Is this enough salary to make the move???

I just checked our finances and the absolute minimum we could live on would be 14.5k - however this includes ONLY rent (and our rent is only 75k per year for a 2 bed apartment), bills, groceries, car loan payment, average car maintenance costs, petrol, phone, other transport costs (metro and taxis as we have 1 car). However this would only be in a desperate situation because that is only essential spending and would allow for absolutely no fun, clothes, house stuff, cleaner, holidays, hair cuts etc. This is for 2 adults, no children. So if we were paying 120k rent then our monthly minimum would be 18,250 for absolute essentials. I would say that it would be possible to manage on 30k but it would be very tight and it would be unlikely that you would be able to save. However if you were planning to work as well then you would be OK.

It really does depend on where you're from as well and what kind of lifestyle you're expecting and what lifestyle you've come from. I know a sri lankan family who is surviving on 8000AED a month (mum, dad and 2yo) but they live in a studio apartment, their child is not in school yet, and they seem to think they're on a pretty good deal. Just a basic calculation based on apartment living: 1. 3 Bed apartment 120'000 per year in 1-2 payments (this means you pay either the whole lot upfront or you pay the first half now and the second half in 6 months time) 2. DEWA: 16'000AED per year 3. School Fees for 2 children 70'000 (17500 is what you would be paying assuming the company pays 75%) per year (this is also a really rough estimate as school prices vary not only by school but by age group) 4. Car: 24000 per year for one rental car 5. Petrol: 12000 per year 6. Health Insurance for a family of four 20000 per year 7. Food: 48000 per year Just with that you're already around 20'000 AED per month and you may incur other expenses like, maid, second car, school expenses other than fees (uniforms, school trips, after school activities etc). Payments for many things have to be upfront, so you don't get to pay them off monthly, which can get expensive, although many companies offer to pay things upfront and you pay them back. Of course you can minimize your costs, for eg, you could get a 2 bedroom apartment for 60-70k, and have your children share a room. DEWA would then also half. You can rent a smaller car maybe, which again costs would be lower... health insurance may not be something you have to pay for if your company is covering that for the whole family, You may not spend as much on groceries, I have calculated at 1000AED per week... It is doable, and it would be enough for many people, but if it were for my family for eg, I wouldn't be able to save anything on that salary, but many others make do on far less..

I think it's only doable if your housing allowance is on top of this amount. You would need to negotiate at least 130,000K for housing in my opinion, plus you will need 5% deposit up front on all properties, in cash or available money. And as others have also mentioned there are lots of set up costs/deposits to pay when you get here. We came here with everything clear and a lump sum that we just shot through with deposits etc in the first few months. As someone has mentioned some companies say they will pay x% towards school fees but some do cap it - in our case we have a figure which they will contribute to every year for up to 3 children, however it is just under half what our school fees actually are. School also require you to pay a deposit/registration fee and all fees for the next term are payable in advance, no monthly payments - well not that I've experienced. Good luck with your decision, Dubai is a wonderful place to live but it is very expensive and one should never borrow to be able to live here, far too dangerous! But you can do it frugally ... believe me :-) <em>edited by cymraes on 01/02/2012</em>

I don't think so. 30K per month is not much for a family of 4, even if 75% of the schools fees are paid. Is there a cap on the amount the company will pay in fees? Where are you planning on living? If it's in an expat area, prices for a house tend to start at about 150K per year ( for a house big enough for 4). The there's the cars, Dewa, housing tax, Du or Etisalat, Entertainment etc. I think it may be possible but with little savings at the end of the month

Dubai is expensive depending on the area you stay, not forgetting the school fees and all the + + + above these...the 30,000 is not enough if you have kids. But then there are people who survive on a much much lesser salary...it all depends on your lifestyle too.

No - it's not.

This is a very difficult question to answer without knowing more about you and your expectations and lifestyle. Plenty people live on much less than that with more mouths to feed, and others couldn't last a week. There are just so many other factors involved. Yes Dubai is an expensive place to live, but where isn't these days? Agreed! It's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question. What sort of lifestyle do you want while you're there? What type of location and in what kind of area (beach, 'suburban', gated community with all the facilities, apartment, villa etc)? Depending on where you live, anywhere from 20-50% of that income will cover your rent, which you often have to come up with in advance for three, six or twelve months. Food - I know people do it cheaper, but we never got our groceries (family with three small children) for under 1000dhs per fortnight, and that was being very careful (by our Western standards). My son started school at one of the schools probably mid-range for fees, and we paid 22K for FS2/Prep. Where you live will probably be dictated by your preferred schools as travel time can be a nightmare. Cars and petrol are relatively cheap though. Much to consider before knowing how much money is 'enough'.

If 30,000 does not include housing it would be a little tough with a family of four.

This is a very difficult question to answer without knowing more about you and your expectations and lifestyle. Plenty people live on much less than that with more mouths to feed, and others couldn't last a week. There are just so many other factors involved. Yes Dubai is an expensive place to live, but where isn't these days?

Personally - If this doesnt include housing allowance then no, this isnt enough. Im a single woman, on slightly less than this figure, which includes my housing allowance and I struggle to live.

Having just moved to Dubai myself, I can give you an approximate idea about rental rates where I live(apartment) and few other places we scoped out. A 3 B/R with a nice sea-view in JBR costs between AED 120,000 - AED 150,000 per year. JBR is in Dubai Marina, which is one of the nice parts of the city(so far for me anyway :) ). Palm Jumeirah rents around 10-15% higher, Jumeirah Lake Towers which is across from Dubai Marina is a little lower. My 4.5 year old goes to Wellington International School, annual fees is around AED 42,000. Looking for a nursery for my little one, the nicer ones cost between AED 25000 all the way up to AED 40,000 per year !!!! Hope that helped a little bit :) , but obviously rentals can be much higher or much lower depending on area, number of bedrooms, etc.

30,000 is a lot of money! Do you get housing allowances? If yes, great. If not, you need to consider that a big chunk of that money might go to housing if you want to live in a decent area. Schools are not cheap. So make sure you check how expensive they are and how much you will be out of pocket for each child. Best of luck.