# Thinking about moving



## Nbloke1 (Sep 12, 2015)

hi all

Been thinking about maybe moving to Dubai main reasons being more money, guaranteed sun, always things to do, good work-life balance(?) and opportunities for my 2 children who will be sitting GCSEs in 2016. Wife is a qualified level 3 teaching assistant. We all currently live in the North of England.
Jobs for myself start at 45k aed per month and is much in need.
We are active family and like to eat out 3 nights a week.
I'm just wondering if you can give me a taster for what life could be (especially financial savings potential)? I'll probably push for 50k a month but could you base it on 45k first. Oh we also have a small dog who requires grooming every two months. I would like to live near the centre but ideally quiet of road noise. Car I don't care about the model and don't necessarily need a 4x4, small and fast is fine but mainly reliable. 
Also is maid services good?
And furniture prices, it'll be a three bed home.
Maybe expat areas to start with.

I would move there first to settle in, maybe 3 months firstly.

Thank So! Northern bloke and family!


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Honestly, if you have two children that are so close to finishing school, leave them in the UK to finish and do so. Education is not the same here and waiting lists for schools are looooooong. Also unless the company you join is giving you financing for schools, that is going to eat up a lot of your salary before you even get to anything else like rent, cars etc. 

I would say school consideration should be your first priority before you consider anything.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
You have many questions - most of which will be answered if you take some time to read the "sticky situation" topics at the top if the Dubai section along with using the excellent search facility.
Yours is a well trodden path - so the answers are there by the bucket load!
Cheers
Steve


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## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

Nbloke1 said:


> good work-life balance(?) a


#Simpsons #work #hard #play #hard Vine Video


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

Nbloke1 said:


> guaranteed sun,


Not today it isn't, you won't need these ===>


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
It is certainly mostly hot and humid - from April to October.
Clear blue skies are not common - especially in the summer months.
It is often hazy - mixture of fine dust, heat haze, ozone and air pollution.
Cheers
Steve


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

and you can get a sandstorm inland out of nowhere like today


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

Thursday evening I drove through two quite distinct and separate dust storms between DAFZA and JVC - weird, with clear air between them.

But not as bad as some of those freaky *orange* ones.


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## tcs (Sep 10, 2015)

Chocoholic said:


> I would say school consideration should be your first priority before you consider anything.


So true.


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## Balla Boy (Jan 3, 2015)

Your 45k a month is 540,000 a year. 

Of that, you're looking at at least 180k for rent (plus agency fees and deposit in year one - so call it 200-220k.) That will get you a reasonable 3 bed villa without a pool. There are cheaper ones available, but depending on where you work you'll travel more. 

2 kids going into school at that age will cost a fair chunk - could be 85,000 a year per child if you went with Gems in Al Khail, for instance. Education for older kids is particularly expensive.

That's somewhere in the region of 350,000 for housing and schooling, I'd say. 

That will leave you with 15,000 a month on your hip. Utilities will cost you around 2,500 of that. A car on HP will cost you another 1,500 - 2,000.

10,000 AED per month is livable, but you won't be eating out 3 nights a week by any stretch. And that's assuming you have family cover in your healthcare policy. If you have to pay for your family (from what I've been quoted) you're looking at about $8,000 a year. 

Your wife won't earn much, unfortunately. My wife has just started work as a teaching assistant, and to be honest if she didn't want something to do we probably wouldn't have bothered in cash terms. You're talking about 5,000 AED a month (ish). You'll get a marginal reduction in school fees if she works at the school your kids go to, and she'll get healthcare if she's not covered by your policy. It's a section of the economy that draws heavily on the Philippines. 

Basically, I'd say that with kids at the age yours are a year out from GCSEs moving them is likely to be expensive, and that the salary you've suggested will allow you to live reasonably comfortably, but not the sort of "Dubai lifestyle" that people assume you get here.


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## Racing_Goats (Sep 5, 2015)

Balla Boy said:


> Your 45k a month is 540,000 a year.
> 
> Of that, you're looking at at least 180k for rent (plus agency fees and deposit in year one - so call it 200-220k.) That will get you a reasonable 3 bed villa without a pool. There are cheaper ones available, but depending on where you work you'll travel more.
> 
> ...


This is pretty comprehensive summary but it's definitely possible to rent a cheaper house/apartment and find cheaper schools than 85k per child per year.. (or better still a company that will cover fees - 45k and 'in demand' sounds like PM in construction/engineering or same sort of level in another industry: apply to MNCs or government entities as benefits are often better).

If it's a good move for you depends on priorities - families can have a great life here for a lot less than you suggest you can earn if you're not daft or frivolous, but it's also easy to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a fun weekend with kids or night out with the missus. Kids' hobbies and activities add up a lot too. 

All about choices - a day at a nice beach club for family of 4 can cost you 100-150 quid just to get in the door vs. free public beach with your own towels and a cool box for under a fiver for juice and ice and maybe a parking meter..

Aed 45k/month is a nice life here in the sun (mostly!), probably not a luxury one with zero cash flow issues and tons of savings.

Good luck!


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