Viral Foreigners Call The Cost Of Living In Bali Cheap, Really?

Bali Villa (Daniel Faust / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Today, January 18, Twitter is filled with various responses from citizens regarding the tweet of the @kristentootie account. The owner of the account is named Kristen Gray, a foreign national (WNA) from the United States (US) who has been living in Bali, Indonesia for a year.

One of the things netizens highlighted the most was Gray's invitation to move to Bali because the cost of living on the island is cheaper. As previously reported by VOI, the issue with Gray's tweet was the information that he had a special visa agent.

Not only that, Gray also said that he had a trick to enter Indonesia during a pandemic. It is known, currently Indonesia is closing its doors to foreigners because of COVID-19.

At first Gray and his girlfriend only wanted to stay on the Island of the Gods for six months. However, early 2020 a pandemic occurred and hit Bali. They then extended their stay, and even settled on the island.

Gray's tweet is interesting not only about the way he entered during the pandemic, but also the cost of living which he calls cheaper. Gray said the rent for the apartment he previously lived in in Los Angeles, USA, was $ 1,300. In rupiah, around Rp. 18.3 million.

In Bali, he rented a beautiful and beautiful house. It costs US $ 40 to live in that place, or Rp. 5.6 million.

Is it true that the cost of living on the Island of the Gods is cheap? One of the things that can be used as a comparison for the Indonesian people is the opinion of Ashanty, a domestic artist. On the YouTube channel The Sungkars Family, Zaskia asked Ashanty questions about her living expenses and family while there.

Ashanty said that spending on food is more expensive than Jakarta. Even so, he added, it was because they chose food owned by foreigners. He even made a joke that the meal cost up to Rp900 million.

"If you eat, yes, because here most of the delicious food has outsiders. Meanwhile, Aurel and I are the eater. Rp900 million," said Ashanty.

He said, while in Bali the costs incurred were never calculated in too much detail. However, Ashanty said that sometimes she is surprised by the value of the charges on credit cards.