Qatar cost of living

[Doom Bar]

Is anybody out there ?

Hi Guys,

Job offer of 20,000 QAR per month. Accomodation has to come out of this and we are a family of 4.

Is this enough for a comfortable way of life ? I'd really appreciate a breakdown of likely expenses.

The car bit: been looking at Cayenne S/Turbo ( had a 993 4 in the UK ). Any good over there or is it going to be a Toyota Landcruiser ? Means my £10 Porsche keyring would go to waste...

Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming.

Doom Bar

[IanUAE]

QAR 20,000 per month to cover housing, transport and school fees? In one word NO. Go online and check out rental prices, school fees etc. This will give you a better idea on what you will need on a monthly basis.

[Doom Bar]

thanks mate. there is a school place provided with the job, youngest is not at school age currently.

i see what you mean, schooling and accomodation seem to be the biggest outlays.

I the lifestyle enjoyable out there ? I have friends in Doha who seem to be having a ball.

[IanUAE]

No idea about lifestyle in Qatar as I am based in Dubai but work most weeks in Oman.

[yorky500]

QR20000 is AED20000 per month. I have no idea of the cost of living in Doha but for Dxb:

My guess a 3 bed apartment: aed130000 per year ( so AED10,500 per month)
Schooling: 1 child circa AED30000 per year ( plus all the bits on top)
Cars: you will need two so say AED5000 per month
Food: AED5000 per month
Utilities: let's say another AED2000 per month
You have not even gone out yet to have a beer or dinner, nor saved any cash, nor thought about holidays, nor any looked at furniture and "keeping up with the jones" next door

In other words you AED20k per month is IMHO defo not do-able

[jezzaaa]

My Girlfriend lives and works in Doha, and the property rents are way higher than Dubai. 2 bed 'nothing-special' apartments in town seems to be at least 13,000 a month. Villas outside quie a bit more than that, although I gather you can live much further away from Doha and get something reasonable. My girlfriend rents a room in a shared flat for 5000 per month FFS!! Cars are the same price as UAE, petrol is cheaper than UAE. Don't know about schools. As said, 20K a month on a family of 4 would be hard work, I think.

Oh, and there doesn't seem to be much to do in Doha except beach clubs, drinking and buffets in the hotels (all very expensive). There are some decent Malls, but there's only so much shopping you can do. We've driven the length and breadth of the country. From what we've seen, none of the free beaches are nice. Most of the coastline is strewn with litter etc, and you need a 4x4 to be sure of not getting stuck out when trying to find them. Not the best in my opinion. It will be much better in 15-20 years time I'm sure...they've got a lot of ambitious plans for development. Right now though, they'd have to pay me a lot to go there and live/work...it would be all about the money!

Edited to say, all IMHO naturally!

Edited by jezzaaa on Saturday 6th October 17:55

[Doom Bar]

thanks guys. useful info.

spotted a silver R8 purring along the Esplanade, in Tenby where I live, today. The sun was shining, unusually for Pembrokeshire.

I'm a Porsche man myself, although have been looking at RS6 Avants ( for the family you understand ) however the R8 is a fine looking machine.

[omohat]

IanUAE said:

QAR 20,000 per month to cover housing, transport and school fees? In one word NO. Go online and check out rental prices, school fees etc. This will give you a better idea on what you will need on a monthly basis.

I live in Qatar and the answer in my opinion is no - 20000 QAR is probably not going to be a comfortable lifestyle for a family of 4, especially if the reference to Cayennes is an indication of the expected lifestyle ;-)

A 3 bedroom flat can cost anywhere from 8000 QAR (unfashionable but nice area with a mix of locals and expats) to 16-17000 (The Pearl - think Dubai Marina therefore very popular with expats). I rent a 4 bedroom compound villa for 13000 in the aforementioned nice but unfashionable area. 3-4 bedroom compound villas can be had for anywhere from 11-18000 depending on which area you go for.

Renting a crappy Lancer (possibly the worst car being made) is about 1700 QAR per month. Something nicer like an accord is circa 3000 QAR per month and a Prado would be close to 4000 QAR per month.

Electricity and water for my place costs about 500 QAR /month (more in the summer, less in the winter)

Internet, telephone and mobiles comes to about 750 QAR /month (2 mobiles, 10Mb internet, mid level TV package and landline)

Food is expensive (and I don't drink so cant comment on the cost of alcohol). I'd say we spend about 1500-1800 QAR per month on groceries for a family of 3

This doesn't include any entertainment costs. Add it all up and I think your 20000 QAR would pretty much disappear on necessities.

Feel free to PM me if you want more details.

[omohat]

Forgot to add - car prices are generally more expensive that Dubai. If you want to see for yourself check out Qatarsale

[TobyLaRohne]

Been in Doha for 2 and a bit years now.. For 20k a month I'd tell them to do one.

I pay 6k for a shared apartment on the pearl (12k total) it would be 10k for my own 1 bed place...plus buying furniture
500 min for bills average (1k total, but shared)
2500 rent for a new Saab 9-3 2.8t
6000-8000 total social bill per month for nights out and alcohol and toys to keep you from getting bored.
400 for phone bills (claimed back)


so that is 15k for just me (I omitted the corvette and savings funds etc)

[Doom Bar]

cheers chaps.

we've pretty much come to that conclusion.

the move to Qatar would be for adventure and sunshine but not at the expense of having to worry about dosh.

it's actually my wife who has the job and i think they are lowballing her on the accomodation front.

saving is not so much of an issue, i'm in property in the Uk and that is ticking over nicely. i would be looking after our youngest in doha until she is in full time nursery/school.

Cayenne was just trawling classifieds as i do would opt for something functional.

if we do stay in Uk, I've got to go for an RS6 Avant. They look awesome. You can't go back from a 911 to a Ciroen Picasso can you ? Shame petrol prices in UK aren't same as Doha. LOL. Bizarrely, although we have several refineries on our doorstep, petrol is really pricey in Pembs.

I'm sure other jobs will come up in UAE.

What are the chances of me doing some English tuition over there ? don't have a TEFL/PGCE but do a have a Degree.

How do I PM you Omohat ?

[omohat]

Doom Bar said:

cheers chaps.

How do I PM you Omohat ?

I had to look it up as I couldn't remember myself. If you click on my profile there's an "Email Me" link on the top right (just above the profile picture).

[shirt]

Doom Bar said:

What are the chances of me doing some English tuition over there ? don't have a TEFL/PGCE but do a have a Degree.

i have no direct experience, but friends OH's who have come over with them have found it easy to get decent work. seems to be more personality oriented than skills/experience.

[TobyLaRohne]

shirt said:

I have no direct experience, but friends OH's who have come over with them have found it easy to get decent work. seems to be more personality oriented than skills/experience.

Depends on your salary expectations and profession, my OH has been looking since July, loads of job offers, all for 800-1000 pounds a month for working 6 days a week for long hours.

[shirt]

smaller jobs pool over your way though i'd have thought?