The Perfect Villa In Part 1, I wrote about how chaotic renting a villa in Bali can be. I found the villa. Two bedrooms, private pool, great location. I should have been celebrating. Instead, I was preparing to transfer nearly 300 million rupiah, about $17,000, to someone I’d known for less than a week. Finding … Read more
A tracker, a post generator, and some hard-won lessons from the Facebook group trenches. Finding a long-term villa in Bali is surprisingly terrible. There’s no Zillow. No MLS. No central listing service. Just Facebook groups, WhatsApp chains, agents and owners of questionable legitimacy, and photos that might be five years old. After spending dozens of … Read more
Monthly Budget: $3,000September Spending: $2,993 (99.8% of budget)Remaining: $7 My cost of living in Manila for September: $2,993 on a $3,000 budget. I relocated from Bali to the Philippines this month and barely stayed under my limit. Here’s the complete breakdown of what it costs to move countries while financially independent. Manila Cost of Living … Read more
Welcome to my new monthly series tracking the real cost of living in Bali and Southeast Asia during early retirement. Every first Friday, I’ll break down exactly what the cost of living in Bali (and other locations) looks like on a $3,000 monthly budget and what I learned about managing expenses while living abroad. After … Read more