Cost of living In Jakarta, Indonesia – Medium Budget

[jamesintheworld]

Cost of living In Jakarta, Indonesia – Medium Budget
http://theprofessionaladventurer.com/cost-of-living-in-jakarta-indonesia-%e2%80%93-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

That’s only 11,616.00 Dollars a year!

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.

~James

[Lee Ridley]

Excellent information!

Now wouldn’t it be great if we could collate something similar for loads of other places.

Although, I guess it’s an ever changing figure for most of these elements.

[jamesintheworld]

Actually I have been collecting interdependent expat cost of living info for years, I will probably put it on one of my websites

~James

[ROB]

Well, do it soon, James – that info is gold.

[Chimborazo]

Cool James. Let me know which site you post this stuff on.

[Author]

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