Chaletfan

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 04 November 2015 - 13:37

We're happy at Brighton College. Other well regarded British schools include BSAK and Al Yasmina. For IB try Raha. You really need to get on several waiting lists if you've not already done so as places are in short supply.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 04 November 2015 - 13:35

You will 'manage' on 40k but to live without worries you need to be nearer 50k all in. School can be anything up to 70k pa per child (ask for full fees, accept 50k per child) and accommodation is very expensive. Our monthly living costs are roughly the same as in the UK. Food is the same, electricity has been high because of the a/c but will start to go down now, children's activities are expensive, fuel is cheap but all cars are automatic so fuel economy isn't as good as we're used to.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 19 July 2015 - 18:59

Sunscreen is quite expensive so bring that - I think I've bought 6 bottles to ship out. Teabags if you like a certain brand. It can take a couple of weeks to locate them at a reasonable price. Cash as the exchange rate is better in AD. Lots of books if you're a big reader or download plenty onto a tablet beforehand. I find liquid soap quite strongly scented in AD so I took that over at half term, and bars of soap are more expensive than in the UK so that if you like a particular type. What sort of accommodation are you in to begin with as that may help people give more suggestions.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 23 June 2015 - 20:58

Just being nosy :) Have there been any developments? I think with two school going children you need to find school places then look for accommodation within travelling distance.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 23 June 2015 - 01:44

Are you taking it then?

15

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 19 June 2015 - 10:56

I would say no, but it will depend on your situation in the UK and the standard of living you currently have. I've posted on another thread, but I'll repeat the gist of it. When we were doing our sums before Christmas, I read that you need £8-10K per month for a reasonable standard of living. I don't know if that right, we're not all there yet, but it's a benchmark. Your offer is the equivalent of ~£75K pa which would put you in the top 10% of earners in the UK, but won't go as far in AD. As Buddha said, you'll struggle to keep within your housing allowance. We were hoping to spend no more than 150K AED pa and ended up at 175. We're a couple with an almost 8yo and wanted somewhere with facilities. I'd imagine with a toddler you'll want the same? School fees, you'll be paying 1000AED a month minimum if you're capped at 75%; we're on 'full' up to the cost of BSAK but lots of the newer schools are dearer than that. We found an online calculator somewhere which gave examples for three lifestyles and various family configurations. It was called something like 'is it worth it'. You put your figures in and it gives you a prediction of disposable income/deficit each month. Hope that helps. And sorry if I sound a bit negative, but there are lots of hidden costs as well. You need min £5K to relocate for a start.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 17 June 2015 - 22:45

When we did our costings at Christmas (my husband moved out in March and we're following next month), I read somewhere that you needed the equivalent of £8-10k per month, so 45-55k AED per month all in, to have a decent lifestyle. I've no idea if that still holds true. Accommodation is very expensive, way over most people's allowance as far as I can tell. School fees, ours say 'full' for up to 2 children, but it's capped at the cost of BSAK and lots of the newer schools are dearer. Also, you might be limited on places at this stage - we've not heard from 2 of the three schools we applied to and we've been on the waiting lists since Christmas. Are you shipping your furniture etc out? If so, you'll need a relocation allowance. As other folk have said there are a lot of upfront costs, and a lot of unexpected costs - getting documents attested/translated for a start then you'll probably have to buy a cooker and curtains for your accommodation, hire a car until your visa is sorted, stock up your kitchen cupboards from scratch, etc.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 17 May 2015 - 19:37

My husband also works at EY. Most of us live in Al Reef, Al Raha Beach and the KCA area. Staff housing is almost impossible to get and EY didn't renew one of their major housing locations so most people are having to find their own accomodation. Yes, rent is paid in advance. EY will give you a housing allowance and pay the rent from that. If you rent under your allowance, they will give those funds to you in your monthly pay. If you go above the allowance (which a lot of people do), you have to have those additional funds at the time EY pays the rent to give to the letting agent. Ask for details of his offer for once you are married. They are quite good at breaking it all down. I'm really surprised - I expected them to have people on hand to help. I think we've been quite lucky with the amount of support DH has had - he's been taken pretty much everywhere he's needed to go. So if you're over your housing allowance, you have to pay the rest up front? Wow!

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 15 May 2015 - 19:38

Congratulations on your forthcoming marriage! My husband moved to a small company earlier in the year and they have been brilliant with support to get us settled. I'm sure Etihad will have procedures in place to do the same. Have they said whether they provide accommodation, or if there's an allowance, in which case you need to think whether you want to be on a compound or not, and if you prefer a villa or an apartment. You might feel you want to add to it to get somewhere bigger/where you want, or you might have other priorities. We're really looking forward to it - my husband is keeping a weekly blog, which is hilarious, and also means he can sort all the problems before we arrive in August :cool:

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 15 May 2015 - 19:17

Hello Bristol2AD! We're taking our furniture with us and sent some over fairly soon after my husband left. It has arrived this week and he should have it next weekend. Meanwhile, he's bought a camp bed from Ikea... I took sheets etc over when we went at Easter. Ikea is pretty much on a par with the UK and delivery is free. We quite like Indigo Living (not sure what the rules are about posting links) and it looks like they do rental if you need it. We've bought a dining table and chairs from there as we've never had a new dining table, always saying we'd have one when we moved house which we've not done in 19 years, and I'm not bringing the table we have with us. I'm not planning to work in the short term as we need to get our son settled and the house sorted once the furniture arrives but I'm a teacher so I'd like to work part-time maybe after Christmas. I don't know how that would be viewed though. My plan at the minute is to ship the furniture on the Monday after school breaks up, ship my son off to my mum's for a few days while I clean the house ready for the tenants and then fly out around the 30th July. Catxballou - have you got a school place for your daughter yet? And has your OH looked for a house/apartment? We found you needed to say 'yes' to something you liked pretty quickly as we looked at two on the same compound and one of them had gone when we rang to say yes the following day.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 13 April 2015 - 00:26

We are also moving in the summer. We applied to three schools as soon as we knew we were moving, over the Christmas holiday. One required an entrance test which was administered by my son's school last month and we've had an offer of a place. I've heard nothing from the other two but talking to a friend of a friend whose husband works at one of them, she thought we had zero chance of getting a place. Apply now with the information you've got - letter confirming employment, etc - and send the rest through as you get it.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 31 March 2015 - 16:33

My girls will be going into Year 5. It would be great if we could get together before school starts. Nice to know we aren't alone. That would be great. Are you going to visit before August? I've had a FB message from a friend of a friend today whose husband teaches at Al Yasmina. She recommends Muneera or Zeina at Al Raha Beach. It looks lovely but it's further to drive to school and the bus pick up is ridiculously early. She says a lot of Al Yasmina staff live at Al Rayyana.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 31 March 2015 - 16:07

Have you booked seats for the children? If not, I'd definitely look into it. We took our son to Dubai on holiday when he was 8 months and he travelled in his car seat strapped into a seat. It's so much better than having him/her on your lap for 6-8 hours, gives you more space and also means you've got the car seat unpacked and to hand at the other end (though getting on and off the plane is a bit of a palavar). You'll need to check the latest legislation (and probably print a copy off as they didn't know what to say to us the first time at the airport and it doesn't fit through the scanner) as we flew to Jersey last weekend and the stewardess wouldn't let DS sit in his booster seat, though I know Etihad and Emirates have allowed this in the past.

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 30 March 2015 - 15:54

Sorry I can't offer any practical help, but we are also moving end of July/beginning of August. Our son has a place in Year 4 at Brighton College - which year are your girls going into? We're going over for a week on Thursday and I have an appointment to view apartments in Al Rayyana. It would be good to know someone in a very similar situation bye:

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 30 March 2015 - 14:36

Hello! Thought I'd join in as we're moving at the end of July. My husband left on 13 March and the shippers have been today to take a small load so he can get settled in a house/apartment. We (7 year old son and I) are flying over for a week on Thursday - I've got an appointment to look at properties on Sunday. We've just been offered a place for our son for September at Brighton College so are looking for something reasonably convenient for that. We're not moving til the summer so he (and I) can finish the school year here.

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