Whilst a lot of that information may be factually correct .. the COL section as a whole is very misleading and does not reflect my experience as a western expat at all.
For example .. you need to realise that what it costs a Syrian or an Indian to buy or rent a car is NOT what it's going to cost your average white expat. I cant get a Tiida here for anything under 2,200 a month and that's after negotiation. If I wanted a new one it would be 2,400.
A western diet here (understandably, as its all imported a long way) is very expensive. Meat is only cheaper because it is currently subsidised, bakery products are the same as in the UK. Families bringing children will not want to, or be able to suddenly adopt a local diet. Therefore quoting prices for local foods is a, misleading and b, quite useless. Alcohol and going out and doing stuff is certainly not cheap compared to the UK and the States.
Some stuff is much cheaper, services like cleaning and tailoring etc etc. Labour rates here are very low for some people.
Electronics are not cheap and most technology, particularly computers, visual and audio are extremely expensive and mostly out of date and thats compared to the UK, let alone the States or the far east where new tech is even cheaper. High end consumer goods here are limited and very expensive, even some ordinary stuff is just not available.
I could go on, but I dont want to argue with you ... I just feel it is necessary to point out to people reading this that I can see that quite a lot of it does not really apply to westerners.
Qatar is not all bad by any means, but do not set false expectations or mislead people, it leads to stress, tears and unhappy people.
Whilst a lot of that information may be factually correct .. the COL section as a whole is very misleading and does not reflect my experience as a western expat at all.
For example .. you need to realise that what it costs a Syrian or an Indian to buy or rent a car is NOT what it's going to cost your average white expat. I cant get a Tiida here for anything under 2,200 a month and that's after negotiation. If I wanted a new one it would be 2,400.
A western diet here (understandably, as its all imported a long way) is very expensive. Meat is only cheaper because it is currently subsidised, bakery products are the same as in the UK. Families bringing children will not want to, or be able to suddenly adopt a local diet. Therefore quoting prices for local foods is a, misleading and b, quite useless. Alcohol and going out and doing stuff is certainly not cheap compared to the UK and the States.
Some stuff is much cheaper, services like cleaning and tailoring etc etc. Labour rates here are very low for some people.
Electronics are not cheap and most technology, particularly computers, visual and audio are extremely expensive and mostly out of date and thats compared to the UK, let alone the States or the far east where new tech is even cheaper. High end consumer goods here are limited and very expensive, even some ordinary stuff is just not available.
I could go on, but I dont want to argue with you ... I just feel it is necessary to point out to people reading this that I can see that quite a lot of it does not really apply to westerners.
Qatar is not all bad by any means, but do not set false expectations or mislead people, it leads to stress, tears and unhappy people.