I wish I had remembered....

All the food stuff is expensive here, even a bag of walkers crisp. LOL.

I wish I had brought a lot of Typhoo Tea bags as well.

Welcome..

Hi,

I am in the same boat, moving during the Eid holidays with my 9 year old son and husband. I decided to buy from here - Artwork for the new house (Large Banksy prints which would never fit my London home) ; unlocked iPhone (they are much cheaper on ebay here than in Qatar); Nice cuddly Throws from Costco ; some ikea storage for the kitchen and inside wardrobes (was tempted to buy bookshelves but decided to get them built there instead). Also Some high thread count bedding and nice set of towels.

I went to Qatar for a week last week and looked at the house so I could plan the "what to bring". Eventually I realised there are things that I will buy there rather than ship like the vaccuum and steam iron, simply because I will need these right away in Qatar and the shipping won't arrive for another 8 weeks. So you may want to factor that in when you decide what to ship. In things I have at home already, this is how I prioritised what to take or buy there.

I looked at flooring - the "fully furnished" villa we got has some hideous carpets - but the quote for laminate flooring in Qatar was £2.60 / sqm including installation - here it is self install and the min one finds is £4/sqm

I also managed to buy some nice curtains and lovely used antique chinese furniture off the Qatar Living site last week, it was surprisingly easy.. the man I bought it from hired a van and had it delivered to my home.

I went to HomeCentre and some of the other stores to do a price comparison - glassware, kitchen utensils etc. are really cheap there; candles, lamps decorative bits are much nicer and cheaper than here; it is cheaper to get stuff made and fabric is cheaper..

The main thing I am splurging on before I move is books, though - we are treating ourselves to "buy all you want" trip to the bookstore.

I had read in another post not to underestimate the PITA factor in finding things in Doha- I found it surprisingly smooth even during Ramadan. Perhaps because I am of Indian origin and speak Urdu (as does half of Doha it seems)! I was on my way back to the airport, at 10 pm, and thought I would like to check the price of laminate flooring on the way.. to decide whether to buy or ship. The limo driver took me to a shop that was open, which gave me a great quote, and was willing to come in and install it the next day!

I hope this helps - as we are both moving to Doha around the same time from the UK, it will be nice to catch up as well - please PM me if you would like to!

If you already have the things, bring them (if you can).

If not then buy them here.

It is true that some things are more expensive here, but other are cheaper.

One thing though I have not seen a crockpot (slowcooker) for sale here. I brought one over.

As for price comparizon do teh MARS test - Compare prices to identifiable items and salaries.

i think you will find it ok here.

Housing is definately more expensive than I expected.

Thanks for all your responses.

That's one of my main concerns, why buy more of what we already have here in the UK.

Ah well....

Actually there wasn't much at all I wished I had brought with us as most things are available here. Its just the nuisance of going out and finding the stuff you need which can be difficult when you are new, settling in and don't know where to look anyway. It also seems a waste to be duplicating things that you already own but have left behind in storage.

We came from Australia not UK so the things we miss are a bit different from yours (mostly familiar Aussie foodlines really). I was really glad we brought over a couple of small fan heaters rather than just giving them away before we left. We found our first winter here last year surprisingly cold at night and the villas/flats are not really geared for it. With all the tiled floors here too I was glad I packed our steam mop.

The only thing I sometimes wished I had packed was our breadmaker to make our own fresh crusty loaves. Love that smell! We have found the everyday sliced bread here is a bit sweet and the texture more like polystyrene really, although it depends where you shop - and how much you are prepared to pay.

Good luck with the move.

I agree with you. I found Doha much more expensive than London. We've just moved a week ago and I do miss being able to shop for mundane things like simple storage solutions (ikea style) etc. On a more practical note, bring in as much moisturiser (your usual brand-especially for the kiddies) as living in a constantly air conditioned environment can dry out the skin. I can not find Neal's Yard products here, so I have to wait for my next trip to the UK. It's useful to have your usual creature comforts for the first few settling in weeks till you find alternatives locally. All the best for the move.

Thanks, I was thinking of bringing bedding with me and I've already packed most of the toys. I don't see the point of buying new toys out there when I've got plenty here for him.

I found everything to be quite pricey in Doha compared to the UK, but I suppose its just a case of shopping around. Saying that, I was only in Doha for 1 week and didn't get much of a chance to look. Please advise where is the best place to shop.

Thanks again

Well, almost everything is available at a very low price here in Qatar. You will probably have to bring pretty personnel stuff, leave all your winter clothing back home.

Afriend of mine told me she brought in most of her children's toys. They looked strong & i regreted why i hadn't carried my children's toys. Expecially the strong ,good quality ones.

Plus nice, soft /satin/silk / pure cotton bedsheets. The pairs i bought here lose colour or are alittle hard on the skin.Iam yet to readily find a nice & soft pair of sheets.

I hope that helps

Afriend of mine told me she brought in most of her children's toys. They looked strong & i regreted why i hadn't carried my children's toys. Expecially the strong ,good quality ones.

Plus nice, soft /satin/silk / pure cotton bedsheets. The pairs i bought here lose colour or are alittle hard on the skin.Iam yet to readily find a nice & soft pair of sheets.

I hope that helps

Afriend of mine told me she brought in most of her children's toys. They looked strong & i regreted why i hadn't carried my children's toys. Expecially the strong ,good quality ones.

Plus nice, soft /satin/silk / pure cotton bedsheets. The pairs i bought here lose colour or are alittle hard on the skin.Iam yet to readily find a nice & soft pair of sheets.

I hope that helps

Afriend of mine told me she brought in most of her children's toys. They looked strong & i regreted why i hadn't carried my children's toys. Expecially the strong ,good quality ones.

Plus nice, soft /satin/silk / pure cotton bedsheets. The pairs i bought here lose colour or are alittle hard on the skin.Iam yet to readily find a nice & soft pair of sheets.

I hope that helps