Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hello All,
I am an absolute novice to this, so please be patient with me!
I have a 7 year old and a 12 year old. I need to know how much money I will need to move to Dubai that will a) Buy me a comfortable home b) What income will I need a month to keep me in 'a comfortable home' c) What are the costs for educating my boys d) What sort of career can they look forward to when they leave school?

I am sick to death of England. I hate the Government.... Labour. For the past 3 years I have said out loud 'F****ng Country', every day, twice a day.... due to poor, poor customer services. 'Soap Box Deanne': I have had enough. I phone a number, that is costing ME money, to be answered by a person that cannot speak English, I repeat myself 6 times.... god you know the rest!!! I am sick of it and I want out. That isn't all of it, but I really dont want to bore you with it all.

I have money behind me, and I am so desperate to bring up my boys in a better country. Cranesville (Spain) is SO ruled out.
If anyone can offer me any advise, I would really appreciate it.
Many thanks.
Deanne

Deanne,

I know the feeling.
Sounds like you would rather be treated like a minority in someone elses country than your own. Dubai is a good choice.

Most of the answers to your questions can be found using the search utility.
If your boys go to university, you would be better off sending them back to the UK, so you will need to find out the requirements for that. They will also be better off establishing a career somewhere else before getting employment in Dubai.

Deanne, are you married? You would need a very good profession and work contract here to be able to sponsor your two children as a single mother. As a woman, there are some legal restrictions that men don't have.

If you want to buy a three bedroom villa it will cost something between 1.5 and 2.5 million AED. Renting a 3 bedroom villa will cost over 120,000 AED per year in the Emirates Hills area. Mirdif might be a little lower, but I'm not sure. There are a whole bunch of threads on real estate topics here. Please use the search function.

I think that the school fees are high for your boys ages, but I don't have children so can't say for sure. There are threads on this - just use the search function. I think it could cost something between 20,000 to 40,000 AED per year for school fees. (Correct me if I'm wrong people!)

Dubai has lots to see and do throughout the year, but you'd want to be leaving the country during your children's summer break because the temp can get as high as 50 degrees! There is no playing outside for the kids, so you will need to budget money for indoor entertainment over the hot months. (So my friends with kids tell me.)

It is hard to say if you will like it here in the long run - only you know what you like. For me, this is only and adventure for a few years, after which I will go to Canada. I prefer a colder climate, and multi-culturalism with far less racism. I don't have an issue with paying taxes because the money helps keep a good infrastructure for all. As for the political scene, we have a terrible conservative Prime Minister right now, but I can always use my right to vote to try to get him out of office the next time around.

.... I phone a number, that is costing ME money, to be answered by a person that cannot speak English, I repeat myself 6 times....

this doesn't change by moving to dubai!!! if anything its worse

dbxsoul wrote:

.... I phone a number, that is costing ME money, to be answered by a person that cannot speak English, I repeat myself 6 times....

this doesn't change by moving to dubai!!! if anything its worse

Sooooooooooooooo true Soul. It does my head in.

Arnie?????
Are you on your seat?????

or what about ....

you finally get someone to call at your place to fix something ... and they turn up with out any tools, ladder or visible means of fixing anything... then they stare at whatever is broken as if trying to fix it telepathically for about 1/2 hour .... and then tell you ... "problem - i get engineer" ....

or how about...

ohhh i cant finish this job that was booked at 2pm, but i arrived at 6pm and the bus is waiting for me outside @ 7pm, i will finish this job tommorrow ---- yer right ohhhhhhhh no you dont, you stay here.

Another good one was some crappy indians in Karama who i stupidly booked to do cutains. poles etc, did a fekin shit job. Soooo i sent them away to get redone and i held all their tools, drill and ladders to ransom to make sure they came back. They were eeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkk you cant do that - ohhhh yes i can they are in my Appt and they are staying here till the stuff is altered to my satisfaction. They were back the following day

ha-ha

how about opening a thread called "dubai excuses - 1001 ways to avoid doing something"

+ he is not at his desk
+ who, no, he doesn't work here
+ he is not on his seat
+ you weren't paid .... when did you send the invoice through
+ our accounts department lost the invoice, can you send it again
+ our accounts department lost the invoice a second time, can you send a copy registered mail
+ i'll do it tomorrow (bukra)
+ you will get the cheque next of next week

my favourite on, i tried to deposit a cheque at the bank once, so for queueing for about 1/2 hour the cashier says ... "sorry we don't offer that service today"

deanne
i'm moving in a few weeks from london, i have an 8yr old and 10 yr old.

my research tells me that the budget (per month in £) needs to be in the order of:

£1500 (min) for a house in an OK district. You also have to pay a 5% municipality tax on rented property. sometimes this is included in rent.

£350 for a car - that would buy you a £15k car over 48 months on a loan. Cars are around 30% cheaper than in UK, so it would get you something nice and nearly new

£800 to cover school fees. On the whole the fees seem to be about £5k a yearr per kid. The fees rise for yr 7 onwards so beware

£250 health insurance with BUPA International. The price quoted is for Gold cover. You may get a cheaper quote for lower cover.

£130 for a beach club - good for getting into a social network

food shopping - seems to work out about the same as UK, some things cost more, some less.

There's a really good book called Dubai Explorer. I recommend you try and get a copy.

Hope that helps. As I say, this is just from my research, I don't live there yet so there may be some discrepancies!! Search this forum - most questions have been asked a million times, in triplicate!

Have you visited Dubai yet? That ought to be a top priority if you haven't done so.

Good luck!

School fees we pay at a non-profit Brit Curriculum school are 3 terms at AED7200 for a 6/7 year odl and a nine year old and AED14000 per term for the 12 year old-yep, same school but some exponential jump! School uniforms aren't too bad because there is no expensive winter uniform. Bus can be expensive and I think around AED1000 per month per child. Life here for kids is pretty good though, I must say and although deemed a developing (not your Asian developing country by any stretch of the imagination) country there isn't really anything you cannot get-except sane drivers on the roads and a mild and pleasant summer-for example medical facilities are great and there is an abundance of choice here for everything ie schools, leisure activities, shops, hospitals etc.

Deanne

Welcome to this forum. I was in a very similar situation a couple of months ago. It actually started a couple of years ago, and I started changing companies, moving houses etc just to find a peace of mind untill this oppurtunity came along, I took it. Only two months in Dubai now and no regrets whatsoever. The best thing is that I haven't started enjoying the famous Dubai attractions yet.

All what has been said to your reply is true, you have to have a job here, otherwise, you wil struggle. Investing in somthing is really difficult and so is setting up your own business.

One thing to do is to plan very carefully. I personally left the family back in London, while preparing the field here.

Just enrolled the kids into a good British Curriculm school for average AED10000 per year. Booked a house for mid june when they will join.

I found it very helpful not having them here while running around with the preparation.

You will leave the stress at Heathrow, and start a new life here. Your family and kids will defintely enjoy it.

Best of luck.

Zino

You may find this site helpful

http://dwc.hct.ac.ae/expatinfo/

hey guys
i have persoanlly just moved with two very young children
my oldest boy is 5, and yougest is 3
initially when budgeting i accounted for a reasonably comfortable lifestyle and realised is was not too expensive.....
I guess to be honest it depends on what rate you achieve on your currency....
I mean ive literally transfered mine only two weeks ago with a company called Excel Currencies......
They were fantastic the guys name was Raj, he used to analyse the markets everyday and call me....
In the end he got me 6.915 when i was working figures out i was workin em out on 6.7 so i made a killin and it dint cost a penny.

i mean its just a thought but i know how much i struggled to get here but guess they helped me actually achieve this...... not gonna tell the mrs exactly how much we saved must keep some reserved for alcohol....lol

i hope you can move its beautiful here but give Raj a call im sure he'll be able to help....i guess you can only try.....

but hope things work out for you

good luck....

Nicolas

kanelli wrote:I will go to Canada... I don't have an issue with paying taxes because the money helps keep a good infrastructure for all.

I see you haven't been to Montreal or the rest of Quebec

kanelli wrote:
I will go to Canada... I don't have an issue with paying taxes because the money helps keep a good infrastructure for all.


Yes, like having to wait for many months up to a year for an appointment with an specialist...