Monthly Expenses breakdown
Hi Folks
I'll be moving along with my family (wife + 2 primary school going kids) to Doha on acceptance to the current job offer at hand within the next 3 months which I'm considering. It's going to be a minimum 2 year work assignment in Doha. I'll appreciate any feedback on the monthly expense breakdown I've worked out below:
QAR 15,000 rent
QAR 1,000 maid
QAR 1,000 utilities
QAR 10,000 schooling
QAR 4,000 car
QAR 10,000 Entertainment
QAR 41,500 Monthly Total Expense
1) What sort of accommodation should I expect to be able to rent in this range? Ideally I'd like a fully furnished 3 bedroom compound villa near to some good IB school.
2) What car make can I target in my range? Shall I go leasing rather than purchase?
Looking forward to hear further on my queries. Thanks!
no pain no gain Thelonius. I wonder what carrot did u see coming to Qatar?
it varies on the apratment. I am in a 3bhk too. I pay 15k everything is good, just the bathrooms are small :)
Thanks Omais .. what should I be looking at if I go to rent a fully furnished quality 3 bedroom apartment near the west bay area?
get a furnished apartment, coz no issue on furnishings after 2 year.
buy a car and sell it off when leaving
all other will be almost same...
Gud Luck...
Thanks hislam .. can u please advise the initial cost of acquiring the maid?
I would also be very keen to know how much the following cars cost (roughly, latest models and brand new) there in Qatar:
Audi A6
BMW 535i
Merc E-series
Is it worth buying brand new or just go for slightly used cars still under manufacturer warranty?
Yes 20k is realistic for furnished.
Thanks tazzz78.. so u recon I should be looking to pay about 20K/month for a quality fully furnished compound accommodation?
reminded me how expensive it is to live here!
Yes, more or less, these figures are realistic.
However;
The maid will cost more taking into account the initial cost and monthly extra expenses
If you are planning to have one car, you can go up to the Lexus on monthly instalments; for me I recommend Patrol. And surely buying is a much better option if you are targeting brands with good resale value; generally Japanese.
Entertainment; I think you meant by that all running expenses including Entertainment; so most probably it will be bit higher if you include the abroad trips.
Also does your entertaiment include food? This should be ok, weekly shop around 1k I would say for family of 4 buying what you want. Sorry for multiple responses but they limit them to 700 characters :)
If you decide to take a loan, again 20% deposit and away you go. It is about 3% intrest only so worth investigating. Obviosly there is no final payment so on a 2 year plan you can probably spend around 120k for a car. This would ba in a smaller SUV range (for conditions here - Toyota Prado 2.7 would be around 130k basic option).
Is one car enough? Do you get company car?
Most families tend to go for compound accomodations rather than appartments. You should get a good compound for 15-16k but this might be unfurnished.
Car wise: There is few companies that offer leasing here, Honda, Volvo and latetly VW/Audi. (from my experience). They require a deposit of 10-20% and then you pay monthly x amount and you have balance payment on the end. If you went this route 4k will get you quite far, big SUV should be no problem.