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Cost of living in Indonesia in 2022

Last activity 23 March 2022 by Fred

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Cheryl

Hi everyone,

Two years after the start of the pandemic, it is time to take stock of the evolution of the cost of living in Indonesia or more specifically, in the region where you live. The idea is to help people get ready for their expatriation to Indonesia to plan their day-to-day budget for some key expenses.

If you are a tenant, what is your monthly rent? Please give details of the type of property you are in.

How much are your monthly charges (water, electricity, common area maintenance charges, etc.) and additional expenses (mobile phone and/or internet box subscriptions)?

How much do you spend on commuting (by public transport or using your car) each month?

How much does your grocery shopping cost in Indonesia?

How much do you spend on health care (health insurance, consultations, etc.)?

How much are your children's school fees, depending on the type of school they attend?

What about your budget for leisure activities?

Do not hesitate to indicate other everyday costs if they could be useful to others.

Thank you for your contribution :)

Cheryl
Expat.com team

Fred

This all depends on who you are and where you live. Bigger cities like Jakarta and Semarang tend to have house prices (including rents) that look like international telephone numbers. Same goes for exceptionally popular tourist destinations.

However, smaller towns and villages all over Indonesia haven't been hit as badly by idiotic price increases.

Once you're past rents, you have everything else. My spreadsheet says last year I spent:

20 million rent (4+1 with 3+1 bathrooms and 2 living rooms) - including security and rubbish collection -  Rents are usually paid a year in advance.
1.2 million on a water supply
9 million on electricity (Mostly taken by the air conditioning)
6 million on health insurance
4 million on a decent internet connection
Shopping costs around 3 million/month for 4 people

Cooking gas costs around 23,000 / month
Drinking water is around 20,000/jug (19L) - lasts me 3 or 4 days with 4 people drinking it. I only buy Aqua - very good brand.

(all numbers rounded for ease of reading)

Eating out and ordering in isn't big for me but the odd time we do costs 100,000 to 500,000. Just bought 5 Dominos pizzas for 189,000 total (Including Go-food discounts).

My personal favourite ready food is from street stalls - that costs a max of Rp. 15,000 per meal for fried rice or fried noodles ... and, if you choose well, is delicious.

If you have kids at an international school, that can get a little expensive.

Fred

I keep three phone numbers.

2 are 'always on' that cost Rp, 50,000 per year plus top up as required (not every month as the credit is 'always on' until it actually runs out). These have the disadvantage of lesser coverage in the sticks, but they work perfectly well in most places.
I've had their service for years without any issues to care about.
These are especially good for low users, but data packages are cheap so not a lot to worry about if you really hammer the internet.

https://tri.co.id/alwayson

The other is a Telkomsel pre-paid that has excellent coverage but costs a little more to run. I think (must check) it sets me back around Rp. 50,000/month but I never even come close to the data limits.

https://www.telkomsel.com/en

Fred

Hanging out for me is coffee shops. That costs 39,000 in J.Co, or 59,000 in Starbucks.
If I go to Chatime, there goes 30,000.
Indomaret is 20 or 25 thousand per coffee, but that tends to be a relax half way around a walk rather than going out for a coffee.

As for beer, that's going to get expensive - I have no idea how much because I don't care about the stuff.

Fred

I drive a Luxio (A box on wheels that holds 8 people including the driver). I think the new price is around 250 million but that needs checking.

Petrol costs me about Rp, 8,000/l
Tax 2 million/year
Insurance is about 3 million/year, but that includes breakdown and recovery.

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