Author: dan

Retire Early $975 USD month in Bali Indonesia

We recently spent a month in one of my favorite places in the world.   We were last here 2 years ago, and we returned to update our cost-of-living information for low to middle-range retirees overseas.

We had heard the traffic had become unbearable and the cost of living had skyrocketed. But we wanted to put our feet on the ground to see for ourselves, since we usually don’t spend as much as most people do.

When in Bali, we stay in the small mountain town called Ubud, because it’s very green, has excellent food choices, and we can walk everywhere around central Ubud without using taxis or motorcycles.

Whether you decide to stay near one of the tourist beaches in Bali, or in Ubud, we recommend staying only in completely walkable neighborhoods so you do not need to spend any time in traffic.  Bali traffic is unbearable these days.

Your other choice would be to move to one of the less touristy towns in the northern part of Bali, where traffic is not an issue.  I have been to Bali many, many times since my first visit in 2007.  

I travel the world and report on the best places to retire on a budget overseas.  I left the United States 19 years ago, and I have been to 73 countries so far.  I am happy to report that Ubud, Bali, is still one of my favorite places for reasons I will now explain.

The beautiful woman you see in the video with me is Qiang from the Hobo Ventures YouTube channel.  I met Qiang in Malaysia in 2016.  Since then, we have slowly traveled to every continent in the world except Antarctica.

This report will mainly be a cost-of-living update, along with other changes we observed on our visit, but the full report is available at VagabondBuddha.com.  

Estimated Cost to Retire in Central Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Rents: We will use the rent where we stayed as our low-range cost of living estimate for rents.  We paid 7.5 million Indonesian Rupiah (which is $447 USD) per month rent.  But that included AC, so I will break them apart.  

I will use $400 rent and $50 USD for utilities for my low-range estimate.  

For the middle-range rent estimate, I will use $800 per month and utilities at $75 USD per month.  

These rents are estimates for a long-term Tenant with a 12-month lease. For short-term tennis, such as on Airbnb, you would expect to pay much more. Internet-connected landlords charged much more.

Here is my report on how to find the perfect, cheap apartments around the world.  

So, I will show you a table of all expenses in a moment.  I will use $400 per month for our lower rent estimate and $800 per month for the middle cost-of-living estimate for expats who want a little more space.  

If you are willing to drive a scooter 10 minutes or 20 minutes outside central Ubud, you may be able to find rentals 10% to 30% cheaper, depending on the size and quality of construction.  

Utilities:  The weather is pretty good year-round at Ubud’s elevation, so you don’t need as much AC or Heat.  That is why we estimate low utilities of $50 USD per month and middle-range utilities of $75 USD per month.

Groceries:  We would purchase fruits and vegetables in the morning from the public market, small shops, and street vendors to save money.  We would also shop in the expensive grocery stores for nonperishable foods and other things like shampoo and detergents.  We estimate about $260 per month for groceries.  Other expats are likely to shop almost exclusively in grocery stores, often spending more like $380 per month on groceries.  

Restaurants:  We would eat out a few times per week in the local-style restaurants (Warungs) for about $1.5 to $2.5 USD per meal per person and one or two splurges per month of $8 to $12 USD per meal per person in the international restaurants.  If you add all that up, we would spend around $160 per month for the two of us in restaurants. We may have a beer here and there, but that is covered below in alcohol.  

Other expats are likely to eat more often in the expensive international restaurants and less in local-style restaurants, and cook less at home, so they would likely spend more like $300 per month for 2 people in restaurants.  It is lifestyle-dependent.

Cell Phone Data: The cost to get a single prepaid Telkomsel SIM card 39GB/ 330k SIM card for your unlocked smartphone is about $20 USD per month, including 39GB of data.  When we were out of the house together, both phones could connect to the hotspot.  Other expat couples are likely to buy two prepaid SIM cards so they would spend $40 USD per month.  

Laundry: We used drop-off and pick-up laundry that cost about $6 for 5 kg of laundry per week.  So we would spend about $24.00 USD per month on laundry. The laundry is folded and bagged the next day for pick up.  

Drinking Water: Reverse osmosis delivery in 20-liter jugs is about $1.49 per jug.  So we would spend about $15 USD per month on RO water.  

Internet: Many apartments include 30 MBPS WIFI in the rent.  But other expats might be willing to buy their own dedicated WIFI for 60 MBPS up and down for about $16 USD for in-home wifi.  

Transportation: Bali has Grab Taxi, which we used to get to and from the airport and three other times during our month-long stay.  Otherwise, we just walked everywhere.  If we lived in Ubud year-round, we estimate paying about $30 per month in Grab taxis.    

Other expats may take more Grab Taxis, walk less, and possibly buy a scooter, so I estimate $150 per month for them.

Alcohol (Optional): Large domestic beers in corner markets are about $2.50 USD for a normal 620 ML can (about twice the size of a standard US beer can).  In bars and restaurants, domestic beers range from around $3 to $5 USD.  So, we estimate about $130 per month on alcohol for the two of us.

Other expats often spend a higher amount on imported foreign or craft beers in convenience stores, bars, and restaurants, so we estimate about $200 USD per month for 2 people.  

Entertainment (Optional):  We would budget about $200 per month for entertainment for the two of us.  We generally enjoy doing more do-it-yourself kinds of entertainment, so other expats would spend a little more, maybe $300 per month, for the 2 of them?

Estimated Costs to Retire in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali

Indonesia

Lower

(USD)

Middle

(USD)

Rent

400

800

Utilities

50

75

Groceries

260

380

Restaurants

160

300

Cell Data

20

40

Laundry

24

24

Drinking Water

15

15

Internet

16

16

Transportation

30

150

Total

$975

$1800

Alcohol

130

200

Optional Total

$1105

$2000

Entertainment

200

300

Optional Total

$1335

$2300

We gathered this data with our feet on the ground here in September of 2025, so adjust for inflation after that.  The above lower estimated cost of living would be if the two of us lived in Ubud on a tight budget.  

The middle estimate is just an example of what more typical expats might spend if they lived here.  

To understand what it would cost you to live here, you must put your feet on the ground, see how you would choose to live, eat, and entertain yourself, and add it all up.  It doesn’t matter what anyone else spends because we are all different.  

You should also add anything to the above table that you spend money on in your home country that is not listed in the above table.  Presumably, you find those things necessary in life.  

To do that, visit Numbeo Da Lat and add anything not mentioned in the above table.  Anything not on Numbeo, you should find and add to the table during your exploratory visit so you learn your personal cost of living before deciding to move here.

Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.  

More typical expats’ living costs in Da Lat range from about $1500 to $2500 per month.  But people who spend that much often have higher savings, incomes, or pensions.  They often report spending more on accommodations and entertainment, eating out more, traveling more, and drinking more alcohol.  Many also have more expensive cars, houses, or apartments.  

Many of the expats we meet living overseas are self-insured for medical care.  That means that not everyone buys health insurance overseas.  They just pay for services as they need them.  That probably sounds crazy to many of you.  

So start with health insurance and consider your options later, after you have lived here for several years, and learn what the aging population pays for typical health care procedures here.  

Make Sure to Have an Emergency Fund

If you are going to try to retire cheaply offshore, make sure to read my report, the Two Biggest Risks of Retiring Early for Cheap Offshore, which explains why you should have emergency funds available for unexpectedly large expenses (and how much).  

How We Traveled to Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

After 90 days in Vietnam (Da Lat, Nha Trang, and Da Nang), we flew from Da Nang, Vietnam, to Bali, Indonesia, for $186 USD per person one way on AirAsia including extra for checked luggage.  After clearing customs and immigration, we took a Grab Taxi to our accommodations in Ubud, Bali.

Visas

Tourist Visa:  Americans and citizens of 96 other countries can apply for a visa on arrival to Indonesia for $35 USD for 30 days.  Everyone, including Indonesians, needs to register for an arrival card no more than 72 hours before arrival.  

Retiree Visa: I received an update from a visa agent about the 1 Year KITAS retirement visa for Indonesia in September 2025.  They require the last 3 months of bank statements showing a minimum balance $2000 per month.  They require 3 months of statements showing $3000 income per month (or allowance).  They also require health insurance, an Indonesian address, a flight ticket (if any), a lease agreement (if any), a completed application, a scanned passport, and photographs.  My friend Robert used this visa agent to get his retirement visa.  There are other requirements that this agent helped him arrange.

I suggest you come to Bali on a tourist visa before spending time or money applying for other visas.  While here, chat with the expats you see everywhere and ask them which visa they have and recommend.  You also need to do an exploratory visit anyway to verify your living costs for your lifestyle.  

Expat’s Living Here 

Restaurants

 Local

  • Compound Warung: Nasi campur (V) 45k , Nasi campur chicken 55k, mix juice 35k
  • Healthy Warung: Nasi campur Chicken 40k, Tempeh Curry (V) with rice 35k
  • Warung Lokal: Bakso 29k , Gado gado 34k, Coconut 25k
  • Warung Krisna: Gado gado 36k, Fried chicken rice 52k, coconut 20k
  • Sun Sun Warung: Nasi campur (V) 50k, Beber Bakar (Grilled Duck) 90k, Juice 30k

International

Gorgeous Swimming Pools (in Video)

  • Folk Pool & Gardens: Walkable in central Ubud
  • Cretya Ubud: More beautiful views, but not walkable from central Ubud, and too crowded.  Must see if you are an Instagrammer.

Cafes/Bars

Markets

Here are the markets we shopped.

Services

Feel free to grab a free copy of my eBook, How to Fire Your Boss and Travel the World, and here is how we pay for this lifestyle.