An Aussie pair has shared how moving to Bali not only halved their daily expenses, but has also considerably increased their daily lives.
The first time that parents Ben and Lou paid a fortune in rental and daycare centers in Sydney and after their last visit to the popular Indonesian island, they wondered if they should move there permanently.
The idea was made even more attractive after they had left their business jobs to run their own business from home, which gave them more flexibility.
Sick from paying $ 4,200 a month to rent an apartment with two bedrooms and to hand over more than $ 2,300 a month to full-time childcare costs, the couple decided to run their business straves, that sells belts that make e-books more comfortable as a child's lessons, from Bali.
“I went to Bali for a retreat and met an old school friend who had moved there with his family and he showed us his villa and how everything worked and that pushed us a little further,” Lou told Kidspot.
With their company blooming, they took their three -year -old son Archie to Bali in September on a two -month tourist visa.
To stay longer, they paid $ 1500 for an Indonesian E33G visa of 12 months and did not look back.
Lou claimed that the standard lifestyle they led in Bali was much better than in Sydney – and was half the costs.
Lou (photo) lives it up in Bali while running a company with her husband
Ben and Lou (photo) have packed their lives in Sydney to live in Bali with their son Archie
They rent a two-storey villa with three bedrooms in the family-friendly beach area of ​​Sanur for $ 3,000 a month-$ 1,200 less than their small apartment in Sydney.
“I look out on a tropical garden and the swimming pool of my home office and Archie takes swimming lessons every week with an instructor who comes for $ 20,” Lou said.
They even have a housekeeper who spends four hours a day, six days a week doing their dishes, making beds, washing and ironing, and general cleaning for just $ 300 a month.
For $ 70 a month, a gardener manages to do everything outside, while a babysitter works 32 hours a week for just $ 150.
“She's at Archie in the morning, prepares him for daycare and drops him off, and then picks it up at 3.30 pm and spends the afternoon with him, and does the bath routine before one of us puts him to bed,” Lou said.
“One night a week, she stays late, so that we can go out for dinner.”
The full -time childcare of their son only costs the family $ 400 a month.
The daycare center and Balinese babysitter have combined less than half of what they paid for childcare in Australia.
Lou can walk Strapsikel from her home office, making the overseas moving more easier
The couple rents a much larger place in Bali for $ 1,200 less per month than they paid to live in a small apartment in Sydney
The couple does not need a flashy car, which means that they do not spend their hard -earned money on expensive fuel as they did at home.
“If I go somewhere, I will book a scooter and that is around $ 1, and when the babysitter archie brings to school in a car, that's around $ 2 and it's just a ride of eight minutes,” Lou said.
Food is also cheap.
'We get our groceries delivered, but we can also order everything from restaurants, about $ 3 vegetable stir -fry, and it makes life a lot easier. Nappies are $ 6 per pack and the same cost me $ 15 in Australia, “said Lou.
Despite life in Indonesia, the couple said that medical services were much more accessible with a consultation with a doctor who only cost $ 5.
Lou said that she and her family had no plans to return to Sydney to live soon.
'We have received an increased lifestyle and the things we wanted in Australia are a reality here. We have so good that it will be very difficult to leave, “she said.
