Husbands new job offer, any good?
Husband has been offered a position in Doha:
Basic is 23000QR/month
The only extras are:
-400QR/month towards utilities
-One family economy ticket/year to the UK
-One months salary paid at the end of contract for each completed year worked. Is this standard with every job in Qatar?
-50% school fees, although not a consideration for us as our child is only 13 months old.
-Housing is provided, usually a 3 bed villa. We've been to look at them and they're a decent size (comapred to the house we currently rent in the uk at £675 a month)
Also, we don't get involved with the house process at all, there's no deposits, or allowances paid, it's just provided on arrival which we thought was pretty good
-2 months leave, although this isn't quite as good as it sounds as the majority of it is set weeks including the whole of August and Eid holidays.
No allowance is paid towards medical or a car.
His current salary in the uk for the same type of work is £32,000. Our rent here is £675/month plus council tax of £130, so with the housing included in Doha we're hoping we might finally be able to save up.
This will be our first time living outside Europe. Any comments would be most welcome. Is a family of 3 likely to be able to save up and live reasonably but not excessively well?
Looking at the offer, ofcourse mate, Qatar is surely quite better, and hey its always a good move that you make, nothing bad...stay positive, and talking about Qatar, whilst much has been talked about the rising Cost of Living in Qatar, it still remains alright to be pursuing a career for a while in Qatar with that kinda offer...trust me, it is a bit new out here compared to what you been used to, but nevertheless, all of us here have moved at one point of time, and now we all are here striving for that every day life and trying to walk that extra mile to earn a smile, so as and said everything, this place is a decent place to move in with that kinda offer, you would be able to save a merry bit, (even with the fact about your kid's schooling in the near future), and your occassional mixing it out with Drink and Dine outside the house...
So all the best, and come on down here soon ... and hey just a quick note, you are going to make the move I believe just around the Holy Month of ramadan, so stock yourselves up in all that you want to drink before you come here ( to be more precise, drink all you want and then come here cos for the month of Sept no drinks are available here)...LOL
so yeah cheers and welcome aboard to Qatar and Qatar Living, and dont worry mate, you'll be in safe hands here, we're all a bunch of easy going freakshows here...LOL...
Thanks for the replies folks. Nobody has convinced us that Qatar is more expensive than the UK though. We've decided to take the offer and start date is 2nd September so I guess we'll find out then for ourselves.
I notice some of you have posted details of school fees and child care in Doha. The cost of living has rocketed in the UK, Just for comparison, our local nursery (which is nothing special) costs £220 per week! The local public schools cost between £12000 - £15000 a year. So that's at least 4 times the cost of Qatar. New cars are much more expensive here. Also I think petrol here is about 10 times what you pay in Qatar. So whilst things may not be as cheap in Qatar as they were, (based on what you've told me) they are nothing like the price of the uk.
Looking forward to September and thanks again.
Seems like a very good offer. Specially considering the UK salary and expenses.
petrol ....0,80 QR a liter, cheaper than water
How much is petrol in Qatar ?
The offer is fine however if you intend to stay longterm, you are best to get 100% school fees otherwise when your child hits 4, you will need to fork out 50% of around Qrs.7,500/- three times a year. It is workable but why not try getting 100% school fees.
The utilities allowance is okay. You will in summer months have to add money to it as bills are higher in the summer months, but then in winter you may gain. It depends on the size of the house and garden really.
If you put your child to day care/nursery, you will have this monthly expense. I am not sure exactly how much is it now but around Qrs.1,500/-. Correct me someone if I am wrong.
Other expenses for basic living will include-:
Food - (I pay around Qrs.1,000/- a week for a family of three)
Petrol - (Its nothing really. I spend around Qrs.50/- a week).
Cable TV - (I think we pay around Qrs.800 or so every 3 months for 2 decoders... but you could get satellite and thats a one off expense)
Telephone (locals calls are free but mobile calls are not. My bills are high averging around Qrs.900 a month but its usually glued to my ear for work.)
Dining out (depends where you go, you could limit a 5 star hotel restaurant outing to once a month and it will not eat into your savings...
Medical - Don't worry about that one, its costs nothing here if you use the government hospital..
Car - You will need a car each to get around so you will have this monthly expense. Without one, you will be house bound all day. Again, the cost depends on the car, but I think you could look at a basic starting monthly installment cost per car of Qrs.1,000/-..
If you are to live on a compound, you should have a pool which shall avoid paying for a hotel club membership which is pricey these days. But their is a Brit run club which I believe is very reasonable (not sure how much).
As someone postdated, you can save but it depends on your shopping habits :-)
Hope this helps some.
That is my idea exactly pachacheeks...
Get paid in QR will probably be the best option given the uk economy. And one would be hard pushed to find a large villa for less then 1000 quid a month. And the idea of a live in maid for only £150 is fantastic.
Given that London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, it would be hard to convince me that Qatar is more expensive. Perhaps people indulge more in Qatar hence finding it hard to save?
From the prices I have read from other people on the site.. I would say that food is the biggest concern. But just as expensive as the UK where I already spend about £400 a month on food anyhow. And another £100 on nappies. I think alcohol may be on the pricey side though..
Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi
Pachacheeks,
What you are telling us about your hubby's UK salary level, it looks to me that you should be able to save considerably more in Qatar. I am moving from London in a weeks time to Qatar as well. UK was already expensive and it is becoming even more. You are being offered a 3 bed villa in Qatar while I can imagine the size of your UK property where you live! I would have thought that the standard of living would be higher in Qatar. I would say go for it and experience a new thing rather than not going and regretting later. Being an accountant I know the economy wise UK is heading for some rough times (partly thanks to the US sub prime issue).
prices have really gone up in the past three years I would have thought that considerable savings could be made.
Have they increased to such an extent?
The lack of health care provision would concern me, together with the lack of a greater % of school fees. Kids have a habit of growing up.
We intended staying in the Gulf for two years and eventually left in 2004 having arrived in 1997.
Yes, I too would like to know where does the extra money go? I would be looking at saving at $2400USD/month with no accomadation or education expenses. Where are we going to spend our money? No rent, money for gas(which is $3.14/gallon USD here), and paid health insurance. All I can think about is saving. Are we overlooking something as expats? Please inform.
Tex
Thanks for the replies folks. There's obviously a lot we don't understand yet. Having only been over there for 5 days we were under the impression that the cost of living is less than the Uk. I suppose our only exposure to this was eating out (which was a fraction of what we pay in the uk) and the price of petrol.
Our current net take home pay is £1200 in the uk after rent and council tax, and with a net take home in Qatar of around £3200 we were hoping we'd be better off but thanks for the info.
To those of you that are living in Qatar, where does the money go? That may seem a daft question but I still can't see how we'd need £3200 to buy the same as what £1200 can buy in the uk. Is the cost of living really 2.5 times that of Britain? If so I guess we'd be best staying put as the main reason for going out there is to try and save a little.
but no where to drive to....
Remember you won't have to pay council taxes and petrol is cheaper than waterh ;)
Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi
hi there,
I am currently living in the UK. And I would say that giving the salary is more than what you currently earn plus no rent, utilities, and school fees would be great.
Yes I would try to negotiate for all the school fees to be paid.
It sounds like you will be able to save a bundle and a better quality of life!
p.s. plus a fantastic adventure of moving to a sunny new country! Sure beats wind, rain and snow we have experienced over the easter holidays in the uk.
REgards
Maryum : Umm Hasan bint Abdullah Alshabrawishi
but it's not great either. 2000 GBP a month will be tough, probably more likely to be closer to 1000. If you like a drink and eating out at fancy resturants then probably you'll save nothing.....
Qatar is a nice place to live but it can take a while to adjust.
Its a pity they don't have chimnies here... then this lady could send the kiddue to work as a chimney sweep in the future!
I guess your Cost of Living depends on your
a) shopping habits
b) free time activities.........
The housing part sounds good. I can tell you from my experience here that it will be difficult to save a lot of money. The cost of living here is sky high. My husband's employment package is somewhat similar and we find for a family of three (have a 2 year old) and being here for 8 months now, we have not saved a dime. Hopefully some of the regulars on QL will give you a better feel for the financial side of living here. As for living here in general, it's another world that will take a while for you to adjust to, I am still having a hard time of it.
You can save 2000 GBP every month, after all expenses and luxuries.. With the 36K GBP in UK, you will not save that much I guess.. It is tax free here.