One of my most-asked questions after completing my yoga teacher training is “how much did it cost?”. I thought it would be super helpful to break down the costs of my teacher training, for anyone looking to do a similar course or anyone who finds any sort of spending analysis interesting (the Refinery 29 Money Diaries page is a permanent open tab for me).

Editor’s note: my boyfriend joined me in Bali for some of the month but I’ve taken out his spending so as to just show my costs for the month, where we ate meals together I’ve just included my share. We had a very decadent evening at Ubud’s Room4Dessert (£157) which I’ve also left out from my total cost as this was our one “holiday treat” and totally unnecessary (but amazing all the same!). All costs have been converted to GBP. 

Flights to Bali: I flew from Dubai to Bali with Emirates (£815). I always try to book my flights as early as possible to keep costs down. My transfers from the airport to Ubud were included in my course fees.

200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Course: my course fees (£3640) included all training and training materials, a double ensuite room in an Airbnb (as my boyfriend would be joining me – sharing a room/bathroom with another student would have reduced costs by £662), breakfast daily, lunch on all days aside from three days off and two excursions in Bali (breakfast and lunch was provided on these days too).

Essentials: I made sure my Dubai medical insurance would cover me while in Bali (worth checking that you have both location coverage AND coverage for the length of time you’ll be away as some policies may not cover you for a month of travel). I didn’t opt for additional travel insurance. Some yoga teacher trainings may need you to bring your own yoga props (mat, block, strap etc.) but mine did not. 

Spending Money:

Food:  Most days I only needed to pay for my evening meal, luckily great food in Bali is really affordable. Most evenings I wasn’t even very hungry as we had an amazing three-course plant-based lunch each day. Not being a coffee drinker or Diet Coke addict anymore definitely saved a little too. 

An evening meal at a local warung cost around £5 most nights and a meal at a raw vegan/vegan restaurant was around £8-12 (including service charge and tips). On days off I needed to buy all meals but only ended up spending around £3-5 per meal with a few drinks thrown in for less than 50p a time (fresh coconuts and kombucha – yum). I also did a couple of supermarket trips for snacks (which I didn’t really end up needing and mostly brought home with me), green tea, contact lens solution and (much needed) bug spray (£169). 

Massages: I had two full body massages and one manicure (no polish) during my month in Bali. Spa treatments are so affordable and felt felt like such a treat during a month of eleven-hour days of teacher training (£12).

Yoga classes: I attended three studio classes while in Bali as clearly 200 hours of yoga wasn’t enough for me?! (£23)

Other: I took one scooter taxi ride on my last day to get back from central Ubud to the villa (£3). I also tipped our villa’s housekeeper and the restaurant where we ate lunch everyday at the end of the month (£12) and bought some small souvenirs – a little cat statute for home, a fridge magnet for my parents and some Balinese chocolate for my boyfriend (£12). There are a lot of nice things to buy in Bali but I was super strict and kept to my spending ban, despite deliberating over a cute wrap dress that was around £4 and reflecting on how past me would have walked away from Ubud market with an entire new wardrobe consisting only of tie-dye items… 

Total: £4,506

I was expecting to spend more in a month (I feel like past fortnight holidays have probably cost more than this?!) but I think a combination of Bali being very affordable, and not having much time outside of yoga teacher training kept my spending down. My course only gave me three days off in the month and I didn’t feel like doing anything other than just mooching around on these days and catching up on sleep. 

I was pretty strict with myself about not buying “stuff” and feel that that balanced out a couple of more expensive (relative to Bali) meals and buying a bottle of kombucha whenever I saw it for sale… Sticking to local dishes would have cut my food spending a little, and my villa had a relatively well-stocked kitchen although personally I would not have felt like cooking for myself after a long day of yoga. 

I saved for a long time to be able to have this opportunity and it was SO worth making sacrifices and changing my spending habits to have an amazing, life-and-career-changing experience. I shared some tips here about cutting down on your spending but I think it mostly just comes down to finding something you care more about than a new pair of shoes/a new outfit or a daily coffee. 

I hope this is helpful if you’re considering a yoga teacher training, I’d love to know your thoughts and to answer any questions you might have! 

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