cost of living

nakse
By nakse

i have been offered a salary of 24000 QR/month all inclusive. is that enough to have a comfortable living and save too? say a 2 bedroom flat in a decent location. a car. we are a couple; partner not working.

By Shahazada• 6 Nov 2008 07:44
Rating: 2/5
Shahazada

Dude, it is more than enough and you can live a fentastic life....All the best..Cheers

By gaara• 5 Nov 2008 18:06
gaara

thats good enough!

By saadi703• 30 Oct 2008 18:38
Rating: 2/5
saadi703

No, I am talking about the whole storey for a one single family. If it is a two storey villa and the villa has 4 rooms in total, 2 at ground floor and 2 on the first floor then please do give the upper storey for rent on cheap rates. This is not the case where 6~7 families living in a single villa rather it is one family per floor which is not all the bad. It is even more spacious than a 2 bedroom apartment. I dont know whether it is legal or not. In order to stay away from trouble I went for a flat instead.

By qatarisun• 29 Oct 2008 21:22
Rating: 3/5
qatarisun

so they are not flats.. they are ugly nests with the gypsum boards, in overloaded villa, which was built for 1 family, and eventually rented out by tiny miserable pieces to 6-7-8- families! OMG! Is that a normal place to live in???

*********************

“You become responsible forever for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

By saadi703• 29 Oct 2008 20:33
Rating: 5/5
saadi703

Qatarisun check out gulf news and you would find them. Usually the part of villa or you can say upper story of villa goes in this amount having 2 beds, 2 bath, living kitchen. Last week I saw one ad for 4700 as well. As long as there is no privacy problems, this is a good deal. I rented a flat costing me 8000 fully furnished.

By qatarisun• 27 Oct 2008 15:08
Rating: 3/5
qatarisun

can I know where did you get these prices for the accommodation from (2 bedroom - 5500 plus; 1 bedroom 4000 - 5000)? or you are still talking about the guys who live at the same places for the last at least 4-5 years?

*********************

“You become responsible forever for what you have tamed”. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

By kganesan_2008• 27 Oct 2008 14:48
Rating: 5/5
kganesan_2008

1 USD = 3.65 Doha rials and in another words, QR(Qatar rial) is pitted against dollar, so whenever dollar appreciates it's good :) Roughly, 1 QR works out 13.23 Indian rupees as on date.

Check out the costs.....

1 litre of petrol = 0.8 QR

1 litre of water = 1 QR ( yes , water is expensive than petrol here)

1.8 Litre of Canned Juice = 10 QR

Tinned Coke = 2 QR

A cup of tea / coffee = 2 QR

A dosa = 3 QR, if Masala Dosa = 4 QR. (These rates are of normal day today sundry hotels)

@Hotel aryas, a limited meals = 15 QR

@Pizza Hut, a Large size pizze = 35 QR

Fresh Milk 1 litre = 4 QR

UHT processed milk 1 litre = 2.5 QR (yes, again fresh milk is costlier than processed milk)

Now, Coming to the commutation expenses, legally u have only one taxi service called the KARWA services, cost is like

Minium = 4 QR

Every Kilometer = 1 QR

Buses - Not tried yet!!

Accomadation -- this is the most expensive part...

2 bedroom newflat monthly rental is 7000 QR upwards, so unless company is gonna pay - you will end paying ur basic for rent alone!! :)

2 bedroom (old) - 5500 plus, but some people r lucky and they pay jus 2000 QR - for they are staying n the same house for more 15-20 yrs. A Villa's cost - 12000 QR upwards, 1 bedroom flat (new) - 5000 QR plus and a 1 bedroom (old) - 4000 QR apx.

Now, coming to my favourite part -- the carssss............

Honda accord costs = 80000 QR - 90000 QR depending on the spec & its roughly 22,000 USD plus & i think it's almost same as that of USA. A lexus starts at 130000 QR onwards, that is roughly 35,000 USD.

Interest rate for new cars is 3.89 to 3.99 % depending on the bank for a period of 6 years at the maximum.

Telephone calls --- this is another area where u will end up spending more if u don't notice.....

Landline to landlines are FREE

Mobile to Mobile / landline = 0.55 QR = 0.15 cents or 7.30 Indian rupees....

ISD to India = 42.63 rupees (7.00 am to 7.00 pm) and 33.32 rupees (7 pm to 7 am)

ISD to USA = 35.28 rupees (7.00 am to 7.00 pm) and 29.40 rupees (7 pm to 7 am)

--- so forget making calls from mobile!!!!!!!! the only way is through VOIP !!! - but do check out for legality, as far i do, it's not an offense if used for personal purposes.

Time Zone is GMT + 3.00 Hours / No daylight savings.

If u wanna go to india and be bac....

it costs roughly 2000 QR apx!!

Places to go...

Malls,

wakara beach - u can swim - for it's not deep, water scooter is available for rent - 50 QR for 1 hour

Corniche - the best corniche in the middle east, it's a six kilometre track and a goodspot for evening/ weekend walk.

Gulf cinema theatres - Hindi / english / some malayalam and some tamil movies are screened. The good thing is, u have movie shows even at midnight 12.00

Bars - no separate pubs, the bars are the ones attached to the big hotels, drinks are available but not encouraged here - kinda of...

Drinks are not allowed at home, unless u have a liqour permit - which has to be applied through the office.

And some of the interesting qatar rules.....

If u hit someone on road, until the guy comes to conscious , u will be in JAIL irrespective of whose mistake it is!!

If u miss a SIGNAL - u pay 6000 QR penalty.

U forget ur seat belt or ur co-passenger - u pay 500 QR

U overspeed - based on the speed - penalty increases....

and everytime u get penalised, u get some points - once u cross 10 (not sure of exact points), u have to say "bye bye" to driving - license will be revoked.

Now, regarding the job change....

Until the company u r working gives a release letter - u cannot shift to another company in qatar. if u still want, u gotto apply after 2 years

If u wanna go out of the country, u need permission from ur employer - else NO EXIT.

Typically for a south indian bachelor aged 22 to 30, day today expense will be apx 55 QR, (Booze & ur accomadation is separate) which is 15 USD apx.

From my past experience( i have been in dubai, kuwait, egypt & uganda) i'll say it's a land of malayalees -- the maximum crowd of malayalee stays here i feel, out of every 10 indians, 8 are mallus.... :)

** i have tried my level to quote the right figures, though some mistakes are probable.

Hope it threw some light!!!!

By daniela.miotto• 12 Oct 2008 16:02
Rating: 2/5
daniela.miotto

i think you cannot save much, all depends on your life style, but consider that prices are rising up nowdays.keep high the accomodations. think well!

By amnesia• 27 Sep 2008 18:37
Rating: 3/5
amnesia

that's well above an average Qatari person's salary.

__________________________

Mr. Q's Blog - A Qatari's view on Qatar.

By Fatcat• 27 Sep 2008 14:22
Rating: 5/5
Fatcat

Nakse, it is possible though difficult to get a 2 bedroom for 8k. You will not find anything for 6k, forget about it. For 6k you will find a very small one bedroom near Grand Hamad Street. You said a "decent" location. Nothing near Grand Hamad Street (where you will find cheaper accomodation) is "decent".

I live very near Grand Hamad Street. Everytime someone comes to pick me up or to visit they don't think it's a very good neighbourhood. Personally, though, I've never had problems. But each to their own.

By nakse• 27 Sep 2008 14:05
nakse

can you be kind enough to help a bit more. i would be working in grand hamad street. any mid level neigbhorhhod within a 10km radius where i could decent accomodation range of 6000-8000 QR/month.

Thanks

By Fatcat• 27 Sep 2008 13:53
Rating: 5/5
Fatcat

Nakse, no one can tell you if it is enough or not, that is a decision you must make on your own. We can help you with prices, though, then you can draw up a budget and decide for yourself.

A 2 bedroom flat in Al Sadd will set you back QR9.5k a month.

A small car rental will cost anything from 1300 a month (if you're willing to sign a long term contract) to 2000 per month (on a monthly basis).

Food at a cheap(ish) Indian restaurant will cost about QR40 or QR50 for two people.

By casanova• 27 Sep 2008 13:29
Rating: 4/5
casanova

Ya i believe its fine, but then again it all depends upon your life style.

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”

Sir Winston Churchill

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