Moving to Dubai...

[xiaozhu]

...and wondering how much we can realistically save? As that is one of the reasons we're coming!

My salary will be about 45,500k a month, DH won't be working. We plan to get a one bed apartment in a decent place (the Greens looks nice - any thoughts? Price seem to be about 85k a year) and a car (second hand).

We know there's no tax, but from what I can tell there are hidden costs everywhere - utilities, connection fees, registration fees etc. etc. Can anyone who's out there give me any idea of what our outlay might be, to avoid any nasty surprises?

We have no kids btw.

Does your package not include accommodation? Can you give us an outline of what your package entails?

Nope - just relocation costs (flights, shipping and a week or so's accommodation while we get sorted). It does include medical and life insurance for me, but not for DH.

The company has agreed to pay my rent up front for me and take it off my monthly salary, as I understand that most landlords demand a year's rent in advance.

Thanks in advance!

I presume you will then sponsor your DH? I would really push for medical to be offered for both of you. I think 45K is good if it's just the two of you with no children to pay for. Will you DH work at all? Will your company sort out visas for both you and your DH?

There are a lot of start up costs, like DEWA (water/electricity), car registration , SALIK (road toll), getting TV connection, sim cards etc, but once it's done, it's done. It's a horribly frustrating time when you first arrive as until you get your visa and Emirates ID, you can't really do much else. Make sure your company's PRO starts working on it as soon as you arrive.

Greens is a great place to live (I think), but a lot depends where you will be working from. Traffic can be a headache and better to work fairly close to where you work. Nice thing about The Greens is you can walk to the supermarket, restaurants, few shops and that is unusual in Dubai. The marina is also a great place to live if you like apt. living. Numerous towers there, the main complex which is JBR. If you live in the marina you could quite easily never get in your car all weekend - or even live easily without a car if your office is on a metro line.

Have a look at the expatwoman website as well.

Even if they won't pay your DH's medical, it's probably worth asking them to arrange it and then do salary deduction as they'll get a much better price than you will and he will need some.

What's your DH going to do? I was a childless trailing spouse in Dubai and found it quite tough/ boring. There's not much to do that's free and the summers/Ramadan are purgatory (fine if you're at work all day though). If he's got a project (like writing a screenplay or something) or is going to just secretly work from home for a UK employer (loads of people do it), he'll probably be fine, but otherwise you might just want to discuss that a bit more, especially if you'll be there a few years.

I would push for medical for you both and ensure all your visa costs for both again will be covered as they can rack up!

Start up costs are pretty high as mentioned (I think for DEWA its now 2000 AED as a deposit for example) so I would ask for a relocation payment to help cover these..... But they're just a one off so once thats done I would think you'd have a good lifestyle. In terms of saving it really depends what kind of lifestyle you want here - if you want to do the whole brunch/fancy hotels then that is expensive but if you're happy with weekends at the beach and modest socialising then you'll be fine to save.

What will your DH plan to do? I can imagine if he's non-working and no kids he could get bored/frustrated quite quickly.

Thanks for your responses! Really useful.

My husband is studying for a degree with the Open University. He'll also be spending a fair amount of time back in his home country visiting his parents who are not well (one of the other reasons we're moving to Dubai is to be closer to them - and to afford to pay their medical costs too!).

Yeah, the firm has been a bit stingy with start up costs and it's something I'm going to negotiate with them. I think they will pay for visas, and thanks for the tip about medical insurance - I will ask them to organise it and deduct.

We're not really in the lunch/brunch set, but neither do we want to just scrimp and save and never go out. Spending weekends at the beaches sounds wonderful to me!

So re the Greens, one of the reasons I liked the look of it was because it seems a bit more established than other areas, and so less likely to have massive noisy constructions sites next door. Is this true?

Also, I'm hoping to get the metro to work as I want to leave the car with my husband so he can go around sorting the shopping/chores/earn his keep etc Also, I hear the traffic into the DIFC can be pretty dire in the rush hour. Is getting the metro to work (near the Burj Khalifa) from the Greens realistic? Or will I be a hot sweaty mess before I even arrive at the station?

I stayed in the Greens with DS a few weeks ago, and there was no noisy construction at the time. Because it's well-established and next to the golf course at Emirates Hills, there's less room to develop further. That said, in Dubai there is no such thing as FINISHED! And I think, but don't really know, that the metro stop is a decent walk from the Greens, which would be okay except in summer.

Thanks We're also looking at the Marina area, where I think it's closer to the metro station?

I think Marina would be better for you for Metro (I don't often get it though!) plus it's got so much to do within walking distance - shops, bars, restaurants etc..... Its a great place to be!

And yes you'll get used to cranes and building work everywhere!!

I also think Marina would be better. You soon learn to ignore the cranes in Dubai. There are so many towers in the Marina, you will be able find something you like and in your budget.

For most of the year you will be fine getting the Metro down to DIFC. In the very hot months it won't be much fun though as you will be sweating as soon as you leave your apartment and the walk to the Metro will be grim. But plenty of taxi's around that are cheap enough to use for those few months.

I'd forget the greens and live in downtown, it's a 15 DH cab ride to DIFC and a gorgeous area. The metro from the greens to DIFC will take an hour, plus may involve two taxi rides. The metro is not walking distance from the greens.

Thanks very much. Lots to think about!