# Living expenses in Dibai



## Paul2371 (Jun 27, 2012)

After ploughing through the forum, I have come up with the following. Am I anywhere near?

Rent for 3 bed villa - 150000 per year
Living expenses (groceries for family of 4) - 2500 per month
Dining out/entertainment (once a week) - 2000 per month
TV/Internet + tax + Dewa - 1500 per month
Schooling for both kids (12 & 7) - 8750 per month
School expenses ( uniforms, trips etc) - 1000 per month
Misc expenses - 1000 per month

No savings allowed for in this but the above works out at 29250 AED per month and excludes any healthcare.

I would appreciate any feedback

Thanks all

Paul

By the way I meant to put Dubai! Lol


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## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

Hi Paul,

You can get a 3 bed villa for much less and still in a nice area the price will depend on whether you want to be central or on the outskirts close to the airport etc.

I can't comment on schooling having no children but everything else seems pretty spot on with the exception of TV/Internet/DEWA which you need to double.

Your TV/Internet will cost approx AED 500 per month and DEWA on the size of your villa including housing fees will range anything from 1k per month during the winter through to 3k per month during the summer depending obviously on your time spent in the villa with the AC on.


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## AK47 (Feb 16, 2012)

Paul2371 said:


> After ploughing through the forum, I have come up with the following. Am I anywhere near?
> 
> Rent for 3 bed villa - 150000 per year
> Living expenses (groceries for family of 4) - 2500 per month
> ...


I would up the groceries to around 6-7K/month. the rest you spot on, School expenses depends on the After school activities(ASA) that you choose for the little ones.


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## toneson (Jun 15, 2012)

What about a car? Factored that?


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## fischerj72 (Jun 27, 2012)

*Dewa?*

DEWA seems to include Electric and Water. What about Natural Gas? (Or is everything Electric?)

What is the average cost for Mobile Phone service?

How about Car Insurance?


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## tfernandes (Mar 10, 2010)

car insurance will cost you another 3000 - 4000 depending on the type of car you drive/


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

fischerj72 said:


> DEWA seems to include Electric and Water. What about Natural Gas? (Or is everything Electric?)
> 
> What is the average cost for Mobile Phone service?
> 
> How about Car Insurance?


Some people use propane cookers and that is overall cheap enough to get refills. Most people have electric only. 

Mobile phone will depend on your usage. Can use a 100 dirhams internet basic program or go up. You will find that because actually using the phone isnt very cheap on per minute rates, you wont talk as much as you will whatsapp/bbm. A lot of people walk around with two phones, and one of them being a bb because you can get the basic bb social package for 50 dirhams and get unlimited bbm on it, which many people in the uae use. I would suggest 200 dirhams if you tend to use your phone very little and just for net and texting. Get an online service (magic jack works here) for calls to and from home. 

Car insurance already answered.


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## Darkt (Jun 17, 2012)

tfernandes said:


> car insurance will cost you another 3000 - 4000 depending on the type of car you drive/


You mean 3000-4000 AED per annum?


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## Garth Vader (May 11, 2012)

AK47 said:


> I would up the groceries to around 6-7K/month. the rest you spot on, School expenses depends on the After school activities(ASA) that you choose for the little ones.


Depends where you shop... We're a family of four and sometimes our shopping can be as cheap as 600 per week, or as high as 1100. This is at LuLu's.

Avoid Spinneys and you'll be OK but I'd definitely allow for a little bit more in the food budget.


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Darkt said:


> You mean 3000-4000 AED per annum?


Yes. But generally budget 3-5% per annum of the value of the vehicle


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## AK47 (Feb 16, 2012)

Garth Vader said:


> Depends where you shop... We're a family of four and sometimes our shopping can be as cheap as 600 per week, or as high as 1100. This is at LuLu's.
> 
> Avoid Spinneys and you'll be OK but I'd definitely allow for a little bit more in the food budget.


My wife needs to speak to your wife


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

AK47 said:


> My wife needs to speak to your wife


Because men don't/can't do the shopping? :mmph:


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## AK47 (Feb 16, 2012)

Elphaba said:


> Because men don't/can't do the shopping? :mmph:


You see this is why I leave the small issues for my wife to do.... she makes the small decisions in our house like budget, where we live, which school the kiddies go to etc. I just agree to what she says.... 

I try and make the big decisions like, Like whether America should leave Afghanistan, sanctions should be lifted over Iran etc.


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## Lita_Rulez (Nov 4, 2010)

Paul2371 said:


> Rent for 3 bed villa - 150000 per year


Depending on where you want to live, it is attainable.



Paul2371 said:


> Living expenses (groceries for family of 4) - 2500 per month


My grocery shopping for a family of three (including an under 2 year old) is usualy between 600 and 800 per week in carrefour. With kids of 12 & 7, you'll avoid the recurring nappies/formula part of the list, and go up one portion on the rest, I think you might want to up the budget to 800 per week.
Obviously, if you muster the courage to go to the market, prices for produces will go down (I'm planing a trip this week end, to see if it's worth doing it on a regular basis), and if you only want organic produce it will significantly go up.

Now, to be fair, can you make it with a family of four on a 2500 AED budget ? Sure. You can probably even bring it down considerably, and still provide food for all 3 meals, seven days a week for all four of you.
It all depends how much effort you want to put into sourcing the produce, how varied you want your diet to be, and how much time you want to spend working with them.

My philosophy is the varied and lazy one.

(I did not say healthy )



Paul2371 said:


> Dining out/entertainment (once a week) - 2000 per month


It all depends what "dining out once a week" means for you. Is it a romantic dinner for two, or are you taking the kids ? Is it a fancy restaurant, or a TGIF ?
Have you considered the "Friday Brunch" as your weekly dining out ?

I believe this part is heavily undervalued for a family of four, since if you include brunch, a single brunch (and not the fanciest one at that) will most likely set you back about half of that amount at 200 AED a pop.
Of course, there is always the "voucher" route, and if you stick to the vouchers and coupons, you can eat out once a week for half the price 
It actually also makes the decision process easier, when you don't know where to go.




Paul2371 said:


> TV/Internet + tax + Dewa - 1500 per month


TV/Internet, as previously said, is covered with 500. DEWA however, for a 3 BR villa will definitely set you back more than a 1000 AED a month.



Paul2371 said:


> Schooling for both kids (12 & 7) - 8750 per month
> School expenses ( uniforms, trips etc) - 1000 per month


I am assuming you have allready contacted a school for the fee, so won't comment on that. Have you considered the pick-up and drop-off fees ? Are your kids going to need a nanny between end of school timings and you getting off of work ?



Paul2371 said:


> Misc expenses - 1000 per month


I'm assuming this is the balance on the package you are considering ?


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## transformer (Apr 25, 2012)

I am single and have been staying in Dubai for about 2 months.

My expenses for this month:

Accommodation 6500
Foods (eating out) 2000
Shopping. 6000 ( it's sales season and I just moved in, I don't expect I do the same every month )
Entertainment 1000
Transportation 1200 ( will soon get my own car and it is about 3k per month)
Dewa and Internet 500 ( I don't have the TV channels )
Cleaning service 400
Grocery 700.
Misc. 500

Total 18800.

I believe after this month, my monthly expenses would be about 14k. Since the housing is covered by the company and paid upfront, my cash out should be around 8k. I don live miserably nor Dubai lifestyle, but I am happy and comfortable as it is.  but well I need friends !!!


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## lazeon (May 30, 2012)

Hi Paul,
It all depends on the lifestyle you want to follow. I live in Dubai since 2002 and I have a family of three (son 6yrs old). My costs are as follows:
1. Housing - Villa 3bdr, Mirdiff, 100,000aed/yr - 8,334aed/month
2. House bills (water, electr etc) - 1,500aed/month
3. School fees - 40,000aed/yr - 3,334aed/month
4. School (uniforms, transportation) - 8,000aed/yr - 667aed/month
5. Grocery (Spinneys only) - 7,000aed/month
6. Car (one car, 100,000aed, 5yrs, at 5.5%) - 1,910aed/month
7. Transportation (insurance, registration, Salik, petrol, fines) - 3,400aed/month 
8. Going out (restaurants) - 4,000aed/month
9. Clothing - 1,500aed.month
10. Medical (premium insurance, others) - 2,090aed/month
11. Telephone - 1,500aed/month

I hope I didn't scare you!!


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

lazeon said:


> Hi Paul,
> It all depends on the lifestyle you want to follow. I live in Dubai since 2002 and I have a family of three (son 6yrs old). My costs are as follows:
> 1. Housing - Villa 3bdr, Mirdiff, 100,000aed/yr - 8,334aed/month
> 2. House bills (water, electr etc) - 1,500aed/month
> ...


Obviously it depends on the lifestyle, but seems like #7 is too high (you probably pay a lot of fines!), #8 is discretionary, #10 may not be required by all because the company covers it in a number of instances, #11 can be cut down by skype etc. #2 will be much lower for apartments, #5 can vary - we spend about 3K for a family of 3 (mostly Choithram's and Carrefour)


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## jbarry (May 20, 2012)

[Rent for 3 bed apartment - 180000 per year
Living expenses (groceries for family of 3) - 4000 per month
Dining out/entertainment (once a week) - 4000 per month
TV/Internet + tax + Dewa - 1000 per month
Schooling for kid) - Fortunately covered by employer but your on target
School expenses ( uniforms, trips etc) - 1000 per month
Misc expenses - 2000 per month

The above works out around 27,000 AED per month and excludes any healthcare.
You still havent bought a car for your wife or bought gas or done anything fun.

Honestly your a bit low

and personally I believe that you cannot find a decent expat villa anywhere near town for less than 200,000 AED now you have to add in traveling in from the desert like motor city, the Villa project, Falcon City or Arabian Ranches all of which you will not be able to find a villa for less than 200,000-225,000
It really depends on where you want your kids ot go to school, where you want to live and if you want to enjoy Dubai or just live here do your expat time and move on to the next destination. I think you have to fight hard to get the best you can from your employer. Ask for as much as you can and take what makes you happy.

Good news is that Dubai is a great place for families! The schools are great it is very safe and the people are very nice.
Good luck,
James


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## RT666 (Jun 30, 2012)

Hi all! Can I put our calculations on here to check they sound about right? 
We're a family of 4 (with a 3 year old and a 15 month old). 
Planning on a 2-bed apartment in The Greens/The Views with the boys sharing a room. (We're keeping our house back at home, so don't feel we need to have masses of space/rooms, plus will be covering mortgage etc back at home).
Car is lease hire (quoted by Hertz) and covers everything except fuel. We're planning on getting one car and husband taking taxi to and from work (unless we find that works out more expensive).
School costs are accurate. 
Internet/Phone/Broadband is from one of the providers websites.
Flights are current rate.
The rest is calculated/internet searching/guess work!

YEARLY COST (MONTHLY COST)

Schooling for W (3 x 1/2 days)	- AED 38,600 (AED 3,200)
Accommodation (unfurnished 2-bed in The Views)- AED 130,000 (AED 10,800)
DEWA - AED 2,400 (AED 200)
Housing fee (5% of rental)	- AED 6,500 (AED 540)
Internet, Phone, Broadband - AED 6,108 (AED 509)
Food - AED 24,000 (AED 2,000)
Car lease hire - AED 28,212 (AED 2,351)
Petrol (based on 10k miles a year) - AED 3,130 (AED 260)
Taxis to and from work for husband (est 60 AED/day, 231 days a year) - AED 13,860 (AED 1,155)
Flights home twice a year	- AED 18,454 (AED 1,538)
Agency Maid (4 hours/week) - AED 7,280.00 (AED 606)
Other spending (est £1,000/month) - AED 69,204 (AED 5,767)

TOTAL AED 354,259 (AED 29,521)

Does that all seem reasonable? We're working out our costs of living so we can see what sort of salary my husband needs to earn (and whether that's realistic for the work he does). We've also got costs back home but we know what they are so haven't listed them here.

Thanks for your help! :thumb:


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