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Relocate to Abu Dhabi - Budgets & Outgoings

6 replies

ManicRower · 22/01/2024 19:50

Hi,

I've recently had a job offer for Abu Dhabi, breakdown as follows:

  • 55k a month (660k annually, of which 200k is housing allowance)
  • 50k education allowance, annual, per child (I have 3)
  • 30 days hols
  • Bonus between 15%-50% depending on performance
  • Health insurance included for all family
  • 1 x return trip home for all family
  • Usual relocation/furniture allowance

I'm struggling to compare cost of living in Abu Dhabi for a family of 5 compared to Surrey. I've allocated the following for monthly budget:
55k AED monthly minus
16.66k for 4 bed villa/apartment (thats the 200k allowance)
3k to top up school fees (schools appear to be expensive!)
2.5k utilities
4k transport (car or taxis, tbc)
700 for internet and phones
4.5k for maid
= 23.6K AED to live off for a family of 5 (kids aged 6, 4 and 2)

  1. Are the figures for outgoings in the right ballpark? Am I forgetting anything sizeable? 2) If yes, is 23k AED (I make that £5k GBP) a month 'enough' for a family of 5 to live a comfortable life in Abu Dhabi? I'd see comfortable as kids being able to do some clubs/activities/sports, maybe eat out 3 or 4 times a month, etc. We aren't massive drinkers and dont smoke.

Any help much appreciated!

OP posts:
Viewfrommyhouse · 22/01/2024 19:54

You could live on it, but you wouldn't be able to save much, if anything... what's the reasons for going out there? If there's 2 adults and only 1 working, do you need a maid?

useitorlose · 25/01/2024 10:26

Sounds doable. Plenty of people earn much less and still save money. Where do you want to live?

ADpackage · 31/01/2024 22:50

OP I am wondering the same, we will have similar disposable and hoping to save too. Have you looked at housing? You may want/need to spend more depending on where you want to live.

You may also need 2 cars so would need to allocate more for transport.

Re saving, your bonus sounds pretty good if guaranteed.

Ohwhatswrong · 13/11/2024 00:05

@ManicRower did you decide to move? If so how's it going?

Dubaiferret · 20/11/2024 10:18

You can live a decent life on it but what about savings? Remember there is no safety net here - if your husband's employer decides that he doesn't have a job anymore then its a plane ticket home (and sometimes the need to repay housing advances and education benefits). You can stay and look for another job but no guarantee one can be found quickly. There is also limited pension provision (there's end of service benefit but no true pension) and you need to save to make sure you have coverage for that. How much you want to save is a personal decision (and based in part on your current financial position) but remember to deduct that from the amount you have left over.

Also remember to deduct the cost of vacations from the amount you have left over. Even if it's just one trip home a year using the employer flights. If you need to hire a car, rent accommodation, meet up with/entertain friends and family that one trip back over the summer gets expensive quickly and does need to be budgeted for (I'd say at least 2k a month). That assumes you don't want to travel on top of that.

A comment on kids activities - this is where I feel that the UAE is often unexpectedly expensive. I spend about 4k a month on kids activities for two teens (and I'm not including their socializing cost). You can spend less of course, and kids can do less, but depending on the activity be aware that it may cost more than you're expecting.

On your specific numbers:

Rent - I'm not up to date on latest Abu Dhabi housing prices (I am in Dubai now) but 200k seems low for a 4-bed. Are you sure that is achievable in an area that is a reasonable commute for work and school?

Education - You are allowing 62k per child for school fees (based on the fees allowance and the addition 3k per month). Depends on ages of children and the schools you're looking at, but have you found schools at that price point that have availability? Remember that school fees increase as children get older (and salaries don't always).

Utilities - 2.5k is also low (as an average) for utilities for a 4 bed in my experience unless it's a new and energy efficient 4 bed (in which case rent of 200k seems v unlikely) - remember you pay 5% tax on rent as part of utilities so that's 800 alone before you start paying water and electricity.

Maid costs - You may also be underbudgeting for maid costs - on top of salary , you need to account for visa, medical, food, flights and annual bonuses. That comes to about 2k on average a month (front loaded because of the visa costs) and then whatever you pay for salary (which depends a lot on what you're looking for - mainly someone to clean/do laundry, someone to be more of a housekeeper, or someone who will have significant childcare obligations). Unless you're working and need the childcare, a maid is a nice to have of course but once you've employed someone it becomes a commitment (and visa costs are frontloaded anyway).

Transport - Agree 4k is low for transport, unless you have the capital to buy cars up front. You may be able to cope with one car if your husband taxis to and from work, but that will be a taxi bill of around 2k a month (depending on distance of course).

Phones - Do the kids have phones? Decent internet will cost about 500 a month, then the mobile phone packages will be 200++ depending on calls/data.

Dubaiferret · 20/11/2024 10:20

And just seen this is a zombee post - oh well. Hope it helps someone else!

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