodations
This was a full 30 day stay as opposed to our usual 28 day stay. And AirBnb was not an option as there was either no availability or insanely expensive places. We looked at several options from Facebook groups to google and settled on one with a great price that we found in google maps.
We were located in the Penestanan area of Ubud and this area was extremely walkable with gorgeous rice terraces and plenty of dining options close by. The only negative to Ubud for us was the monsoons set in early this year (2022). Basically, torrential rains for hours at a time every day except for two of the thirty.They would start late morning and last until mid afternoon and afterwards we were often left with flooding. We knew this was a possibility but thought two months before the monsoon season we would be ok. Lesson learned!
Our accommodation was very basic with typical indoor sleeping area and outdoor kitchen. The bathroom was half indoor and half outdoor which is fine, but I wish it hadn’t been attached to the sleeping area. Because of this, insects are major issue in your sleeping area. We even had a large Tokay Gecko lives with us for about two weeks. At least they eat insects.
If you’re interested in checking out the unit you can find it here. Yoga House Experience
Total cost for accommodation for the month: $502
Looking for short term accommodations? Check these great deals:
- Luxury Accommodations: – Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve – Mandapa, A Ritz- Carlton Reserve offers a retreat among the greenery in Ubud. This hotel also features an outdoor swimming pool, an on-site spa and wellness center, as well as providing free WiFi access throughout the entire property. Complimentary 24-hour butler service is available in all rooms.
- Mid-Range Accommodations: – Kuwarasan A Pramana Experience – Featuring rice paddies and a terrace, Kuwarasan A Pramana Experience is located in Ubud. The area is popular for cycling, and bike hire is available at the accommodations.
- Budget Accommodations: – Element Bali Ubud – Located near to Ubud City Center, Element Bali Ubud offers an accommodations with a range of healthy food and wellness activities.
Or check here for the latest deals on Booking.com
Wondering about SE Asian cities Cost of Living? Check out our Bangkok Cost of Living Here
Cost of Living in Ubud – Activities
With rain being the biggest issue, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the 30 days were in Ubud. We figured out the rains schedule and one thing we did a lot of was walk. Ubud is gorgeous and the walks are quite unbelievable. We knew we would have a few hours in the mornings before the rain would start so we would get out as early as possible and go on a gorgeous rice terrace walk. Campuhan Ridge Walk and others were in our daily rotation. And yes, we did have a few morning we got caught in a rain storm.
One paid activity we did do is what I mentioned above. A day out with a guide who drove us all over the place to see things like Tegalalang Rice terraces, The Ubud Monkey forest, numerous Waterfalls, numerous temples and villages and even had the prized babi guiling
Total Cost for Activities for the month: $82
Looking for some fun things to do? We would highly recommend some of these tours
Cost of Living in Ubud – Dining and Restaurants
Because of the weather, most of our meals happened at our villa in Ubud. Grab is very convenient in Se Asia and works extremely well in Bali so we ordered a lot through this app. It’s not as cheap as being able to go out somewhere, but still very affordable. We were able to order meals for two of us as low as $15 and that includes delivery and tip. Western style food will be substantially more expensive. The few times we did manage to make it out to eat prices were even better. If you are willing to get out of the absolute tourist hotspots, you can score a meal of Nasi Goreng for as little as $2
If you’re looking for guided food tours in Bali check out some the most highly rated ones here:
- Seminyak Indonesian Food Tour – Discover Balinese and Indonesian cuisine in a group of no more than eight
- Private Balinese Cooking Class and Garden Tour in Ubud with Dewa – Highly rated cooking class in Ubud
- Bali Private Food Walking Tour With Locals – Authentic Balinese Food tour in Denpasar
Total Cost for Dining out for One Month: $364
Cost of Living in Ubud – Groceries
In most of the cities we visit, we tend to do a fair amount of cooking at our AirBnb, In Bali we didn’t much of it. Grab was too cheap and we found the grocery stores to be expensive for what we could get. Basically, coffee and some eggs and bread. Probably 65-70% of this budget was in toiletries
Total Cost for Groceries for the Month: $193
Cost of Living in Ubud – Cell Phones
We purchased sim cards on arrival at the airport. Of course we know we can get sim cards cheaper elsewhere, but the the little bit of extra cost isn’t a concern for the convenience of having sim cars immediately. We only purchased one upon arrival figuring we would get another once we got to Ubud. With the rain it turned out we didn’t need another one so when I needed data I would tether to Angela’s hotspot. The AirBnb good wifi so it was a non issue for us.
Total Cost for Phone and Data for one Month: $23
Cost of Living in Ubud – Transportation
We didn’t do a whole lot as far as moving around goes during our time in Bali. Want to guess why? Our only transportation costs were the private car we hired to pick us up from and return us to the airport.
Total cost for Transportation for One Month: $59
Cost of Living in Ubud – Visas
When we arrived in Bali there was a VOA(Visa on Arrival) fee of $35 per person.
Total Cost for Visa for one month: $70
Cost of Living in Ubud – Miscellaneous Expenses
This category covers pretty much everything that’s not included above. We choose to include alcohol in miscellaneous, because we do enjoy a beer or a bottle of wine from time to time while hanging around the Airbnb. You might not drink and if you are planning a budget you can easily omit this cost. For us, alcohol makes up about 60% of this category. This month it also included a tank top for Angela and Ibuprofen to get rid of the headaches from rainstorm beer drinking
Total Miscellaneous Costs for one month: $56
One thing we can’t live without while on the road full time – Saves us lots of money too!
Totals
Total Cost of Living for One Month in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Looking at the table above, you can see that we were under budget. $1349 USD works out to a little over $1,844 CAD. We came in under budget, but it would have been substantially over budget had it not been for the early monsoon’s starting. However, It feels great to confirm what we always expected – living abroad can be much cheaper than in your home country. These numbers were about 1/3 of what our typical expenses would have been in Canada for one month.
Have you lived in Ubud for any length of time? Were your numbers similar to our cost of living for one month in Ubud? Do you have any other tips for potential travellers? Leave a comment and let us know. We would love to hear from you.
