Thank you Novi, that's exactly what I mean. Outside of the supermarkets and malls everything works on barter and not only are most westerners completely unfamiliar with the cultural process, in general we're not great at it either. I simply will not be offered the prices my Sri Lankan co-workers are.
On top of that I've just had a closer look at your numbers and tbh it's just not true. I pay anything from 2-4 times what I do in the UK for alcohol.
Basically: Energy is cheap - Brands that have licences to be produced in Saudi are cheapish - Labour based services are cheap - Chinese/Indian imported cack is even cheaper here than at home (yes I can buy tea-towels for 50p but they're crap) - Junk Fast Food is about 75% the cost of the UK - Locally grown produce is cheap compared to what you can get it for in Europe (ie fresh herbs)
Some OTC medicines are cheaper but usually I would have a prescription and not have paid to see my doctor at all. That said, as private medical care costs go, the docs do not charge a fortune here at all. Neither though, is there anywhere near the expertise or technology available here. Dentistry is as expensive as private care in the UK. If you have an NHS dentist its a lot cheaper.
To live a comparable standard of living, to be honest I'm struggling to see where you think I'm saving money being here. Gym/club memberships are the same or more, I can fly to many tourist destinations that are available from Doha for less money from Manchester or London. Please do tell me what I'm not seeing??
Hidden costs can be horrendous too. A wee anecdote for you :-
We bought an X3 off a departing expat. The day before he handed the car over and the registrations were changed which was 3 days before he left the country an uninsured Egyptian ran into the back of the X3 at C-ring ToysRus lights. The Egyptian did not go to the traffic dept for a week and then disupted the police report - the fault went from all his, to shared, to all the expats - basically because the driver was not here to argue the case and the sponsoring local would have had to pay all costs out of his own pocket as he allowed the driver to drive with expired insurance. To cut a long story short it took 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks for us to get a finalised police report so the insurance company would authorise work to be started. Eight weeks later we got the X3. That cost 8 weeks of car hire at 900 QR a week @ weekly rates. That's a thousand pounds out of our pockets because someone else drove into the back of our car!
Where on earth else do you wait for repairs?! Insurance companies cough up and then fight for who pays afterwards, its like that in every normal country in the world.
I'm comparing costs here to a small island with one of, if not the highest real estate prices in the world at a time when a record low dollar is giving Qatar a huge advantage in the price comparison arguement and it still comes out as expensive .. how the hell do you conclude it's cheap here?!?
So basically, unless you have a very, very good salary offer, its just not worth coming here.
EDIT: And cigs are cheap, which is just as well because everyone and their mother smokes out here.
Thank you Novi, that's exactly what I mean. Outside of the supermarkets and malls everything works on barter and not only are most westerners completely unfamiliar with the cultural process, in general we're not great at it either. I simply will not be offered the prices my Sri Lankan co-workers are.
On top of that I've just had a closer look at your numbers and tbh it's just not true. I pay anything from 2-4 times what I do in the UK for alcohol.
Basically: Energy is cheap - Brands that have licences to be produced in Saudi are cheapish - Labour based services are cheap - Chinese/Indian imported cack is even cheaper here than at home (yes I can buy tea-towels for 50p but they're crap) - Junk Fast Food is about 75% the cost of the UK - Locally grown produce is cheap compared to what you can get it for in Europe (ie fresh herbs)
Some OTC medicines are cheaper but usually I would have a prescription and not have paid to see my doctor at all. That said, as private medical care costs go, the docs do not charge a fortune here at all. Neither though, is there anywhere near the expertise or technology available here. Dentistry is as expensive as private care in the UK. If you have an NHS dentist its a lot cheaper.
To live a comparable standard of living, to be honest I'm struggling to see where you think I'm saving money being here. Gym/club memberships are the same or more, I can fly to many tourist destinations that are available from Doha for less money from Manchester or London. Please do tell me what I'm not seeing??
Hidden costs can be horrendous too. A wee anecdote for you :-
We bought an X3 off a departing expat. The day before he handed the car over and the registrations were changed which was 3 days before he left the country an uninsured Egyptian ran into the back of the X3 at C-ring ToysRus lights. The Egyptian did not go to the traffic dept for a week and then disupted the police report - the fault went from all his, to shared, to all the expats - basically because the driver was not here to argue the case and the sponsoring local would have had to pay all costs out of his own pocket as he allowed the driver to drive with expired insurance. To cut a long story short it took 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks for us to get a finalised police report so the insurance company would authorise work to be started. Eight weeks later we got the X3. That cost 8 weeks of car hire at 900 QR a week @ weekly rates. That's a thousand pounds out of our pockets because someone else drove into the back of our car!
Where on earth else do you wait for repairs?! Insurance companies cough up and then fight for who pays afterwards, its like that in every normal country in the world.
I'm comparing costs here to a small island with one of, if not the highest real estate prices in the world at a time when a record low dollar is giving Qatar a huge advantage in the price comparison arguement and it still comes out as expensive .. how the hell do you conclude it's cheap here?!?
So basically, unless you have a very, very good salary offer, its just not worth coming here.
EDIT: And cigs are cheap, which is just as well because everyone and their mother smokes out here.