Cost check in Abu Dhabi

Member since 19 May 2018

daniyelhMember19 May 2018 15:49:41

Hi.

So someone contacted me with an job offer in Abu Dhabi that would pay 7.000€ ~ 30.000AED plus Health Insurance for me and once per year free flight ticket to home. Currently I earn 4.100 € after taxes.

I already did some research on my own to see what are the cost in Abu Dhabi and would it be worth all the effort to move to there. I am married with one child. I am Software Engineer with Bachelor education and 8-9 years of experience, so I would consider myself as a senior. Is salary above a good salary for someone with that much experience and would it be sufficient to cover all the cost and still be able to save some money on top.

So my research was:
- 52.500 AED/year for health insurance, covers everything i hope? (me, my wife and child) - i do not know if I can be excluded if company already pay for my health insurance
- 40.000 AED/year would be for school, but currently it would be only kindergarten which is somehow 17.000 AED/year?
- 2.000 AED/month - food (this figure I found online, someone wrote that as family of 3 they never spent more then that per month)
- 60.000+ AED/year - 2-3 apartment or maybe villa (Al Shamkha, Mohammed bin Zayed - are this areas good, bad?)
- 42.000 AED/year - utility cost like electricity, water etc. (is it too much, too low?)
- 370 AED/month - internet, tv etc.
- 2.000 - 3.000 AED/year for car insurance, in case I would need to drive to work
- ??? - cost for parking per month
- ??? - cost of clothes (we dress pretty modest and casual)
- ??? - any other cost I need to be aware of...

Cinemas, eating outside is not our concern since we are not doing that anyhow.

Best regards and thank you in advance for all of your informations.

Priscilla ViP

Member since 30 May 2013

PriscillaViP21 May 2018 10:53:22

42358

Bonjour daniyelh,

There are some threads in the cost of living in Abu Dhabi section where members participated to share their experiences, please feel free to check them.

You can also have a look at this website : https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

Thanks,

Priscilla
Expat.com team

XTang Bahrain/UAE/KSA Expert

Member since 22 April 2014

XTangBahrain/UAE/KSA Expert21 May 2018 11:41:11

11873

It's an ok salary and you can live comfortably in that by making a few wise choices. Not wow but not bad.

Vs. Europe, you will have to pay for medical and schooling. I don't understand your cost estimate above on medical; isn't your employer providing medical for yourself and the family? The cost looks on the higher side to me.

For schooling, a more representative range for a good western school would be between 40-80K per year. KG would be at the lower end of that spectrum.

Your estimate for villas is too low and the electricity cost too high. Depending on locality, these can range from 100K to 300K a year. Expect to pay 20-30K a year for utilities in a villa depending on usage and other factors.

The other big expense is groceries. Again, it comes down to your lifestyle but assuming you want to eat the same way you do back home, factor in around 3K a month for that. Remember, almost everything is imported. To give you an idea, for a 4 member family, I used to spend around 3.5 to 4K per month on groceries a few years ago when it was much cheaper. But then again, I didn't really watch my expense that closely.

Cost for parking depends on the accommodation as above (villas obviously have parking) and your office area - it can be high but not prohibitive. Clothes are also varying across the range but generally on the more expensive side vs. Europe. Same for eating out. Factor in costs like vehicle repair & maintenance, petrol, salik toll fees, house repair services, cleaning or maid etc.