Is this salary OK for Abu Dhabi

[Expectingfirstbaby]

My partner has recently been offered a salary of 50k dirhams per month for a job in Abu Dhabi. The company will sponsor him, myself, and our child. Also included is medical, dental, and one flight back to the UK per year.

But housing and education aren't included.

Is that enough money to move out there? We'd enjoy living in the Middle East but it would also need to make financial sense and we'd be looking to use the experience to save as much as possible to buy a house in the UK.

Any advice on how much british expat schools and housing are would be much appreciated, plus any other costs like energy bills for AC. And just generally a feel for what people think of that salary package.

You’d spend up to a third of that for rent and utilities on a 2 bed 2 bath serviced apartment (based on the Corniche - other areas would be slightly cheaper). School fees of 50-100k AED per year.

My mum did it for 2 years and lived quire frugally. A friend was there at the same time and did saturday brunch etc every week/lots of weekends away and nights out and came back with a lot less than mum did.

Thanks for that information! I think it's probably a better deal than we might have got in somewhere like Dubai, but I still wonder whether it'll be worth going out for that much. It doesn't seem like it's massively clear cut, unless I'm massively overestimating how much it costs to live out there.

Check housing. It's ££££.
And I don't know about in the UAE, but when we were in the middle east, rent was paid in one check - so 12 months rental paid at the start of each year. Ditto for school fees. August was hideous, as we had to pay (company sponsored, but we still needed to make sure it was in the right place) our £40,000 rent check and 2 lots of £15,000 school fees. Check what local custom is in AD.
Personally, I wouldn't do it for that.
Also, check what the current situation is regarding unmarried couples. Again, it's changing, but wouldn't have been acceptable when we were out there.

Thanks - I hadn't realised we'd need to pay rent upfront. We're married so that parts sorted at least. How much would you think would be worth moving out there?

You might not have to pay an annual rent check - but check it out.
Sorry for the assumption about marriage - I went from your use of partner rather than wife/husband.

Put it this way, we saved 8k a month.

As others have said, housing will be your biggest expense, then nursery/school fees. For housing have a look at websites such as propertyfinder to get an idea of costs. Houses usually unfurnished so would need to ship furniture or buy it here - there’s an IKEA and lots of marketplace groups which can help make things a bit cheaper, it’s a transient place so always people leaving and selling decent stuff. Utilities can be a lot if you’re in a villa - up to 5k per month on AC/electric in the summer if you’re in a big house, but would be less in a smaller house/apartment.
If you live a ‘normal’ lifestyle (ie not a flashy car, not lots of weekend brunches at 5* hotels) then 50k per month might work. School fees can be anything from 50-80k AED per year for good schools. Usually can pay termly, so three payments per year. The lifestyle is great for families - hot summer months are a challenge but everywhere is air conditioned and lots to do indoors for those months. Have a look at Facebook groups such as British Mums Abu Dhabi.

8k a month savings is incredible! Is that in pounds or dirhams? Would you mind me asking what sort of package you were on to save that?

That's interesting and thanks for giving me an indication of utility costs. I'll take a look at that Facebook group too. Have you lived in Abu Dhabi, and if so could you recommend a couple of decent but not too pricey areas to live? Have heard living near a school is best.

Housing (wich included most utalities) schooling (most of it, anyway), flight home once a year, medical a provided.
Dentist was at our cost. Relocation shipping on arrival plus leaving provided.
We did a trip to UK as a family holiday elsewhere in the world - but on economy tickets, not the business tickets our neighbour's did.
There is A LOT of money floating around the ME. You can live the high life, and save little, or you can live a very comfortable life and save.

Suspect the packages are less attractive now, but it still needs to be worthwhile to upheave everything. I gave up my job for this trip (to a "tougher" ME posting than UAE), but it was certainly worthwhile.

Sounds like a great package! Were you with a national/government company? I've heard those are better in terms if packages and working hours

For areas to live it’s hard to know without knowing where school will be. It might be a case of seeing if any of the schools have spaces available and taking it from there. Some are oversubscribed and have waiting lists, some less so. I would definitely secure a school place first then search for accommodation nearby.

Off island is generally cheaper- try Raha Gardens or Al Reef, both are near good schools with UK curriculum. Check out Which School Advisor and Schools Compared sites. 50k can be tricky for a family if you're not getting housing or school fees. Will you also need to pay for a nanny, run 2 cars, send money back home to service expenses and outgoings there?

Petrol is cheap but not much else.

You need housing, schooling, medical (for all of you), flight home as a minimum.

Did you know that they do not show the Flintstones in Dubai but in Abu Dhabi they do.

My favourite joke

Great point about the schools. I've had a read through previous threads and it seems that school places for younger kids go fast.

Ok thanks for that assessment. If housing and school was included do you think would 50k then be sufficient to move there, live reasonably well and save up for a house in the UK?

Okey dokey, thanks 👍

😆😆😆

Yes, it should be very comfortable.

It depends who the employer is - for some you'll get both housing and education allowance, for others just one and the rest neither!

OP, how well off are you in the UK? 50k if you only have one child is a perfectly adequate salary in AD even having to pay education and housing, but it depends what lifestyle you have back home. It's not fly business class and holiday in five star resorts in the Maldives but it's also by no means breadline.

@Somewhereoverthepacific at the moment our combined household income is £110k, and we have a mortgage of just under £2k/month. We like our house but would love to move to a nicer area, so we'd be looking to move to the middle east to get to the next level of saving. Right now we save about £800/month, but that doesnt make a dent in the money we'd need to buy a home in a better area. Also our monthly savings will probably drop down to zero once our LO goes to nursery (2 days a week).

You're not going to save more on AED 50k a month. Yes you don't pay tax but housing will be more like GBP 3k a month for example (and that's going for cheaper end housing but not super budget). Would you be looking to work as well? If so, what do you do? If not, do you actively want to be a SAHM?

This isn't enough money to come if your aim is saving in my view.

What will you do with your house while overseas? Renting it out would contribute to your income. Daycare here is much cheaper than the UK - you could even have a full time nanny living in for around £6-700/month.