# Salary/package and cost of living advice



## HKGWEILO (May 9, 2018)

Hi,
I have just been offered a job in Dubai which is offering 770,000 AED per year.
Family medical is included as our return flights to the UK for the family once per year.
My wife and I have 3 children and a dog. 
I have done some rough calculations but it would be good to get some advice on whether the package offered will be enough to cover:

4-5 bedroom villa 
Good schools for all 3 children (1 primary, 2 at secondary)
2 cars
Maid
Activities for the kids and entertainment for the family (tennis club?)
We would also like to be able to save around 200K AED per year.

I have some ideas re accommodation costs and believe I can find a nice 4-5 bedroom villa for around 160-180K per year.
For schools, we would prefer an international school which follows an English curriculum (GCSE or IB). I've heard that the costs can vary a lot depending on the school. My budget for all 3 children is around AED 200K per year. Could I get all 3 of them into good schools or will I need to increase the budget?
Any advice will be much appreciated!
Thanks!


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## macs30 (May 6, 2018)

Dubai can be very expansive, but all depend on your life style. Many people have even a higher salary but after couple of years they run away from debts. 
I am not having a luxurious lifestyle, but in two we spend around 150k per year of fresh money, housing excluded. Sorry I can't help with the school cost.
Anyway, on top of everything just consider that not all medical insurances cover the full cost, and healthcare is crazy expansive without having a high standard (or quality, call it as you prefer).


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## laurent1984 (Oct 26, 2015)

Villa: 160-180 000. Add 5% deposit and 5% commission the first year. 
Savings: 200 000
School: 200 000 
That leaves you, in the best-case scenario, with 17 500 a month.
2 cars: Starting 2000 a month for cars that can accommodate your family. 
Maid: between 1500 and 4000 for and in-house maid I think. 35-40 dhs/hour otherwise. Let’s assume you want an in-house maid, you’ll also have to sponsor her, get her a medical insurance and a flight ticket once a year and pay for that on top of her salary.
If you get an in-house maid (for let’s say 2500), that leaves you with 11 000 a month for groceries, DEWA, entertainment, travel, clothing, etc. 
So IMO you will end up saving less than 200 000 a year.


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## ThunderCat (Oct 28, 2015)

The package will cover the above yet without saving anything.


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## Phoebecat90 (Apr 18, 2016)

It depends on your lifestyle to be honest...


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## HKGWEILO (May 9, 2018)

Thanks for your advice!


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## HKGWEILO (May 9, 2018)

Thanks for your great advice Laurent. I think you are definitely right that we won't save much money, especially in the first year. By the way, I have a question regarding some of the set up costs.
Regarding rent, there is 5% commission and 5% deposit. I assume this is paid immediately. I understand that I will then have to write some post-dated cheques (around 4 per year/1 every 3 months). Once I sign the lease, do I have to pay for the first 3 months' rent in advice or will my cheque be post-dated for the end of month 3? 
I have already looked into school fees and they are payable in advance for each term. That is quite a big outlay! 
Re cars, you mentioned it's about AED2000 per month, per car including insurance. Will I have to pay deposit or any other upfront costs? 
How about DEWA? Do you know what upfront costs are required for this?
Any advice on other initial set up costs will be much appreciated as I want to prepare as much as I can!
Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

HKGWEILO said:


> Thanks for your great advice Laurent. I think you are definitely right that we won't save much money, especially in the first year. By the way, I have a question regarding some of the set up costs.
> Regarding rent, there is 5% commission and 5% deposit. I assume this is paid immediately. I understand that I will then have to write some post-dated cheques (around 4 per year/1 every 3 months). Once I sign the lease, do I have to pay for the first 3 months' rent in advice or will my cheque be post-dated for the end of month 3?
> I have already looked into school fees and they are payable in advance for each term. That is quite a big outlay!
> Re cars, you mentioned it's about AED2000 per month, per car including insurance. Will I have to pay deposit or any other upfront costs?
> ...


Hi,
It’s the setup costs that can be very high.
I estimate that you will need a minimum of 150,000 to 200,000 AED set aside to get setup in the first few months.
You are going to need around 90,000 for three kids school fees and uniforms for 1st term.
Around 75,000 for 1st rent cheque plus deposit plus and agents commission.
There will also be visa fees for wife and kids (unless company are paying these), mobile phone SIMs or contracts, DEWA connection, Salik for the cars, Car hire, driving licences and eye tests.
If you buy a car from a dealer - you can fund up to 80% of the purchase price through finance - but need to pay the 20% deposit yourself. 
We did not save a penny in the first year!
Cheers
Steve


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## HKGWEILO (May 9, 2018)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> It’s the setup costs that can be very high.
> I estimate that you will need a minimum of 150,000 to 200,000 AED set aside to get setup in the first few months.
> You are going to need around 90,000 for three kids school fees and uniforms for 1st term.
> ...


Hi Steve, 
Thanks for your quick reply and advice. I am starting to worry about whether I've made the right decision now ;-)
Re initial rent, are you saying that I will have to pay up to 3 months plus deposit and fees in advance (in month 1)?
I thought the agencies/landlords accepted post dated cheques...
Thanks!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

HKGWEILO said:


> Hi Steve,
> Thanks for your quick reply and advice. I am starting to worry about whether I've made the right decision now ;-)
> Re initial rent, are you saying that I will have to pay up to 3 months plus deposit and fees in advance (in month 1)?
> I thought the agencies/landlords accepted post dated cheques...
> Thanks!


Hi,
The first rent cheque is normally current dated, the other three are post dated.
Agents fees and deposit are paid with current dated cheque or cash.
That’s why your initial startup costs (with three kids) will be so high.
In the past - it was the whole 12 months rent up front!
More recently 4 or more cheques are often accepted.
Cheers
Steve


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## usual_suspect (May 13, 2018)

Hi 
to continue the conversation about the setup costs, what would be the best way to bring the money (EUR) and exchange it?
A normal bank transfer for 30K EUR will incur a large fee. 
Any recommendations?


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## UKMS (Jan 9, 2017)

usual_suspect said:


> Hi
> to continue the conversation about the setup costs, what would be the best way to bring the money (EUR) and exchange it?
> A normal bank transfer for 30K EUR will incur a large fee.
> Any recommendations?


Might depend where you are transferring from ? 

Personally if my bank wanted to charge a large fee they wouldn’t be my bank ..... exchange rate is the issue for me rather than fees but you need to balance that against the security of the transfer I tend to stick with my main bank for large transfers I then know it will arrive. ..... you can of course bring up to 100,000 aed into the country without declaration.


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## usual_suspect (May 13, 2018)

UKMS said:


> Might depend where you are transferring from ?
> 
> . ..... you can of course bring up to 100,000 aed into the country without declaration.


I will transfer from Germany. Is there any other service (I saw something called transferwise) that are recommended other than a bank to bank transfer?
Good to know that I can bring in as AED into the country.


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## UKMS (Jan 9, 2017)

usual_suspect said:


> I will transfer from Germany. Is there any other service (I saw something called transferwise) that are recommended other than a bank to bank transfer?
> Good to know that I can bring in as AED into the country.


Not used them myself supposed to be an option ...... assuming they are regulated in Germany ?


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

I would consider bringing 100k in cash (or whatever large cash amount) an absolute nuisance to have to worry about. It's not a crime free country, whatever anybody might say.
You won't be able to open a proper bank account with a cheque book until you have your residency visa sorted. Could you not sort out the majority of the transfer then via internet banking? Most things can't be done here anyway without the residency visa, EID and bank account. That includes: renting a property (hotel apartment is fine with just the passport), registering children in schools, registering Ejari and DEWA etc.


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