Good Morning Dubai.

[kittensinmydinner]

Hi All Dubai dwellers. May I pick your brains ?. I am looking for some cost of living figures for a family of 5 living in Jumeriah (Palm) monthly. The sort of thing I need is cost of food, petrol, children's activities, school bus, school 'extras' , Dewa with SAHM (thinking air con in June/July ) basically the cost of having a 'good lifestyle' . Husbands package includes school fees (bit of a shortfall that's already costed) car, rent one family trip home per year. - anything else you can think of that I have forgotten ?

Morning,

I will attempt to give you an idea but we are a family of 3.
Food is expensive especially if you want to buy western imported products compared to local ones. Waitrose/spinneys are the most expensive with Carrefour/lulu being the cheapest but I would guess at least 1000 dirhams a week.
Childrens activities are also not cheap, my son has swimming lessons which is 70 dirhams for a 30 minute lesson. Other sporting activities range from 70-150 dirhams a session.
Dewa totally depends on size of villa/apartment and if you are on district cooling or not. We live in a four bed villa and our bills range from 2-4000 a month and that includes having a pool. You will also be running a/c for more than 2 months a year, we already have it on as had a few days recently where it has hit 40!

Petrol is incredibly cheap, even if you drive a massive 4wd you will find it hard to spend more than 200 dirhams a week!

No idea on school bus prices but this info should be on their website, if you have older children factor in some amazing school trips. Friends children have just been to Nepal, sri lanaka and Thailand.

Eating out is relatively cheap and there is no shortage of amazing restaurants.

Life in Dubai can be expensive but it all depends on what kind of lifestyle you want, if you are looking at going to brunch every weekend it will soon add up....... or if you are more into hanging out on some beautiful beaches or camping in the dessert you can have an excellent time for not a huge amount of money.

Hope this helps

Many thanks. Just been trying to work out how realistic the budget to move is. My DH ex has remarried. Her husband works in Dubai. The ex is seeking to be allowed to move from UK with their 3 dcs. DH who has had regular EOW contact without exception, for 8 yrs , is opposing and distraught at prospect of losing his Dcs. As part of the court process, ex has had to provide breakdown of expenses to fund any potential move. The statement contains all the various incomes in wages, allowances UK rental income, but the outgoings contain none of the costs of the 'lifestyle' that is the reason for going. There is 27500 left after UK commitments and rent/school fee top up, but nothing for food, cost of aircon with at least one person in the apartment all/most of day. Nothing for any of the lifestyle aspired to. For example the kids currently play netball, swim, learning to ski , go to drama classes. So they would be a minimum of the things they would do. On top of that two have significant special needs and as yet no school places can be found. The only suitable school (full) also charges an additional (10500 a month) in special needs support. Which seems incredibly expensive. There will also be the cost of trips home to the UK at least 4 times a year if the court allows her to take them away. We have to rebut this statement, but quite tricky trying to work out general cost of living of a place if you don't live there. Therefore I am very grateful for ' on the ground knowledge for this.

I'm not in Dubai, but am fairly familiar with SEN provision in International schools.
The provision, even when paying the hefty top up, can be patchy even in the best schools, as suitable staff are extremely hard to find.

Your DH is right to have concerns about the provision for his DC, just on the basis of the SEN. While some schools provide great support for mild SEN, I've yet to see really good provision for severe SEN in the International schools market - it is simply too expensive to be cost effective.

Just realised I might start an argument there - my experience is mainly in Asia, but in your situation I would definitely raise it as a legitimate concern in the best interests of your step-DC

Trying to find a school which will accept children with special needs in Dubai is incredibly difficult. A friend who has a child with some learning delays has to provide a shadow teacher for him and I think they pay between 7-10,000 dirhams a month for this.

Oh and skiing lessons at ski Dubai are great but a slope pass is 200 dirhams and lessons I believe start from 150 dirhams per person ( so not cheap!)

We've just moved to UAE with four kids. No SEN. I think 27500 aed for food, activities, SEN provision, utilities etc is a stretch. Gymnastics for one child for a 12 week course here just set me back 820aed. That's 3x what I paid in the UK. Food I reckon is going to be 6000 to 7000 aed. Friend told me his aircon last summer hit 3000 in July and August although normally nearer 1200.