jtimkey

hi all,
im on my way to OZ but i have been offered a job in saudi which i may do for a year or so..
how much is a 3 bed place in a nice compound with pool etc...
cheers
john

AkramSMG

It depends on the compound you gonna live in
in AL-Aqaryah Compound it will cost you about 35000 to 50000 Saudi Riyals per year
in other compounds like AL-Hamra or AL-Fal , i think it will cost you much more you can say 70000 or may be more not sure about it

Are you australian?

jtimkey

Thanks for that info,
ill try to find them on the web..
im from the uk..

Jezza

Why would you want to go to Australia?

I can understand wanting to leave the UK (taxes, weather etc.) but why Aus?

jtimkey

Just like the way of life up north queensland really.
was gonna use the saudi job as a stop gap but its only $8k a month and dont know weither its worth the hassle..

Jezza

My experience of Aus is the salaries there are quite low and I don't know what you do but surely your $8k is enough to live on for a while until you find something else. You should try Asia; unless you don;t like asians it's a great place.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Why not try Dubai, lots going on there. Or HK is good too.

dunroving

Are you kidding? $8k US? A month? That would be tax-free in Saudi too, right? So why isn't it worth the hassle? Some people would kill for that sort of salary.

jtimkey

well i would need a decent villa that would cost me 70000 a year because i have 2 kids and a wife who likes the good life..
wouldnt leave me a lot to live on would it ?

Jezza

If you need a villa at $70,000 a year then I would carry on to Australia and find what you think you can get there. I have a wife and two kids too and we have been used to 'the high life' in Asia for many years but not needing to spend that on accommodation.

You must be one of those 'bankers' we see with salaries and expectations designed along the lines of a Nasa space mission.

I guess you will also be looking to spend $50,000 a year on a Ferrari or Lamborghini too.

Salaries in the M.E. are reasonable but I doubt you will find what you need. Better to spend your money on the ticket to Aus as that will also cost you a bunch in First Class for the whole family.

Good luck in Aus, let us know what sort of work you do as we all might like to have a career change.

jtimkey

no what i mean is 70k SA in saudi a year..
i thought that would take a big chuck out of the $8kUS just for accomodation and leave us with not a lot to live on ?
or am i getting my figures muddled ?
i defo not a rich banker a lowley IT person infact

Jezza

70k Suadi Riyals a year is about USD18k which is USD1,500 per month. That's what I'm looking at spending in Dubai and that's reasonable. You should remember that the bigger the place, the bigger the running costs. Set yourself a budget though and I believe the USD8k should be OK if you want the experience.

Your decision should be 'do I want the experience' and then everything else will fall into place. You also need to decide whether your wife and kids can cope with the experience too. Guess your kids are pre-school which won't cost much. My kids were born in Malaysia and we all had a fantastic experience.

Be careful with currencies though. The $ symbol tends to be used very generically and is confusing. To be clear, use the 3 character codes (USD, GBP, SGD, SAR etc.). If you want a good currency converter, go to www.xe.net/ucc and you will find every world currency.

dunroving

Have you looked into the implications of taking a wife and 2 kids to Saudi, especially at this time? These boards have plenty of poeple who moved family (or just themselves) across the world and then HATED it. Some of them did their research, and just found that living it wasn't the same as reading about it (or unexpected things happened, like they couldn't get a job). Others just saw dollar signs or just fancied something different, and had no idea what to expect.

My brother is trying to leave Saudi right now. His apartment was blown up in May, and his daughter was pretty traumatized by the whole thing (though could have been a lot worse). Since then, with the problems over there, they're almost prisoners in their compound, because they're afraid to make sitting ducks of themselves by going out.

And lastly, of course, I hope your wife knows she won't be able to drive a car or go out dressed in shorts, etc.

You may already be aware of all of this, of course. How old are your kids? Have you looked into schools?

jtimkey

sounds worse and worse... i will go staright to OZ i think.