SmartyJonesDXB

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 20 October 2016 - 23:24

Hi there DaisyDuke - The short answer is yes and no...It's all relative to what you make and what you can afford, just like any other place in the world: make more spend more; make less spend less. For us, (just my hubby and me) we are American so no matter what we "make" we must pay 45% back to the US in taxes. Others here keep what they make 100%. So that's a bonus for most expats. That said, we are compensated very well working here because cost of living/housing is much higher. Our housing including all utilies and his work vehicle/gas is paid for. But I can say this with all honesty (and not to sound snotty because I am far from that) but rather to make a point about spending. We don't budget at all. We eat out when and where we want, I take Pilates classes and shop the malls whenever I feel like it. We shop at all the local groceries, usually whatever store happens to be convenient at the time we are out. We go on movie dates, coffee dates, Girls/Boys night out and take mini vacations to RAK or do staycations every once in awhile. And I don't work. Adding up all of those things, when I looked at our monthly average spending here, it equated to roughly 5k USD per month (18,000 aed). That may be a lot to some people but not a lot to others. Again, it's all relative. But since you are asking "is 6k aed too much or alot to spend on food" with such a varied group of expats on the site, you are no doubt going to get a bunch of varied responses, depending on their own circumstances. So my response goes like this: I personally don't see why you cannot live off of 19k aed per month, when your housing is also covered. Unless you have high monthly vehicle expenses and high utilities and other expenses, then perhaps it could be a stretch. And yes, throw in school fees down the road like others mentioned and its gonna be very tight. But again, my response comes strictly from using our spending as a comparison, knowing we live a very comfortable life on 18k aed per month. Maybe you just need to track your overall spending for a few months to see where it all goes and what is important to keep and what can be cut back. Nobody but you and your hubby can figure that out. In the end, it may not be worth it financially to stay in Dubai if you are counting dihrams at each months' end. . Good luck to your family.

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SmartyJonesDXB

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 May 2016 - 18:36

Its a great question to ponder but one only you and your family can answer. Each person and situation here is unique. For us, we have been here for 7 years. I mean my husband has.worked here for 7. Prior to this last year, I have traveled back and forth from our 'dream home' in San Diego. My husbands company directly pays for all housing and car allowances so we have never considered buying anything here. No real need to. The RE market is not stable and we have heard horror stories from other investors and friends who bought here and with a country sorely lacking any legal recourse, it's not worth it to us to risk our money in this market. My husband is a resident, so we could if we wanted; we just wont. With our son out of college and out on his own, we actually SOLD our fancy dream home in San Diego this past January and now I gave up my real estate finance job and live here full time. With that decision came no debt, no liabilites and no stress anymore and I am happy to be here with my husband as just a 'housewife' full time with the freedoms to come, go and damn well do as I please. We figured we are here for maybe 4 more years at best and our goal all along, unlike some of our other spendthrift friends here, has been to bank and save as much as we can each month. So when that day comes when we move back to US or retire to another country of choice, we can have the freedom to either buy another place or rent a house and let someone else deal with the headaches. The investment we make each month, is in our complete freedom from any debt and a stress free lifestyle here and in the future. That's a huge value to us personally. It's why we agreed to come here in the first place. A 4 to 1 increase in annual salary means he can retire earlier. But if we just spend ourselves silly buying into a lavish lifestyle here complete with a big fancy new villa and sports cars, just to impress strangers, to us, it defeats the purpose of giving up our comfortable life in beautiful San Diego in the first place. That said...if a house here will make you happier and fill that void your feeling then it may be worth it to YOU. It's not always about the money, unless it is. Quality of life has to play a factor in the decison as well. But you also need to be willing to make a financial sacrifice if markets go down as expected or your jobs happen to end or change. Again its something only you and hubby can decide. For us, right now, we are living our dream. What are both your dreams worth? If its that dream house here in Dubai, then I say just go for it. Live those years happy and content because they are gonna keep passing either way you decide.

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