In Reply to: Cost of living for locals posted by Pugs on Monday, 9. May 2011 at 20:21 Bali Time:
a bit like when Balinese ask us how much we get paid? It varies and it is meaningless unless you discuss the cost of living.
My husband's family goggle at the thought of earning $30+ per hour, but can't comprehend that most families pay over $200 (1.6 Juta) every week just for groceries, and $400 (3.2 Juta) per week for rent.
At the end of the day, I look at it this way. Most Balinese with a job in the tourist areas are doing well compared to many Balinese in poor areas and other Indonesians on less wealthy islands. When I get a hard luck story I relate to them one of my own - like how my husband's sister who lost 3 kids because she couldn't afford a doctor, and there is no work where she lives and her husband is dead. I help the truly needy, not those lucky enough to have found work and who have some resources. Not to say that I don't overpay taxi drivers - but after a while one does become immune to the stories, and deafened to the song.