Dubai- family of 4, 35,000 AED/month will it work?

[GotMooMilk]

Hello,
Trying to research but would like advice of those living there. DH offered a job for 35k aed/month. That would need to cover accommodation, school fees for 2 kids (7 and 5) and living costs etc.
Would this be enough? Where would you recommend living with lots of ex pats and family friendly?
Thanks!

Have you looked up school fees plus rental?
My gut answer is no way is that enough, but that's based on you needing medical plus flights home too. It's also based on a different country in the ME! I'd join somewhere like Two Fat Expats or British Mums Dubai on facebook to get acurate costs for you.

I have and those together seem to come to around 20k a month, it’s the other costs I’m finding harder to pin down!

35k AED is as good salary but not if it doesn't include accommodation and has to support 4.

School fees are 5000 AED+ per child per month and rents are 6m upfront.

Good FB groups are Brits in Dubai

JBR/Marina/Greens all
V v lovely/family friendly.

It's an amazing place, we've lived there and went back in Feb as a family.
We go lots and LOVE it.

Can see the appeal- the UK is tough right now.

35k AED per month you will break even
But not save

Thanks so much for the info. He needs to finalise exactly what that would cover- the company have stopped paying accomodation costs but I’ll get him to ask about schooling/cars/flights home/relocation costs etc.

Some jobs can be a bit sneaky it's worth finding out
For example, some teaching jobs can pay 2 payments
X salary
Y accommodation
The payment is split and the end of service gratuity is just off salary payment not off accommodation.
Just check/triple check!

How have you come to school fees + accomodation being only 20k? Realistically you're looking at 7.5k for school fees and 15k (180k a year) for rental. You can do both cheaper of course and for some 35k would be an amazing salary. 180k for rental will get you a 2/3 bed apartment somewhere like the greens, or a 3 bed villa much further out.

Do they provide health insurance for you and the children?

Dubai is a great place but it's expensive. You can cope on 35k, but it won't be fun and you're likely not to be able to afford to travel much, or have long holidays in the UK (unless you have free accomodation in the UK and don't need car hire).

Things that are much more expensive than the UK are: utilities (even with the increases in UK prices), mobile phone contracts, children's after school activities, food (even with the increase in UK prices), most entertainment.

It would be challenging and rents have rocketed. We moved out of a house in Nov 2022 and the next tenant paid 45k a year more than we were paying. Our house now is a 3 bed and it's 200k a year, paid in one instalment. Apartments are cheaper especially if you look at areas such as Town Square, Sports City, Motor City. Will you have to pay for medical insurance for you and the DC? The company only have to pay for DH. Will you have to pay visa costs for you and DC? Have you got enough savings to get you through the first six months? E.g. car rental is minimum 1500/month. School fees vary but a decent UK curriculum school for primary age will be 45-50k a year at the very least.

Also, everywhere has lots of expats - do you mean western expats? British expats? We never lived anywhere that we weren't surrounded by people from all over the world.

Thanks for all the replies it’s really helpful! Sadly not as lucrative as it originally sounds. We aren’t trying to have a mega lifestyle but certainly don’t want to move and be worse off.

Far too low if you have to pay school fees. Rents are currently very high for anyway half decent too.

Join British Expats Dubai on Facebook for the best advice and info about Dubai.

@Meowandthen if school fees were covered would it be realistic for rent and living expenses?

Possibly but only if you live somewhere cheaper.

Also, you asked about expat areas. Dubai is 85% expats and Emiratis are a small minority.

This is the link for the FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/BritishExpatsDubai

That's similar to what I earn and it's just me and my partner. He earns around 10k AED. We are comfortable but deffo not flush, still need to scrimp and save a little here and there.

Update- he has been offered another job which is 58,000 aed/month. Would this be do-able?
It's so hard online as theres so much info and the estimates are wildly different. His offer is as is with no extras for schooling, accomodaton etc though obviously his Visa and health insurance is covered. What do you think?

Much more doable (all depends on how much you want to save now - completely possible to live assuming you don't plan to be jetting off on holiday business class all the time). I would strongly recommend he moves first and you don't move until he's completed probation / is sure the job is stable and is something he's happy to do long term. It's very expensive to move a family out and back again if things don't work out, and it would mean you've lost the UK school places. You could aim that you move with the kids at the end of August for the new school year (apply for school places asap though). This assumes that it's a company he doesn't know well - different ball game if he's relocating with his current employer for example.

Get pricing for health insurance for you and the kids - my instinct is it will cost around 30k a year for good health insurance (assuming no pre-existing conditions). If there's anyway to either get his employer to cover this, or for his employer to allow you to buy into his employer's scheme (usually much cheaper) you should go for that, but it's not always possible.

FYI you're still looking at villa a decent way out of town for that salary if you want to save. I'd look at the new Dubai British School in Mira that's due to open in September. Mira is a great community.

Note I really would not go for Marina as a family. Great as a tourist but it's full of tourists and young adults without kids. Some people love it but you're paying a premium to live in a location with lots of bars and restaurants that realistically you won't be using much with two young kids.

I didn't want to read and run!
58K AED (13k GBP) is a great salary.
The real Q is accommodation and school.
A 2/3 bed is very likely to cost, in rent, 230k AED (60k GBP) and schools, 100,000 AED (20k+) per year

This is why 'packages' can be better than salary jobs- accommodation + schools + health and a lower salary

@GotMooMilk

Any update on the move? I'm considering moving with my husband on a similar salary but no kids. But scared that it might not be enough.

'Enough' isn't an easy question to answer as it depends what you're on now, but AED 58k will allow you to lead a very good life style as a couple.

35K AED/month is doable but tight, especially with school fees. Many expat families in your range consider areas like Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Village Circle, or even MBR City, which has some upscale, family-friendly options. You might want to check out Keturah Reserve, a new development designed for wellness-focused living—great for families looking for a premium yet serene environment.