Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

Hi all

My wife and I are considering a move to Bahrain and are currently in negotiations with a prospective employer. We are pretty comfortable from a lifestyle and personal perspective on the move but have some questions on living costs and expected salary.

We at present have a very comfortable lifestyle here in OZ and also have a number of investment properties that we'll need to keep funding (rent not enough to cover mortgage costs). So, we want to know if the following estimates we are budgeting for Bahrain are OK:

Rent & Utilities for a 3 bed villa with pool - BD15K to BD18K per annum

Car - BD5 to BD6K (for leasing a 2nd hand German 4WD including running costs) per annum

Living Costs (food, basic entertainment but no alcohol) - BD12K to BD15K per annum

Cheers
HEK

Re: Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

I forgot to add the salary question as well:

I will be coming into a fairly senior role as a lawyer (not partner) - around 9 years PQE

My expectation is around US$195K as a package probably broken down as follows:
US$150K base salary
US$35K housing allowance
US$10K car allowance
plus other benefits I would expect include
-return flights for self and spouse once a year
-full medical cover
-one off relocation allowance

Is this reasonable or are my expectations too high (or low!!)

Cheers
HEK

Re: Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

Hi

I moved to Bahrain in Feb this year, it took a while for me to settle but I am living in a great apartment and lots of aussies here.

I work in the education industry so I cant advice you on the salary package but it sounds reasonable.

I am finding the living costs similar to Aus but the rents are a lot higher for something decent, if it is only your wife and yourself you could consider an apartment there a lots of nice apartments here.

If you want further info you can PM me.

lo_co

Re: Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

Thanks lo_co

The package I mentioned was only what I think I would be happy moving for. I should hopefully have a better idea of the exact package on offer in the next few days so I will definitely be coming back to you for more advice.

We do have a 16 month old girl and plan to have more so that was my reason for wanting a villa.

cheers
hek

Re: Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

Hi there Hek,
hubby & I moved here a few weeks before lo_co (also Aussie), just wanted to mention that you may get better responses on the Bahrain section of the expatwoman site http://www.expatwoman.com/vbulletin/...?s=&forumid=16 there seems to be more BAH info than what i've found on here, if you do some searches there is decent info.
HTH

Re: Moving to Bahrain - Living Costs and Salary
 

thanks macteepee