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Some help from the Dubai Forum will be very helpful.....

I have been reading the form for a month now and have seen this asked in different formats time and again. But too many variances in all of the different posts to give me that 100% it’s a good deal. To the question!

What is the going price for middle management in dubai???

I have an offer in hand for 121,110.00 AED per year that breaks down to 10,092.00 AED per month. With a flight home a year, health and life insurance, two bedroom villa or apartment. Other items thrown in are relocation allowance, furniture allowance, and other perks that are hard to put a price on.

Items that are my responsibility car, car insurance, entertainment, and so on.

The goal in my life is to have a little fun while working a lot and to invest money so one day I can stop working.

Any input on the contract value would be helpful. Will I be able to enjoy dubai at this pay scale????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Absolutely!

The main drain on peoples income is the rent, but seeing as your company is providing you with accomodation you're well away.

what are the hinden costs of living in Dubai? The things that can be over looked by someone that doesn't know the area.

hm...

Why is that posts like amusment(')s make me feel that i have some input on the topic?
Why is that I cant discuss about hairy armpits (lol), debate with Liban, listen to Majorpain, argue with HP, debate on "oxymorons" (was that you sniper?), follow up on Choco* and Bobbie. Bear with me Amusement I'll come to your topic. I think right now I have a personality crisis. Never mind...
So Amusement. If no family its ok. However the investmet that you can make with what's left after "havin fun" is into a pension fund and you will have to work untill 65.
Thinking about car - maybe you can choose a location close to your office. Then taxi cost can set you to a monthly average of 1500 1900AED - I don't know if car + insurance + service + gas + loss on sale + risk get's you less - check with ppl who own a car. Tough it may be ok with a second hand car.

hope this helps
writing the post did help me
Robert

Hi
Food is not expensive but if you choose to eat out alot it will depend on where you choose to eat out. Quite frankly even the best restaurants here are not expensive until you factor in alcohol then that is expensive!! Cost of living is low here and I think if you do a search with Mercer or just COLA indices you'll find Dubai is pretty low on the list. Check classifieds on line in the gulf news for the cost of cars and petrol is cheap here. You'll be glad you've got health insurance as it is costly. If you want specifics just say and I'll try and find out for you. They always say McDonald's is a good way to indicate the cost of living in a place - a kid's meal is DH10 and an adults value meal is DH14.

Gab,

Now we are starting to see some imput, thank you. I have been reading the Gulf News for a month now. I have also visited the city two weeks ago. Supermarket costs any idea???

How about going out and doing fun items other then drinking and chasing women. I do not drink much and I let the women chase me (ok so thats not the complete trurth on the woman side of things, put a guy only needs one girl in his life). Like sports, water items, sailing, diving and so on.

Well, I am Australian and I have been buying Aussie rib eye steak for DH32 per kg and it is cheaper than home and better quality-you pan fry it and it is great!! Pork products and especially bacon are pricey. People can shop at Spinneys, Park 'n Shop, Choithrams and Union Coop the later being the cheapest but with no tabacco products wgich are cheap by the way and no pork products.So groceries are cheaper-if you look at a Carrefour website you'll find their weekly specials and that'll give you an idea. Heres a little run down
Milk DH5 a litre
Baskin Robbin's 2 litre icecream DH30
Bread DH3 a loaf
Potatoes DH1.75 kg
Eggplant DH2.25 kg
Pasta Sauce Dh10 per 750g jar
Dried pasta DH 2.15 (500g bag)
Tomatoes DH2.25 kg
Pawpaw/papaya DH5.95kg
Strawberries DH 5.50 250g punnet
Bananas DH 2.95
Arabic bread large Dh 2 small Dh 1
Croissants box of 6 Dh8
Cheese DH8 per 250g block
Olives are so cheap I don't even remember!!
Fish is cheap too.(had a small tuna filleted and it will feed more than the six of us and was Dh35)
Sausages DH28 per kg
Chicken breast fillet DH28 kg
There is also a chain of restaurants called "Eat and Drink"-no alcohol and they have great local and asian food at really great prices and they deliver too!! The prices are crazy and the fresh juices are fantastic. We have been out to dinner at more expensive places like Asha's at Wafi City and Madinat Jumeirah and the big shocker is not the price of the food but bottled wine especially since I live a stones throw from some of these vineyards.
I know there is a heap of guys that go to Jebel Ali and use one of those parachute thingees with a board on the beach there and love it-apparently people also camp when it's cooler. You can also go on the sand dunes with a 4wd or quad bike-there are places a short drive away near the border of Oman where you can hire the quad bikes but if you are into it they are not expensive either. I don't think boats are too pricey either but I am not sure about mooring etc. Golf?? Plenty of golf courses!
I just grabbed my Dubai Explorer book and it listscanoeing, caving, climbing, crab hunting,cricket, going on a dhow charter, diving (www.7seasdivers.com , www.alboomdiving.com ,www.diversdown.tk , www.emiratesdiving.com , www.jumeirahinternational.com amongst others!!!), karting,fishing, flying, football, horse riding etc. Actually these books are great! They also have an off road book which apparently is out of print at the moment but is really easy to follow.
Also I noticed in McGrudy's book store they have an entertainer book full of coupons for restaurants and eateries in Dubai- this was a 2005 edition and it is DH225 and the coupons run out in December so I thought it may be wise to consider it next year.
Also places can often have cards or offers. Look for this when you apply say for a credit card 'cos some have great benefits. You should maybe get a Wafi City card as it is free and offers discounts in this shopping centre which has great bars/restaurants.
Hope it helps! Sorry but I blabbed on a bit!

This is great information THANK YOU I will pm you when I get into Dubai to thank you in person.

Great info!

Is suggest to collect posts like this and some other about dubai reality in a sticky thread within this section

It would make life easier to the newcomers and somehow rewarding to the ppl who wrote them

I should have also mentioned that if you decide to buy things like imported lettuce it is expensive but I guess it depends on desperately you want an iceberg lettuce!! Also I buy blue berries sometimes and they are around DH12 for a punnet which is actually the same as home if I think about it. Also in supermarkets they have a lot of prepared foods like dips, salads,curries etc which are great. Things like chocolate are cheap which surprised me.
Other things like soft furnishings and furniture are well priced Marina has great stuff at great prices for the quality and I think they have a website. Also Home Centre, Pan furniture for things like cushion covers and tiebacks/tassels are a bargain compared to home -this is the sort of stuff you look at in a glossy magazine at home and know you can't afford! Of course there is IKEA in City Centre which has everything including the fact you can grab a hot dog and a drink for DH4.
Other things....You can go to Carrefour and buy a 100ml bottle of Celion Dion perfume for Dh75 and a 100ml Nike after shave for under DH40. In one supermarket here I bought Christian Dior 100ml Fahrenheit for DH75- that seems a bargain to me!! Of course there are expensive items, but again I think this all depends on where you are from.
There is also another card you can get called an Airmiles card which is a shopping rewards program with heaps of participating companies....there must be a heap of these things here but I've only been here a short time and somebody else probably knows all the must have cards. Anyone???
Hope this helps-cheers!!

Dh10,000 k PLUS accommodation and health is pretty good going in Dubai these days. Hardly anyone is getting packages any more.

If you have a big family you might struggle to pay private school fees on that - remember there is no free state education here for expats.

You can long-term lease a car for around Dh1600-1800 a year (Corolla, Honda Civic) or buy a second-hand Corolla for Dh20,000-30,000, depending on age. Petrol has gone up, but is way cheaper than in the UK for example. Leasing means no worries about maintenance or car hire.

secretdubai wrote:
You can long-term lease a car for around Dh1600-1800 a year (Corolla, Honda Civic) or buy a second-hand Corolla for Dh20,000-30,000, depending on age. Petrol has gone up, but is way cheaper than in the UK for example. Leasing means no worries about maintenance or car hire.

Actually dude its more like 1600-1800 / month

Ooops - yes - typo

Though the current crapola Civic I am hiring - that amount per DECADE would be too much.

Thanks everyone the info was helpful. From this and all the other items I have read its a good package and with it. And it only being me (no family) I will enjoy it.

GAB thanks for the PM'ed link.

I will be getting into Dubai sometime in Oct. The first order of business will be to buy a car. Any body knows who the trustworthy used car dealers are. I have not made up my mind if I will buy a nice SUV or a sports car like a Z4. I have been reading the Gulf News paper getting an idea of prices. It will most likely be the SUV but the kid in me keeps screaming BMW Z4 or a TT .

That's really terrific information!

amusement wrote:. It will most likely be the SUV but the kid in me keeps screaming BMW Z4 or a TT .

... last week I saw an early 90's Testarossa advertised for just over 100

Don't forget that whilst insurance on boxes is about 4% of value / year, this figure can go as high as 10% on 'serious' sports cars.

Still, you're young, single and petrol is cheap. Shame the weather is too hot to keep the hood down for 8 months/year - but there are a lot of compelling reasons to humour the 'kid in you'.

... my residency visa is coming through next month (finally) and I'm certainly looking forward to humouring the kid in me!

By the way, I'd recommend you
a) drive a hire car in Dubai traffic for a while before you decide you'd be happy in a low sports car (IF)
b) try dune-bashing once. If you're hooked then go for a real jeep (not a SUV) ... oh, BMW don't make *real* Jeeps yet unfortunately

And don't forget that you can't own or drive a 'local' car until you have work/residency permission sorted - so you are probably on a hire car for at least the first month anyway.

HTH - Stuart

PS. If you're buying second-hand (good idea) don't forget that galleries typically charge 15-20% more than private sales, but beware - a lot of (especially sports) cars are not as good as the shine on the bodywork. A good independent opinion is essential. Personally I would figure in gearbox replacement at the first service if I was buying a manual sports car (although 90% of cars here are automatics)

Stuart wrote:
... my residency visa is coming through next month (finally) ...

until you have work/residency permission sorted ...

I got my residency visa within 5 days or so after my arrival to Dubai
Saturday(?) - Medical check at Jebel Ali clinic (urgent)
Sunday - results
Monday submitted documents
Thursday got my PP back with the visa

Robert

I have a couple of years of driving overseas, during my visit a couple of months ago Dubai did not seem bad. I will have to wait and see on the residency card time frame. I think it will be fast.