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Hi All,

I know this question is always asked…but…

I am at the stage where I am discussing salary with potential employers in Dubai...

I am an interior architect (corporate fit-out)
English, 26, male
London Based - Moving from a respected international company etc
Moving with my wife and newborn

At the moment it is looking like my salary will be between 25-27AED per month. From this I will pay rent and car rental (although the company will pay - it just comes out of the overall sum)

2 flights per year, medical etc

Relocation sum to be negotiated.

I will be supporting my wife for 6 months before she wants to go back to work - will my salary enable us to be comfortable (still be able to go out for meals when we want etc? We will also have app £1k per month coming from my wife maternity pay.

In addition - how much am I looking at for a nice villa (2-3 bedrooms)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

stevencharlton wrote:At the moment it is looking like my salary will be between 25-27AED per month. From this I will pay rent and car rental (although the company will pay - it just comes out of the overall sum)

You are aware that is is 7AED to the pound, so you're expecting to get paid approx. £3.50 a month?

Might wanna re-look at that.

Ross

I think he means 25K- 27K, which is a good enough salary...

rossbaku wrote:

stevencharlton wrote:At the moment it is looking like my salary will be between 25-27AED per month. From this I will pay rent and car rental (although the company will pay - it just comes out of the overall sum)

You are aware that is is 7AED to the pound, so you're expecting to get paid approx. £3.50 a month?

Might wanna re-look at that.

Ross

Silly ROss...

stevencharlton wrote:Hi All,

I know this question is always asked…but…

I am at the stage where I am discussing salary with potential employers in Dubai...

I am an interior architect (corporate fit-out)
English, 26, male
London Based - Moving from a respected international company etc
Moving with my wife and newborn

At the moment it is looking like my salary will be between 25-27AED per month. From this I will pay rent and car rental (although the company will pay - it just comes out of the overall sum)

2 flights per year, medical etc

Relocation sum to be negotiated.

I will be supporting my wife for 6 months before she wants to go back to work - will my salary enable us to be comfortable (still be able to go out for meals when we want etc? We will also have app £1k per month coming from my wife maternity pay.

In addition - how much am I looking at for a nice villa (2-3 bedrooms)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Here's my computation for you:

2-3 bedrooms villa = AED10K (approximate)/month with nice neighbourhood, amenities, facilities and etc

Transport (car rental) = AED5K/month or more

Household budget = AED8K/month (im not sure if this is enough considering you have to support your baby and wife) Married Peeps, please advise.

Miscellaneous =AED2K/month

Over all you and your family will survive but no savings, unless if you're willing sacrifice a little with your housing allowance.

asc_26 wrote:Transport (car rental) = AED5K/month or more

Household budget = AED8K/month (im not sure if this is enough considering you have to support your baby and wife) Married Peeps, please advise.

Miscellaneous =AED2K/month

Over all you and your family will survive but no savings, unless if you're willing sacrifice a little with your housing allowance.

A little information from me:

5K for car rental is too expensive unless you need fancy /big cars. You can get as low as 1700/month (Mitsu Lancer)

I brought my daughter when she was 4 months old a couple of years ago. With our lifestyle (not too tight, not too luxury) we could manage to spend only about 3-5K/month total expense (daily foods includes baby needs such as bottled baby food, good baby milk, diapers, etc). Baby neeeds are cheaper in Dubai (than to other countries I ever lived in).

So in my standard, 25-27K is good enough. You can live decently, going out once or twice a week, rent a car, and you still can save some. You can save even more if you could lower your accommodation requirement (I guess to live in 1BR apt would be sufficient for you considering yours is still a small baby).

Steve

If you havent had any local experience this is a good salary to get your foot in the door - and if you think you can get by the first year then probably worthwhile if you are keen to get out here.

Your market worth will increase after your first 12months - and so if your employer are looking to be doing any salary reviews after this time you will have plenty of other companies chasing you with good roles and better salaries.

Also if this role doesnt work out PM me, might be able to set you up with a similar role out here.

I ended up taking a job for 25,000 - it seems like a good offer as a senior designer (I am only 26 - so it is a good move up).

I will be in Dubai in 7 weeks! Hopefully I will have enough...pretty sure from these comments that it will be enough!

ps... am I correct in thinking a 2 bed in the springs will cost me 130,000? Seems a lot (even more than London!)

Does anyone know of any good letting websites (excluding classifieds?)

Steve,

You will have more than enough. 25000 or 32000 (including wife's maternity) is plenty. After rent you will still have at least 20000 (£3000 per month) to play with.

Some of the comments on here are simply ridiculous.

I'm sure in the UK you don't have 3k to spend per month!

You will live a decent enough lifetsyle and stilll save £1500 - £2000 per month.

I know what I'm talking about because I am here and have been for 12 months on an almost identical package.

Congratulations.

don't forget the 25000 gratuity payment per year either!

Anyway buddy good luck and keep in touch as we work in a similar field and can probably help each other out from time to time.


cheers