Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Dear All,

Can you help me? I have been offered a job in Dubai with a basic salary approx 27,000 AED per month on top of this I get 90,000 AED per annum towards accommodation and 48,000 AED pa towards transportation. I already have a good job in the UK which equates to the same salary (£75,000 pa) but obviously I get taxed on this. I now need to decide if moving to Dubai will give me family a good quality of life for 1-2 years and would I be able to save money.

1) Will 90,000 AED get me good quality accommodation in a nice area 2/3 bed for me, my wife and new borne baby? And where would you suggest (job based at Media City)?
2) Is 27,000 AEH enough to have a good quality of life in Dubai and still save money?
3) Can I get a decent 4x4 for 48,000 AED?
4) What is the approx cost of living for a family of 3 ?

Any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks !!!

1) Will 90,000 AED get me good quality accommodation in a nice area 2/3 bed for me, my wife and new borne baby?

And where would you suggest (job based at Media City)?

you can get a decent two bedroom in dubai marina (next to media city) for 90K

2) Is 27,000 AEH enough to have a good quality of life in Dubai and still save money?

yes and no. what i mean is it really depends on your lifestyle and how much u spend .. 27K can be more than enough or you can spend it all in one week

3) Can I get a decent 4x4 for 48,000 AED?

might get a used jeep wrangler or something, but a new nice 4x4 will be between 80K-120K

4) What is the approx cost of living for a family of 3 ?

i dont know since i am a family of 1 , but search the forum lots of info on cost of living

Merry Xmas and Happy New Years ..

the 48,000 pa for your vehicle allowance.
is this a lump sum, paid as an allowance every month, or will the company actually pay the installements on the vehicle.

find out as:
a) you will need to provide your wife with some transport as well, the local transport system is no where near adequate for your wife to get around - unless you expect her to use a taxi or stay at home
b) if its paid out to you as 4k on top of your salary you can simply finance a vehicle (or even 2). the repayment period is normaly over 3 years and the interest rate about 4 - 5%. on top of that there is maintenance, registration and insurance every year.
c) if you select the vehicle and the company pays for it, you wouldn't be able to go with option 2

find out from the company how they make the money for your housing available to you. in almost every instance the landlord will ask for 3 months rental up front, sometimes a security deposit on top of this and then the balance in three post-dated cheques for the rest of the year.
on top of this you have to find another 1k for the DEWA (water and electricty deposit) before they will connect you; as well as deposit for telephone and internet.

You should be able to find a car within that price range and a good place to look is on line in the classifieds of Khaleej Times, Gulf News and in www.dubizzle.com. Also supermarket notice boards are good. The petrol is cheap and for that matter so are taxis but as a trailing spouse the novelty of catching taxis 4-6 times a day doing school runs started to wear a bit thin in the first three months (or less!!) and my fear of driving went out the window and I am soooooooooo happy to be driving (4x4)- with three kids and after school activities it was a matter of my sanity!!
Somebody mentioned the DEWA (electricity and water bill) -ours is by far greater than the 1000AED quoted and this in part could be due to the fact we arrived from our winter to the worst time of year here and we are a family of 5. I don't think you mentioned medical expenses-a must have! School fees and even nursery are costly PLUS the extracurricular activities-school bus isn't an option for us due to the expense multiplied by 3, so I have a car and play taxi.We find cost of living low except we still spend a lot-if you look at some archived posts there should be some info in there on supermarket/grocery prices...it is always the best indicator of COL. Also older villas are great for your price range and come with excellent outdoor space.Hope this helps!!

1) 90k will get you a good sized 2 bedroom apartment in some of the newly finished apartments in Dubai Marina. You can also consider a good villa around Umm Suquiem area for 100-120k per year.

2) Dependant on your lifestyle and spending habits. Ask your employer whether water, gas, electricity etc are paid for my company or your responsibilty. If you only had to worry about food then 27k 'should' be enough to get by and save a little.

3) 48k per annum transport - clarify whether that includes running costs and maintenance of the car etc. If it doesn't then you should be able to get a new landcruiser for that sort of money - 4k/month repayments.

4) Again, dependant on spending habits. Look at what you are spending ur money on back home and then compare apples with apples - ie food = 400 pounds/mth against AED1200/mth here.