# Looking for real life experiences of people on approx 15000AED monthly salary



## mevans

Hi guys,
New to the site and new to the idea of moving to the UAE, so I am looking for some further info from people in the know.
Ill let you know a bit about me first, may as well make this my intro post as well as a question!

My name is Mat, I am 25 years old, married with 2 kids and about to leave my current employer.
I have been offered a logistics position with a well known aerospace company working out of Dubai for the first year of the contract and then moving to the international airport in Abu Dhabi after that.

I will be working for a salary of approx 200000AED(annual) plus benefits (of which they have not broken down yet, so I have no idea what I would be getting!)

Can I ask whether those of you on approx the same salaries find it a comfortable existence or a struggle in the UAE? Also what benefits packages do you get and do they come close to covering what they are supposed to?

I have been told that I will get a housing allowance, car allowance, schools allowance(not that I need it just yet, as the kids are 1 and 2!) and a one off relocation allowance.

I currently earn £24000 in the UK(136000AED) and we live comfortably, but housing etc I believe is considerably more expensive in the UAE.

I spent four months in Qatar last year and loved it, so hopefully would not get a culture shock on the move to the UAE, assuming that is they are roughly the same kind of country!

Any help/info you could give me would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Mat


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## dizzyizzy

Hi Mat and welcome to the forum,

The salary may not be enough for a young family and depending on how big the schooling allowance is, you could be in trouble once the kids start school unless the expense is 100% covered.

You must find out exactly how much all the allowances are before making a decision (could be for example that your housing allowance could be huge and you end up paying less of that in rent therefore pocketing some of the money). But don't make a decision until you have all the information.


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## Moe78

Yes this depends greatly on what expenses will they include. Your kids will be the most expensive part here as schooling is not cheap. You can live on 16k a month, I have seen it happen BUT not when you have to pay for tuition as well.


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## Elphaba

mevans said:


> Hi guys,
> New to the site and new to the idea of moving to the UAE, so I am looking for some further info from people in the know.
> Ill let you know a bit about me first, may as well make this my intro post as well as a question!
> 
> My name is Mat, I am 25 years old, married with 2 kids and about to leave my current employer.
> I have been offered a logistics position with a well known aerospace company working out of Dubai for the first year of the contract and then moving to the international airport in Abu Dhabi after that.
> 
> I will be working for a salary of approx 200000AED(annual) plus benefits (of which they have not broken down yet, so I have no idea what I would be getting!)
> 
> Can I ask whether those of you on approx the same salaries find it a comfortable existence or a struggle in the UAE? Also what benefits packages do you get and do they come close to covering what they are supposed to?
> 
> I have been told that I will get a housing allowance, car allowance, schools allowance(not that I need it just yet, as the kids are 1 and 2!) and a one off relocation allowance.
> 
> I currently earn £24000 in the UK(136000AED) and we live comfortably, but housing etc I believe is considerably more expensive in the UAE.
> 
> I spent four months in Qatar last year and loved it, so hopefully would not get a culture shock on the move to the UAE, assuming that is they are roughly the same kind of country!
> 
> Any help/info you could give me would be much appreciated.
> 
> Many Thanks
> 
> Mat


Hi Mat

Best to be frank with you. Quite simply you will find it very tight for a family of four unless your accomodation and the children's school fees are fully covered by your employer. You _must_ get these items written into your contract.

Take a look at the sticky thread in the Dubai forum aabout things you need to know and read before posting for further info. Bear in mind however, that accommodation in AD is more expensive than in Dubai.

Good luck.


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## mevans

Elphaba said:


> Hi Mat
> 
> Best to be frank with you. Quite simply you will find it very tight for a family of four unless your accomodation and the children's school fees are fully covered by your employer. You _must_ get these items written into your contract.
> 
> Take a look at the sticky thread in the Dubai forum aabout things you need to know and read before posting for further info. Bear in mind however, that accommodation in AD is more expensive than in Dubai.
> 
> Good luck.


Thanks to all for the input so far, much appreciated. They have said they will confirm exact allowances during the final interview and job offer.
I will probably end up living outside of AD and commuting as I prefer to have more property for the money than location. Dependant on allowances, think we will definitely make a go of the UAE and hope to see you all there in about 6 months time!


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## CarlZA

mevans said:


> Thanks to all for the input so far, much appreciated. They have said they will confirm exact allowances during the final interview and job offer.
> I will probably end up living outside of AD and commuting as I prefer to have more property for the money than location. Dependant on allowances, think we will definitely make a go of the UAE and hope to see you all there in about 6 months time!


If you will have your own transport, you can opt to stay in Khalifa City A. Property is very inexpensive compared to the island (Abu Dhabi). PS - IF you opt to go for own transport - get Emirates ID ASAP when you arrive! Can not get license transfer / application without it now.

As for the rest of the comments: AED 15 000 a month will cut it very fine - unless your allowances allow for the most critical - housing and tuition.

Rents here vary from AED 100 000 to AED 200 000 depending on what you are after. And it must be paid upfront for 3,6 or 12 months. Predominantly 6 or 12 months is required.


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## mevans

Thanks for all the comments so far. Well, the housing and education allowances will more than cover the rent and school fees and the car allowance will cover half of the car lease. So it looks like we may well be moving to the UAE at some point this year, interview dependant of course!


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