farthestpoint

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 26 March 2014 - 06:38

I also would like to be very frank with you that to survive in 22K would be a struggle. Maybe some do, but I could guarantee you that probably they are living with debts and no savings. Why be here then? I track down our household's monthly expenses in detail although I do not have to ( we still save together big bulk of our income, we both work ) but I could guarantee you that some months it could shoot up to 60K! In normal months, 30K. That's not even considering housing, DEWA school fees, car, petrol, and medical as it is all paid for. And that's us living a simple life, bringing our food at work, literally no expense during the week, just weekend spends. But yes, we do love good food and it is very expensive here. We're also a family of 4 + 2 housemaids. On the other hand, when we were just a couple with a child + 1 housemaid, our expenses were never below 15K ( + 16K for the villa, + 3K DEWA monthly). If you would work as a teacher, say you will bring in AED 10K additional, that's 32K which is doable, but then again you would need to hire a full time help, will need bigger house which means bigger expenses and on it goes. On the other hand, majority of the people here still live in a salary that is much less than yours but they share apartments, has a relative who takes care of their child or rent part of their villas / apartments to relatives and friends bringing their expenses down as food and utilities are shared as well. Their children go to schools that are reasonably cheap. They are all very much used to a hard life and are in way better conditions here than back in their home country. The little money they save could equate to big amount when sent home. It could buy them good land back home, good future. This is the most important aspect of it all. Will moving here give you a better future career wise and financially? It's a difficult decision to make. It would have been easier when you are young and single, take a leap of luck, not caring in the world. I did that and it did pay off in the end. I did live here in a AED 2, 700.00 monthly salary. It's possible but you literally belong to the bottom of the society. That was 12 years ago.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 25 March 2014 - 10:40

There's a uniform shop at Spinneys Umm Suquiem. Normally the maid's uniforms are very thick material and not 100% cotton for the top ( which is important if they are carrying my child ), colours are horrible too but you could customise. What I did is chose one of the school fabrics for the top uniform to replicate the make of the blouse (big double pockets are important if they are taking care of small child, it's handy for milk bottles, toys, etc) and use the original material for the pants. When you customise, always remember to bring the maid with you and get the proper size that they could freely move ( not too tight, not too big). They will measure them there. I always take the light blue (sky blue) / white stripes for the top and plain sky blue for the bottom as I cannot see them wearing other colours but it's a very personal choice. Giving them uniform has many advantages: - The process of wearing the uniform prepares them mentally that they are going to their "work place" - They will not have to spend money on their own clothes that they will wear daily - They look more professional - They know that when they are in uniform, they are on duty We paid AED 1,400.00 for ours 2 x 6 sets each. <em>edited by farthestpoint on 25/03/2014</em>

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 25 March 2014 - 04:34

My dirty clothes comes back in my closet crisp and clean the following day, 2 days at most. Never heard a single complain from DH. On the down note, I just end up wearing the same favourite ones all the time as it's always there on top of the pile! Too lazy to dig in.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 21 March 2014 - 15:52

Yes Ladies, I did exaggerate by saying it is a breeze, because it definitely isn't, otherwise, we wouldn't have 2 in our home. However, what I was trying to say is, we give a lot of attention to the conditions of housemaids here whereas the truth of the matter is that there are other profession who does similar sacrifices. Say, a secretary, who needs to be at work by 8 am will have to get ready from 6 am because she needs to line up with the use of toilet (2 common toilets in a 4 bedroom flat, 1 in masters bedroom which is paid for at higher rent), to catch the metro and the bus and walk a bit if need be, reach the office at 8, spends 10.6 hours in the office, leave the office at 7/7:30pm, takes the bus, metro and walk a bit. Reach home at 9/10pm, prepares her dinner, sleep. Sometimes they go out, most of the time they don't. 5 days a week. On their day off, they wash and iron their clothes, rest, go to the park or the mall, meet their friends. With their salary averaging AED 3 - 5K a month, if they are not careful, they end up in huge debt. Now take my 2 housemaids scenario. One starts at 6 am. My husband and I wakes up the same time. I prepare the children snacks and lunch box, my housemaid no. 1 gives them a bath and get them ready for the nursery, my husband drops them at the nursery. At 7:30am, the kids are out of the house. I eat my breakfast that I prepared myself, get ready and go to the office. At 1 pm, I collect the kids from the nursery, housemaid no. 2 starts at 11am, there will be 2 of them to take the kids from me when I drop them home. Kids go for a nap until 3 pm. By 7/8pm my husband and I will reach home. Housemaid no. 1 is resting already as she finishes at 6. My husband or I prepares quick dinner, eat, take over the kids after housemaid no. 2 ready them for bed time. I take one the 1 year old, my husband takes the 3 year old, read stories, then switch so we both spend quality time with them equally. My housemaid no. 2 is resting by then. In the middle of the night, if one of the kids wake up, I do wake up to tend for them. In general, I wake up once or twice a night. One thing's for sure, none of my housemaid will dare see me as doing less than them or would dare talk to me with disrespect. I need my 2 days off because that's the only time I could rest and spend quality family time without having to worry about the dishes or dirty clothes. They do have one day off every week but then they do rest more than me during weekdays. So when I said a breeze, I probably didn't exaggerate much if it is to compare to my schedule. edited by farthestpoint on 21/03/2014 edited by farthestpoint on 21/03/2014 <em>edited by farthestpoint on 21/03/2014</em>

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 21 March 2014 - 12:17

Mine also works 5 days a week, I don't understand how some expats make their maids work 6-7 days a week where as we would never accept those terms in our own job. The maid will be happy and you will have the house to your family. Because my husband and I works full time and comes home at 7/8 pm daily as our jobs demands it Because we do have 2 toddlers (3 & 1) and I am currently 8 months pregnant (and yes I do come home that late even at 8 months heavy belly) Because other families' needs and situation are different than yours I would presume more than 60% of the workforce here gets only a day off. By UAE labour law, it's 48 hours a week excluding breaks which, if you would calculate at 5 working days, 2 days off, will give you 9.6 hours a day, say you're taking 1 hour break, that's 10.6 hours a day. Some companies give a day off, staff works less hours a day. That's office job I am talking about. Take the service / retail and it is 54 hours a week. That makes a housemaid job a breeze, with far better living conditions than those in the office who lives 20 people in a 4 bedroom flat at AED 600 a month because that's all they could afford. Saying this, we do have 2 housemaids at home. They both have their own independent room, 37 inch TV, internet connection and TFC subscription specially taken for them. No, they don't have 2 days off, and they know the bounderies which they won't dare cross, but that's all part of our deal. They are lovely and they do make our life much better. <em>edited by farthestpoint on 21/03/2014</em>

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 22:38

They have it at Spinneys Umm Suquiem, real and veggie option available. Going to Burns Night on the 31st in Abu Dhabi.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 23 January 2014 - 22:33

Get her the employment visa. Give her the original copy. Go to any tourism agency. Book a return flight, yes Kish or Oman, the same plane she goes with, she'll be back with. She doesn't need a visa as she is not leaving the airport. She'll present her employment visa at Dubai Airport. End of story. And nobody duped you, that's actually what agency charge for tourist visa + 1 way ticket from Manila to Dubai.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 20 September 2013 - 07:47

Ladies I need your help. I've checked everywhere and I can't seem to find the Maclaren Twin. We're travelling with 2 youngsters this Nov and I'll be 5 months pregnant by then. Would need to be able to manoeuvre the kids + hand luggage. We previously bought a single lightweight one from Babyshop but they don't have the brand anymore. Any info would be a great help! Thanks in advance.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 21 January 2013 - 01:21

My husband who came from a divorced family background couldn't have said it better when faced with his parent's divorce process "I have only one mum and one dad. If you have something bad to say about my mum, I don't want to hear it. The same goes for my dad." Only then I understood how painful it is for a child to undergo such a thing, however, it is even more painful to hear damaging things about your parents from your own parents. My husband is a wise man, even wiser now because of his experience. There is no need to disrespect each other in front of your children, I think. Your differences as a couple could probably best handled between the two of you. It's probably easier said than done... I hope that whatever happens, happens for the good of everyone.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 20 November 2012 - 14:46

Dr. Luthra took care of me with my first and second pregnancy. I can highly recommend her. She's at Medcare Al Wasl. However, she is not everyone's cup of tea. If you are sensitive and it is of high importance to you to be heard of, then you might find it difficult to deal with her. On the otherhand, if you are looking for somebody who is well experienced, professional and could command well in terms of emergency & distress, then I could say that I had seen her capabilities with two difficult deliveries I had. She's very strict in weight gain and I personally think it is for the right reasons. I've almost had C-section but she tried hard to get them out normally. I must say I am thankful for that.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 30 June 2011 - 00:01

Wow, that's expensive! moneyplant, there are a wide array of resources available in the net and I suggest that you try doing self-study first. Depending on what you would really like to achieve out of it? If you would like to be a freelance web designer, have you considered the other ones that are doing the same thing for AED 1K with free hosting? I might be exaggerating but this is something to put a note on. There are also thousands of available freelancers on the net that basically offer remote services. Is it worth what you will spend on courses for this? If you could get your hands with Adobe Dreamweaver / Flash / Photoshop, this will be a good start. If I have some spare time (which most of the time I don't), I could coach you on some things you would like to know (for free). One good start, however, I am not sure if they accept non-Filipino -- is the Filipino Computer Club UAE (just google it). This is ultimately for the service of Filipino community in the UAE and they charge a very small fee (like AED 500 or something like that I am not sure) to teach you the basics. Then there are continuous and specialized programs if you would like to learn further because you can divert from knowing the principle behind it -- to learning the software that could assist you in web development. Afterwards, if it still interest you, you could go on further in learning about web programming, search engine optimization, e-commerce, etc.. The list goes on and on for this depending on which way you would like to head.

62

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 24 June 2011 - 00:00

We spend between 1K - 1.5K in a week for a family of 4 adults (that includes the maid) + a baby for fresh items bought at Spinneys and about AED 1,000 monthly for dry items such as cleaning materials, toiletries, nappies etc and spices at Carrefour If you want to eat well, it is quite expensive. However, if you see the quality difference between the fresh food at Carrefour and that of Spinneys/Waitrose....then that makes it reasonable. We used to buy SMA for our baby's first milk and it cost a whopping AED 50 for 1 x 400g. Fortunately he's not compatible with it as he's having constipation. <em>edited by farthestpoint on 24/06/2011</em>

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