How To Shop Like a Local in Bali
How We Save $$££ £200 On Our Monthly Food Budget whilst Travelling as a family of 4 - Like £200+ a month savings - that's so good that it's the only way we do things now - even on holiday.
This is a travel hack that we discovered whist learning to budget with our monthly food budgeting as a family of 4 living in Bali. It's to Shop Like a Local. It's so good that we now do this even on Holiday's to save mega bucks to splurge on life's luxuries. AND we eat better than ever. Read on to find out... How To Shop Like a Local in Bali for the freshest ingredients and big family savings.
Like all Mum's, I learnt how to budget in the early years when our Daughter was born. We had virtually no money, a struggling business and a little one to look after. With limited money coming in, managing the household budget was an absolute must. With food shopping costs spiralling - sticking to the monthly food budget was all important. I became the Queen of Budgeting.
My relationship with money isn't like this any more, but I'll always use my thrifty ways to keep the family budget down. Because frankly who likes wasting money if you don't need to.
And this one thing is what we do here In Bali to save money on the monthly food costs.... and eat better than ever.
The Background
We moved to Bali to live a high frequency life. We had both been on our own spiritual awakening and had started naturally pulling away from desiring anything low frequency / vibe. Things that once appealed we were starting to feel a very strong pull away from. Like a magnet repelling. This included food. There was a strong pull away from meat (note we are not vegan and do still enjoy meat every now and again), anything processed and really anything that wasn't good for us. A strong urge almost craving for fruits, vegetables and whole foods. On closer realisation, it's all about the sun. Anything that has been grown from the sun will start to scream out to you (just remember this point if you too are noticing this pull and a change in eating if on a spiritual awakening - but more on this another time). Eating high vibrational foods was like feeling the goodness pouring into us and when you feel something good, you want more of that, right. In the busyness of Western life it's easy to miss noticing this. Listen in.
This was a natural change as though our internal antennae just did not want for this stuff any more. The journey has been all about tuning in and listening. So that's how the food part started for us. And for pure health reasons, this pull was only doing good things to our bodies too. Win win. I recommend you start listening to your body when it comes to food.
Our life in the UK had felt very dense, very heavy and really not how we should be living. This was the main reason for making the big move. It was like a very strong pull / calling to be somewhere else. And once we knew where that place was. It was so loud that we couldn't ignore it. We started from the basics to make changes to every aspect of our lives starting with the very basics of living well.
And that started with what we were putting into our bodies: good quality good quality food / nutrition. We are super human beings, capable of self healing and it's true for what we put into our bodies: we are what we eat. Start seeing food as NOURISHMENT rather than a material object for consumption / overeating / something to gorge on to make us feel better. It's a means of Nourishment. To nourish ones body. WE started to listen to what 'feels' right with every aspect of our living. But to start living that way as normal everyday in Bali. Making small changes, one by one, until they became the norm, and our whole life was a complete high frequency life. Where we could connect to source and continue with our spiritual journey.
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the smoothie bowl. Colourful works of natures art in a bowl. And that we want to start the day with this kind of thing. Fresh fruits, local to the area. Things grown from the sun (our life giver), is alive and enriched with photons from the sun. When you put this kind of food into your body, you are giving it what your body truly needs. I really recommend meditating on this and listening to the body, seeing what it feels like, cutting out all the noise of modern life and just listening.
my homemade smoothie bowls bring all the boys to the yard. All ingredients bought at this local market. Recipe here
You'll start to 'feel' what's good and what's not good for your body. The body knows and soon you'll start to crave this goodness. And Bali is the home of the smoothie bowl amiriiiiight!? Or so instagram would make you believe. Actually the Balinese start the day with a bowl of rice with spices on, like a rice porridge - but there's no harm in juicing this one. Love smoothie bowls too? Check out The Most Instagrammable Smoothie Bowls in the World, a place right here in Bali that's a must visit in Ubud.
The Worlds Most Instagrammable Smoothie Bowls - save this place for your next visit to Bali
Now you know the background of our intent, it was always going to be important that I fed my family well in the morning in our new life Bali. Dragon fruits have insane health benefits. And every day begins with a smoothie bowl here for us. A pitaya smoothie bowl to be exact (Dragon Fruit or Buah Naga - The Bahasa translation). My smoothie Bowl Recipe | the health benefits of Pitaya post
Bali is really cheap to eat out or order in for every meal. Using the Grab / Gojek apps (the go to must have's for all your Bali foodie requirements) it's so easy to order delicious, nutritious food in rather than make it yourself. (You can even order groceries in via these apps).
For example, if we wanted to order breakfasts in every morning or eat out at a restaurant, we would be looking at paying around 60k IDR for each smoothie bowl which is about £3 AUS $5.70 | US$3.90 | Euro 3.50 ( which only £12 a day - this is so cheap, especially for a family of 4's breakfast costs on holiday), but for a family of 4 throughout the week this really mounts up (thats £84 per week, again not bad for your holiday budget). And if you're 'living' in a place Longer term, you can really pack in the savings on your monthly budget by living like a local.... and no.... I'm not suggesting rice porridge, but delicious smoothie bowls, every morning, with ingredients bought fresh from the market. Almost everywhere you go on holiday, you will have a local market right under your nose, and you might not even realise it. Ask a local and they will usually point you in the right direction. Mostly, it'll be just a walk away (or you can get a taxi / ride if further away) to maximise the savings. We do this even on holiday now, because of how much we can save, and also the freshness and not having to wait for delivery etc. And how integrated you will feel to an area and it's people by doing this. We only stayed in Vietnam for a month, but we got to know the local markets, the locals loved it, we had good laughs every day and we got access to what the locals get. That's all the best stuff! At a fraction of the cost. Our weekly fruit cost around £10 for a family of 4. We buy the toppings in at the beginning of the trip which lasts the month and we have the most delicious breakfasts as a local price!
Just a girl. Squeezing some mango's. Come with me on a walk to a local market in Bali to get the freshest + save money and buy like a local
I walk out every morning for fresh fruits here in Bali. I will film this mornings walk and share it on our YouTube Channel. So you can come take a walk with me to a local Balinese market to buy our smoothie bowl ingredients. Showing exactly just how easily we save £250 p month on our food budget by making our own breakfasts. We buy local coffee in a big bag to have a fresh coffee whilst we work (before the kids wake) and then with breakfast. And for a fraction of the cost, we live a beautiful relaxed morning. Eating foods that were grown just around the corner from us. It's a really nice way to live.
See My YouTube Vid Below: Come on My Morning Local Market Walk With Me In Bali to save ££$$:
I have a super go-to smoothie bowl recipe for all the ingredients bought at this market today here, that is pretty much my standard day to day morning recipe you just need access to good fruit and a blender. I make the bowls look really pretty and serve them up to my family each morning. This is 'my thing'. Si makes the Balinese coffee - that's 'his thing' - (You will not believe how good the coffee is in Bali, grown and produced right in Bali and sold in big bags for about £2!!!!) the best part of our morning hack is that it's all from home and it's all bought in from the local market. And it's this one thing that saves us a huge amount on our weekly food budget. We eat out most nights of the week for evening meal and don't even have to think of costs due to this neat little hack. Can you tell, i'm really quite pleased with myself about this one: 2 of my favourite things: eating well and saving money! A double win!!
This is my morning set up with the ingredients bought in fresh from market - it's still possible to live cheaply in Bali
Now even when we travel as a holiday, we do this hack. We find out the nearest market and take a trip there. WE see local life, get involved, meet the sellers, educate the kids in market buying in that country and get access to the cheapest and BEST fruit and veggies that the country has to offer. Live like a local! For breakfasts - it's the easiest way that we save money as a family of 4 and eat better than ever!
You don't have to be as ridiculous as me and take your blender (yes I really did take a blender and cafetière to Vietnam with me. And boy was I smug about this. Fresh coffee in the mornings and beautiful smoothie bowls on hand) you can also buy electrical goods for a fraction of the price and get it delivered to your accommodation. Also most self catering places will have a blender. If they don't ask the question. You'll be surprised how helpful landlords can be in making their guests / tenants comfortable and will sometimes provide a blender. Each a true story in our travel life.
In Bali, it's all about the people you know and you get on by asking for help. Ask and you find out the information. All key learnings for us in our Bali life.
In order for the flower to seed & sprout to plant, flower, seed & fruit - it needs simplicity. We are the same. Fresh air, sunlight, water and nourishing soil (food).
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