Visiting Bali On A Budget: 12 Money-Saving Tips

The great thing about Bali is that you can spend as much (or as little) as you like. If you want to splurge on five-star hotels and upscale beach clubs, you can! But it’s also incredibly easy to visit Bali on a budget.

Since we spend a lot of time in Bali, we’ve become quite good at striking a balance between enjoying the island’s unique offerings and still finding smart ways to save money.

In this guide, we’ll share all our budget travel tips and hacks so you can make the most of your trip without breaking the bank.

Can You Visit Bali On a Budget?

In general, we recommend budgeting 500,000 IDR to 1,500,000 IDR ⓘ per person per day for spending money in Bali (excluding flights, accommodation, and pre-trip expenses).

If you follow the tips in this guide, you'll find yourself at the lower end of this range, maybe even less. When you combine this low daily spending with staying in a homestay, it's not unreasonable for two people to enjoy a week in Bali on a lower budget of 10mil IDR ⓘ excluding flights and pre-trip expenses.

1. Avoid visiting during peak season

The most expensive time to visit Bali is July and August. These are the busiest months as Europe and America are on summer vacation. It’s best to avoid this period if possible.

For the best deals on flights and hotels, visit during the wet season which is generally November – April (excluding between Christmas and New Year when prices temporarily rise again).

We’ve managed to secure some excellent hotel deals during this time. In February, we stayed at Le Grande in Uluwatu, a 5-star hotel (pictured below) that cost us just 675,000 IDR ⓘ per night. That’s around 40% less than the peak season rate.

Of course, the wet season brings humidity and an increased chance of rain, but downpours rarely last more than a few hours with blue, sunny skies for the rest of the day.

If you don’t want to visit in wet season, our favourite months to visit Bali for a balance of low prices and good weather are the shoulder seasons of May, June, September, and October.

2. Stay in homestays

Bali has a broad range of accommodation choices, from budget guesthouses and affordable hostels to luxury bamboo villas and all-inclusive resorts.

If you’re on a budget, don’t overlook staying in a homestay. These are small family-run guesthouses that are common all over the island.

At a homestay, you’ll stay in a private room in a separate area of the complex allocated for guests, usually away from the main family living areas. There’s often a communal kitchen area and sometimes even a pool for guests to share.

Many first-time tourists confuse homestays with those in other countries where you stay with a family in their home. This is not the case. Homestays in Bali are simply a form of affordable private accommodation, much like a local guesthouse.

They are often run by lovely families (and cute dogs) who are a good source of information about the area. We pretty much always stay in homestays in Bali, especially when we’re staying for prolonged periods.

3. Eat at local warungs

Warungs are local family-run restaurants in Bali serving mostly Balinese and Indonesian dishes.

With full meals starting at around 20,000 IDR ⓘ, warungs are the most affordable place to eat in Bali on a budget. In fact, we often find it's cheaper to eat at warungs than to buy ingredients from a supermarket and cook for ourselves.

Our favourite warungs are those with a buffet-style counter serving nasi campur. You’ll receive a generous scoop of rice then choose small portions of other dishes including meats, fish, vegetables, and sides (example pictured below).

Not all warungs serve nasi campur. Many will have a fixed menu with familiar Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles), babi guling (spit-roasted suckling pig), and more. Some may also offer simple Western dishes.

Warungs are usually cash-only, except for a few in the tourist areas that have begun accepting card payments lately.

4. Seek out the restaurant deals

Warungs are great, but eating Indonesian food for every meal can become repetitive. Luckily, there’s no shortage of Western-style restaurants serving cuisines from around the world. The food is usually to a very high standard as many great international chefs live on the island.

International restaurants are a little pricier than local warungs. But with so much competition, they often have fantastic deals and offers to lure people in on quieter days. Keep an eye out for these offers and you'll come across some real bargains.

Our favourite place to find the best food offers in Canggu is this Instagram page that regularly shares them.

5. Spend time away from the south

Most of Bali’s popular tourist towns sit in the south of the island, typically within a 1-hour drive of the airport. If you spend more time in these places (such as Canggu, Seminyak, Ubud, and Uluwatu), you’ll need a higher budget for food, accommodation, and activities.

You can reduce your daily travel expenses by venturing away from these tourist hotspots and discovering some of the quieter destinations in the north, east, and west of the island.

Some more affordable areas we recommend visiting/staying are:

6. Get a Wise card

Card payments are now widely accepted in Bali. But you’ll still need some cash on hand for smaller purchases such as fuel, parking, eating at warungs, paying drivers, and entrance to some attractions.

The best way to get the local currency is directly from an ATM. Bali has many fee-free ATMs and will offer you a better rate than going to a money exchange. It’s also safer as you don’t need to carry large sums of cash from home.

If your regular bank charges for using your card overseas or withdrawing money from a foreign ATM, we recommend getting a Wise card.

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate which is better than Mastercard and as close to the real exchange rate as you’ll get. It’s also possible to store multiple currencies on the card so you can buy Indonesian Rupiah when the price is favourable and keep it in your balance.

There’s a small charge to purchase the card which varies by country (it cost us £7) but then it’s free to use for card transactions. Cash withdrawals are also free up to your monthly allowance, and then a small fee is added. You can see the fees here.

7. Hire a scooter instead of a private driver

The most common way to get around in Bali is by hiring a private driver. Don’t get us wrong, this is very affordable, especially if you have a big group to spread the cost.

But if you’re travelling solo or as a couple like us, you can save on travel costs by hiring a scooter instead. Rather than paying 600,000 – 1,000,000 IDR ⓘ per day for a driver, you pay up to 100,000 IDR ⓘ per day for rental with a small amount for fuel and parking.

Bali’s roads are chaotic, so only do this if you have some experience. If you’ve never driven a scooter before, Bali is not the best place to learn. You’ll also need to make sure you have an International Drivers Permit (IDP) which you should get before you leave your home country.

8. Take these essentials with you

Sunscreen and mosquito repellent are two of the most essential items for all tourists in Bali. Yet they’re also two of the most expensive things to buy on the island.

While it’s tempting to save room in your bag for extra clothes and buy toiletries when you arrive, Bali is not the best place to do this. Products like sunscreen and bug repellent are 2-3x more expensive than in many other countries (like the UK).

Even if you’re travelling with hand luggage only, grab a few 100ml miniatures at the airport and bring them with you.

9. Drink beer

We swear this is a legitimate money-saving tip. If you enjoy a beer or two on holiday, you're in luck as Bintang (a popular local beer) is usually one of the cheaper drinks on the menu - sometimes even cheaper than a Coca-Cola or a fresh coconut!

But if you prefer a different tipple, you could end up spending much more. A glass of local wine could cost 2-3x the price of a beer, while imported wine, spirts, and cocktails are easily 4-5x the price.

10. Use Grab/Gojek instead of flagging taxis

Public transport in Bali is limited. So if you don’t plan on hiring your own vehicle, the best way to get around is by taxi. Taxis in Bali are cheap, accessible, and convenient.

However, if you flag down a taxi on the roadside, you’ll need to negotiate with the driver. Most taxis don’t work on meters and drivers will up their prices when they see a fresh-faced tourist. You could easily overpay if you don’t know the going rate. We’ve seen people paying 10x the price they should.

To avoid paying too much, we recommend using ride-hailing apps (aka online taxis) such as Grab or Gojek. These are similar to Uber back home.

When ordering an online taxi, you can choose between a scooter taxi or a car taxi. Scooter taxis are generally cheaper and quicker, but cars are better for longer journeys, when you have luggage, or when it’s raining.

If you do need to hail a taxi, look for a Bluebird taxi as these are more reliable. But be wary of similar-looking blue taxis designed to fool you. Ask them to put the meter on before you set off.

11. Learn to negotiate

When shopping at markets or roadside vendors, don’t be afraid to negotiate for a better price. If there's no fixed price indicated by a label or a menu, it usually means that it's up for negotiation.

In our experience, the starting price can be more than double what they are willing to accept, sometimes even higher. If we’re ever unsure what a fair price would be, we’ll usually make a counteroffer around 40% of the starting price and work from there.

Remember, if you're paying more for something in Bali than you would pay back home, something is probably wrong. If you don’t feel like you’re getting a fair price, simply start to walk away and they will usually drop the price pretty quickly.

12. Visit free (or cheap) attractions

The beauty of Bali is that there are loads of great things to do, no matter what your budget is.

Adventure activities, water sports, and classes/workshops in Bali do tend to be a little pricier. But if you want to keep things cheap, you can always hunt out some waterfalls, spend a day beach-hopping, or visit the island's best temples.

There are far too many things to list here, so check out our dedicated guide where we share our favourite free and cheap things to do in Bali.