*Note: After looking over this article I realized that this is more like a low budget example, not a medium budget
Last week a Friend of mine in the states asked me how much it would cost for her to live in Jakarta, Indonesia. Not an exotic lifestyle eating at the Ritz Carlton and drinking Crystal nor the starving expat life ether – more like the “average Joe or Jane” expat lifestyle.
My lifestyle is a bit on the “not average” expat scale now so I asked a British friend of mine whose lifestyle better represents the average independent expat to break down his monthly expenses. He is an English teacher for a private school here in Jakarta and also makes some money with a website and freelance photography.
The following is presented in US Dollars
* Rent: 250 Dollars a month including utilities
He rents a guesthouse room in central Jakarta. In Indonesia small apartments are called “guesthouses”, in the US they would be called “Bachelors Apartments”. They are basically a medium sized apartment (usually in a 2 or 3 floor building) with a living room/kitchen and a small bedroom. This also includes utilities and maid service 3 times a week. They have more than enough room for you, your stuff and for company.
* Food: 200 Dollars a month
This is a combination of street vendors, small restaurants, bar food and groceries
* Transportation: 75 Dollars a month
He has a moped (gas expense) and uses taxis. If you didn’t have a moped you would probably spend around 100 a month for transportation.
* Phone: 50 Dollars a month
This is for a mobile (cellular) phone, he does not have a home phone
* Internet: 75 Dollars a month
Internet is pretty expensive in Indonesia
* Booze: 200 Dollars a month
Combo of beer and liquor purchased at stores and bars. Yes – booze is almost as expensive as food. This also goes under entertainment expenses
* Cigarettes: 18 Dollars a month
Two cartons (24 packs a month), smokes are only 9 bucks a carton in Indonesia
* Miscellaneous Expenses: 100 Dollars a month
TOTAL: 968.00 Dollars a month total expenses
Could you pay for an apartment, utilities, cell phone, maid service, transportation, food, hang out at bars, have high speed internet and eat out for less that a thousand bucks a month in your home country? I doubt it
Now this only represents one of many types of expat lifestyles, you could spend less or allot more. It will just depend on the lifestyle you want, but this one represents the Medium Budget independent expat lifestyle.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I spend like 6 times that much - lol
Me too….and I do not count the evening out!!!!!!
I live in Jakarta for last 10 years and I can assure you that you cannot stay with 200 USD in food…….and as per street vendor and small restaurant food???? Well…Jakarta is pretty much unsafe as food quality and if you wish to eat all kind of chemicals , rotten stuff etc etc,…and get sick…go ahead and follow that advise of 200 USD a month. IS not uncommon to read news which report the fact the street vendors and small business use vegetables left over on the street by open air market in late morning.
More overe recently the life is getting pretty expensive. The only think I agree with teh above obes is the accomodation which (a decent one as minimum for us foreigner) can be 2500000 rp a month.
Sure that was a bottom barrel estimate/budget from someone who pretty much prepared all of their food and (like you said) hit the street vendors allot.
I spend way more than that but I pretty much only shop at the import grocers – and that dosent include eating out, last night I spent 200 at the JW Marriott for food and wine with a few friends.
I have heard about the street vendors using bad food – I believe there was a husband and wife team that was busted taking old and half eaten food from the dumpsters behind 4-star hotels for their food stand.
A friend of mine just yesterday told me she doesn’t buy any chicken products from street vendors because se saw on the news that they sometimes use dead chickens (like ones that have been laying around dead).
I use to lived in Jakarta, about that dead chikens, food from the dumpsters, those for sure an isolitated insident among millions of food vendors. I never show or heard once. You have to be smart to pick the food sreet vendors you know. To buy raw food material, I had never went to modern grocery store to buy frozen meat wich they packed it years ago; or cans vegi with persevetive. If you go to local market early in the morning, you can the freshest meats wich they cut it at that morning; and the vegetables are all organic which they picked it up the day before. Your comment about street vendors, look like all of them like in premitive era, or like many homeless in bad parts of many western cities in the world!