How to Enjoy Taiwan on a Budget

Okay I’ll be honest, we didn’t really mind the money we spent in Taiwan during our trip. Everything is relatively cheap.  I was lucky my friends are budget travellers (unlike me, who had no idea what to do haha) so I know I used every cent that I have wisely 🙂

Since there are already several people who asked me how much I spent for my Taiwan trip, I made a list of our expenses 🙂  We booked the trip months ahead so I just brought Php20k as my pocket money.  It’s the first time I’m traveling without my family and I was afraid I’d go broke in a foreign country. But I only spent Php 11,180 out of the Php 20,000 I had!

Most of the stuff on the list were provided by our Treasurer (LOL), Jane. Speaking of, I recommend having one if you’re traveling as a group! What we did was we assigned (heee, sorry Jane! :D) one person to handle all the group funds. That way, we can control our money and we do not need to bring cash all the time. So for the first day, I think we gave Jane NTD 1,000 each 🙂 We used the money for things we can divide equally like bus fare, taxi fare, entrance fees, and food for sharing.

(NOTE: 1 NTD = ~1.54 Philippine Peso)

Taiwan Day 0

We booked the flight last July 2015 when Cebu Pacific announced a seat sale. We only got the tickets for Php 4,180, round-trip. Tip: Schedule your travels ahead of time so you can get cheaper plane tickets. Why waste so much money on a ticket when you can spend it on better things instead? 😀 Hehe

In case you didn’t know, Taiwan requires visa application 🙁 If you have an American or Japanese visa, I think it’s not required? The process is easy but we recommend you apply two weeks before the travel date. We got the visa two or three days before the trip so prior to that, we were super nervous that we’ll be denied. Haha! We just googled the requirements, by the way.

For the hotel accommodation, we used airbnb and booked Sunny Hostel. Zilin was supposed to be with us so we booked for five, but in the end, it was just four of us. So our hotel is actually Php 17,050 or Php 4,262.50 per night. Not bad because we really loved the place!  Big thanks to Zilin too because he paid for his share so we only spent Php3,410 each for the room 😉

We also paid additional fees for our baggage because apparently, we are not light packers. 😛

As for the driver, it’s a personal expense and he’s a family friend so you can just omit the additional Php 1,500 from your total expenses when you prepare your budget 🙂 For Days 1-4, you may click the links under the tables if you’re curious about the details 🙂

Taiwan 2016 Day 1

Taiwan 2016 Day 2

We went there during Winter but we didn’t pack enough winter clothes.  We did check the temperature before the trip, as far as I remember it’s about 16-18 degrees so I thought it’s not so bad.  WRONG.  Maybe we just have low tolerance for cold weather, but it still helps to be prepared and pack warmer clothes! I ended up buying a coat, a bonnet, and a pair of boots.  We mixed, matched, and shared clothes, too!  You will only notice the shared clothes if you look at our pictures closely, haha.  It’s practical and a lot of fun, so make sure you’re with people who are willing to let you borrow their clothes, lol 😉 New day, new OOTD 😛

Taiwan 2016 Day 3

Whole day was spent almost inside the bus so we didn’t have a lot of expenses for this day.  We ate the bread we bought last night for breakfast too.  I didn’t eat dinner because I got terrible motion sickness.  Eep.

Taiwan 2016 Day 4

We were surprised that even on our last day, we still have a lot of money left! So we decided to go shopping 🙂 We were careful not to go beyond our budget for the first two days, but like what I said, everyday expenses are super affordable in Taiwan.  After the first day, we ate and bought whatever we wanted.  In the end, we still have a lot left, which isn’t a bad thing at all! 😛

Here’s a summary!

Like what I said earlier,you can enjoy Taiwan for less than Php 20,000! Get a cheaper air fare, buy the easy card and ride a bus/MRT instead of a cab, enjoy the street food instead of eating out at restaurants, pack enough clothes but pack light, walk a lot, research well, ask around 🙂 You can do so many things in Taipei, you don’t need a lot of money to fall in love with this beautiful, beautiful place ❤︎

There are still a lot left to do, four days will never be enough! I have yet to ride the Maokong Gondola, visit Elephant Mountain, go to Taipei Zoo, enjoy Jiufen at night and so much more! I cannot wait to be back! 😀

Hope this helps! If you have any questions, just let me know 😉