cost of living

[ajf]

hi

just trying to workout the numbers does anyone know the rough cost of running a 2 bed villa and rough cost of living per month.

have been given a rough cost of 130000 AED for rental of villa

Adrian

[Hitch78]

130k will get you a small villa or a decent apartment these days. tv/net/phone is about 500pcm, no idea on utilities as they're paid for us and that's about it until you get into cars, schools, health etc...

[Chilli]

Depends on where you go really. We're currently looking in Mirdif and for a 3 bed villa with private pool. maids room etc, is between 130-150k. However, if you're not bothered with the pool, one can be had for 110k. Or, if you wanted similar on the beach on the palm, it'll cost you 3 times that.
Food and everyday things are very cheap. You could live for very little if you wanted to. Petrol is the same price as water, and the only thing I can think of that is expensive is alcohol.
HTH.

[ajf]

Hi

was looking at the spring or the meadows
Mirdif always fancied that last time i was out there
so has anyone been out there since 2002 and give me an idea how much things have gone up by

Adrian

[Chilli]

ajf said:

Hi

was looking at the spring or the meadows
Mirdif always fancied that last time i was out there
so has anyone been out there since 2002 and give me an idea how much things have gone up by

Adrian

See above.

[Hitch78]

ajf said:

Hi

was looking at the spring or the meadows
Mirdif always fancied that last time i was out there
so has anyone been out there since 2002 and give me an idea how much things have gone up by

Adrian

www.dubizzle.com is your house-hunting friend...Springs is well within budget, Meadows less so and Lakes is getting there (we paid 150k last summer in the Lakes).

Dubizzle is also where I do most of my internet car choice 'dry humping' since leaving the glorious worlds of pistonheads classifieds, autotrader and car and classic (by far the best place to waste an hour in my opinion) behind in the UK.

[dictys]

We have a 4 bed on the outskirts of Mirdiff with pool and gym, we negoiated it down to 110k from 140k.

The planes were a pain for the first week, but don't notice them now.

The intial setup cost are high (equiping the villa, cars etc), but monthly cost reasonable, as Chilli said, food and petrol is relatively cheap.

I have no housing or car allowance, this will effect what you can intially do until you build up a credit rating etc with the bank.

[yorky500]

TV/internat/phone - AED800 per month (depends on your package)
Food - for 2 of us AED500 per week (nothing fancy though)
DEWA (utility bills) - AED750 - 1000 ish for a 2 bed villa as you are running on split a/c units

If you move into an apartment with centralised air conditioning, your Dewa bill will come down to around AED500 per month.

We moved to Motorcity not long ago: 1450 sq ft 2 bed (both en-suite) apartment + 800 sq ft balcony with 2 underground parking spaces and a 100sq ft storage facility = AED90K per year

[Fer]

Hitch78 said:

www.dubizzle.com is your house-hunting friend...

Thanks for the link. Another site to job hunt.

[Hitch78]

Fer said:

Hitch78 said:

www.dubizzle.com is your house-hunting friend...

Thanks for the link. Another site to job hunt.

....and boats, and cars, and cars, and car...

(trying to retain some PH-feel to this expatwives.com thread!)

[ajf]

hi
thanks for all the info

now cam you still have right hand drive cars in RAK or have they stopped that to

Adrian

[yorky500]

^^^^^^^^^

generally owned by local Emirati's and its virtually impossible to register them as an Expat, unless you know somebody who knows somebody in the Police/RTA and very high up. They are really trying to phse this out. I think a Law was passed that all RHD converted cars can no longer be registered in Dubai/UAE?