Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Mar 25th 2019, 4:36 am
#16
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Kids are resilient.. Don't worry about uprooting them .
My son moved at 7. He settled in great. Hates the weather though - rest of it is about the same. Remember life is about people, communication and feelings. Not stuff and savings.
I go back to the UK everymonth. Truth is i think life is hard there but people deal with it .They do complain a lot though but at the same time life goes on. There's lots of low cost family options available too. Get a dog.
My son moved at 7. He settled in great. Hates the weather though - rest of it is about the same. Remember life is about people, communication and feelings. Not stuff and savings.
I go back to the UK everymonth. Truth is i think life is hard there but people deal with it .They do complain a lot though but at the same time life goes on. There's lots of low cost family options available too. Get a dog.
Mar 25th 2019, 4:40 am
#17
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
What if you got a job. 5k a month as a teaching assistant in a school makes a massive difference.
Mar 25th 2019, 11:17 am
#18
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Millhouse love the dog suggestion, if in doubt get a dog 
I do have a BA in English Literatue from a non-uk uni and a CELTA certificate in teaching English with teaching experience in London. However never found anything part time that fits around my kids school hours esp with husband not home during the week.
Looked into private tutoring as well as I’m bilingual in English and Arabic but that lasted only a few months.
When we first arrived I had actually applied for TA jobs in my local area without much luck. Might be worth looking around once again if that would sway hubby towards staying in Dubai, now that it’s come to this. A job part time like that would be ideal for me as it works around the children’s school hours and means I can be back home without needing a nanny.
I do have a BA in English Literatue from a non-uk uni and a CELTA certificate in teaching English with teaching experience in London. However never found anything part time that fits around my kids school hours esp with husband not home during the week.
Looked into private tutoring as well as I’m bilingual in English and Arabic but that lasted only a few months.
When we first arrived I had actually applied for TA jobs in my local area without much luck. Might be worth looking around once again if that would sway hubby towards staying in Dubai, now that it’s come to this. A job part time like that would be ideal for me as it works around the children’s school hours and means I can be back home without needing a nanny.
Mar 25th 2019, 12:06 pm
#19
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
ompan thanks for your feedback. Yes in terms of MY personal standard of living I would be downgrading from a 4 bed villa to a 2/3 bed house in the outskirts of London. Not to mention the poor weather which is a big deal for me personally. (Plus the headache of uprooting the children once more, and being worried what kind of schools we get in, no easy feat you must know).
The real issue as Millhouse has figured out, is that my husband has had enough of the nature of his job here. He couldn’t care less about this lovely villa we are currently renting.
I get that he would be able to appreciate it more if he could in fact live inside it more often as he said, and not just on the weekends
Neither does he appreciate the ‘good’ schools here. He would rather pay the high income tax in London as he feels they are paying for much needed council services that he benefits from, than for a profit school company. He also wants his kids to experience ‘real life’ and not the bubble life over here.
So basically he can’t see no positives to Dubai and on top of that as carcajou said maybe it’s the end of the road for us
(
My post was trying to understand and get confirmation if we would be better off financially on 85k per year in the UK, compared to 100k per year here in Dubai.
Because the cost of utilities, clothes, groceries and even car related expenses in London (if we get a regular car, not a 4x4) are that much cheaper than in Dubai. Then it ends up being such a marginal difference between 85k London vs 100k Dubai for a family of four. ‘Not worth it being abroad if we cannot put away any savings, and we are better off on home ground’ says hubby. How to argue with that??? Are we satisfied living a comfortable luxurious lifestyle if we cannot in fact save for a rainy day?? He wants to be able to pay off the mortgage on our small flat (which we’re renting out), not just the interest and he cannot.
But my worry is that on 85k back home, we would have downgraded drastically (well for me), and still not be able to make any savings even whilst living in London. But at least we’ll have a better work life balance? Maybe, can’t be any worse than this nonstop travel I suppose.
In terms of job satisfaction I have tried to ask him to talk to his seniors about his constant travel, but he doesn’t want to threaten to leave because it might damage his future job prospects esp if he hasn’t got anything lined up yet. He doesn’t see his position with them open to change as someone said on here, the majority of the work is with Saudi clients, hence ‘all roads lead to Saudi’ in his line of work.
Best of luck for you in Muscat, I hope you enjoy it and it’s financially viable for you as well, certainly will be more than Dubai
The real issue as Millhouse has figured out, is that my husband has had enough of the nature of his job here. He couldn’t care less about this lovely villa we are currently renting.
I get that he would be able to appreciate it more if he could in fact live inside it more often as he said, and not just on the weekends
Neither does he appreciate the ‘good’ schools here. He would rather pay the high income tax in London as he feels they are paying for much needed council services that he benefits from, than for a profit school company. He also wants his kids to experience ‘real life’ and not the bubble life over here.
So basically he can’t see no positives to Dubai and on top of that as carcajou said maybe it’s the end of the road for us
(My post was trying to understand and get confirmation if we would be better off financially on 85k per year in the UK, compared to 100k per year here in Dubai.
Because the cost of utilities, clothes, groceries and even car related expenses in London (if we get a regular car, not a 4x4) are that much cheaper than in Dubai. Then it ends up being such a marginal difference between 85k London vs 100k Dubai for a family of four. ‘Not worth it being abroad if we cannot put away any savings, and we are better off on home ground’ says hubby. How to argue with that??? Are we satisfied living a comfortable luxurious lifestyle if we cannot in fact save for a rainy day?? He wants to be able to pay off the mortgage on our small flat (which we’re renting out), not just the interest and he cannot.
But my worry is that on 85k back home, we would have downgraded drastically (well for me), and still not be able to make any savings even whilst living in London. But at least we’ll have a better work life balance? Maybe, can’t be any worse than this nonstop travel I suppose.
In terms of job satisfaction I have tried to ask him to talk to his seniors about his constant travel, but he doesn’t want to threaten to leave because it might damage his future job prospects esp if he hasn’t got anything lined up yet. He doesn’t see his position with them open to change as someone said on here, the majority of the work is with Saudi clients, hence ‘all roads lead to Saudi’ in his line of work.
Best of luck for you in Muscat, I hope you enjoy it and it’s financially viable for you as well, certainly will be more than Dubai
Mar 25th 2019, 12:16 pm
#20
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
You might have to question a lot of things and while you might be living in a nice villa now, it's just a rental and you aren't saving anything. But the way it sounds is that you might end up unhappy in London and won't save either, so I would seriously look at other locations. You already mention that the weather will be a big deal for you, so a move to London will mean less outdoor space. Winter is winter but even if the summers in London are generally warmer and sunnier than other parts of the UK, you could be far better off in another location where you get more space and actually have a garden to enjoy the nicer days. Since I moved to Ireland, I spend so much more time outdoors compared to Kent because of many things. House with garden compared to apartment. shorter commute, longer summer evenings and because we bought during crash, obviously don't have a huge mortgage which helps too. Of course every life is different but if you were living in let's say Cornwall with lower salary, you might still both end up happier and have more spending money to go on holidays etc.?
Mar 25th 2019, 12:19 pm
#21
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Hubby change job in Dubai and wife get a part time job:-)
Mar 26th 2019, 9:33 am
#22
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 10
Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
ompan thanks for your feedback. Yes in terms of MY personal standard of living I would be downgrading from a 4 bed villa to a 2/3 bed house in the outskirts of London. Not to mention the poor weather which is a big deal for me personally. (Plus the headache of uprooting the children once more, and being worried what kind of schools we get in, no easy feat you must know).
The real issue as Millhouse has figured out, is that my husband has had enough of the nature of his job here. He couldn’t care less about this lovely villa we are currently renting.
I get that he would be able to appreciate it more if he could in fact live inside it more often as he said, and not just on the weekends
Neither does he appreciate the ‘good’ schools here. He would rather pay the high income tax in London as he feels they are paying for much needed council services that he benefits from, than for a profit school company. He also wants his kids to experience ‘real life’ and not the bubble life over here.
So basically he can’t see no positives to Dubai and on top of that as carcajou said maybe it’s the end of the road for us(
My post was trying to understand and get confirmation if we would be better off financially on 85k per year in the UK, compared to 100k per year here in Dubai.
Because the cost of utilities, clothes, groceries and even car related expenses in London (if we get a regular car, not a 4x4) are that much cheaper than in Dubai. Then it ends up being such a marginal difference between 85k London vs 100k Dubai for a family of four. ‘Not worth it being abroad if we cannot put away any savings, and we are better off on home ground’ says hubby. How to argue with that??? Are we satisfied living a comfortable luxurious lifestyle if we cannot in fact save for a rainy day?? He wants to be able to pay off the mortgage on our small flat (which we’re renting out), not just the interest and he cannot.
But my worry is that on 85k back home, we would have downgraded drastically (well for me), and still not be able to make any savings even whilst living in London. But at least we’ll have a better work life balance? Maybe, can’t be any worse than this nonstop travel I suppose.
In terms of job satisfaction I have tried to ask him to talk to his seniors about his constant travel, but he doesn’t want to threaten to leave because it might damage his future job prospects esp if he hasn’t got anything lined up yet. He doesn’t see his position with them open to change as someone said on here, the majority of the work is with Saudi clients, hence ‘all roads lead to Saudi’ in his line of work.
Best of luck for you in Muscat, I hope you enjoy it and it’s financially viable for you as well, certainly will be more than Dubai
The real issue as Millhouse has figured out, is that my husband has had enough of the nature of his job here. He couldn’t care less about this lovely villa we are currently renting.
I get that he would be able to appreciate it more if he could in fact live inside it more often as he said, and not just on the weekends
Neither does he appreciate the ‘good’ schools here. He would rather pay the high income tax in London as he feels they are paying for much needed council services that he benefits from, than for a profit school company. He also wants his kids to experience ‘real life’ and not the bubble life over here.
So basically he can’t see no positives to Dubai and on top of that as carcajou said maybe it’s the end of the road for us
(My post was trying to understand and get confirmation if we would be better off financially on 85k per year in the UK, compared to 100k per year here in Dubai.
Because the cost of utilities, clothes, groceries and even car related expenses in London (if we get a regular car, not a 4x4) are that much cheaper than in Dubai. Then it ends up being such a marginal difference between 85k London vs 100k Dubai for a family of four. ‘Not worth it being abroad if we cannot put away any savings, and we are better off on home ground’ says hubby. How to argue with that??? Are we satisfied living a comfortable luxurious lifestyle if we cannot in fact save for a rainy day?? He wants to be able to pay off the mortgage on our small flat (which we’re renting out), not just the interest and he cannot.
But my worry is that on 85k back home, we would have downgraded drastically (well for me), and still not be able to make any savings even whilst living in London. But at least we’ll have a better work life balance? Maybe, can’t be any worse than this nonstop travel I suppose.
In terms of job satisfaction I have tried to ask him to talk to his seniors about his constant travel, but he doesn’t want to threaten to leave because it might damage his future job prospects esp if he hasn’t got anything lined up yet. He doesn’t see his position with them open to change as someone said on here, the majority of the work is with Saudi clients, hence ‘all roads lead to Saudi’ in his line of work.
Best of luck for you in Muscat, I hope you enjoy it and it’s financially viable for you as well, certainly will be more than Dubai
Mar 27th 2019, 11:49 am
#24
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Thanks all, unlikely he will find a job in Dubai better than the one he’s in now, it’s been such a slow start to the year.
Am considering moving back to the UK with the kids on my own for a year before hubby joins us. Hope we are making the right choice and that it gives us a chance to save up abit.
Am considering moving back to the UK with the kids on my own for a year before hubby joins us. Hope we are making the right choice and that it gives us a chance to save up abit.
Mar 27th 2019, 12:21 pm
#25
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Thanks all, unlikely he will find a job in Dubai better than the one he’s in now, it’s been such a slow start to the year.
Am considering moving back to the UK with the kids on my own for a year before hubby joins us. Hope we are making the right choice and that it gives us a chance to save up abit.
Am considering moving back to the UK with the kids on my own for a year before hubby joins us. Hope we are making the right choice and that it gives us a chance to save up abit.
Maybe because your friends and family are there but even if you were living in let's say Bristol (never been & just example) you are still only less than 2 hours away from London.
Mar 27th 2019, 12:42 pm
#26
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Moses2013 possibly in a few years after moving back to London we might consider moving out of London. It all depends where hubby finds work. I see no point in him being stuck in a longer commute and me living somewhere and being miserably lonely. Would feel like I still was living abroad minus the great weather. Would rather in that case we all move back into our tiny flat in London (all squashed up), and save on rent instead.
Mar 27th 2019, 1:13 pm
#27
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Moses2013 possibly in a few years after moving back to London we might consider moving out of London. It all depends where hubby finds work. I see no point in him being stuck in a longer commute and me living somewhere and being miserably lonely. Would feel like I still was living abroad minus the great weather. Would rather in that case we all move back into our tiny flat in London (all squashed up), and save on rent instead.
Mar 27th 2019, 3:36 pm
#28
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
What about trimming costs in Dubai in order to save money? Apartment not villa, smaller car etc...might be preferable to "squashing into a flat" in London?
Mar 27th 2019, 6:52 pm
#29
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Moving to the Uk and leaving him here to fund the wife's comfortable existance in the uk sounds like a path to suicide or the common expat combo of prositutes and resentment.. Only May could dream up a worse compromise.
Mar 27th 2019, 7:18 pm
#30
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Re: Hubby wants to move back to London from Dubai
Millhouse that is unfair to say. I’m the one who’s agreed to move back to his home country despite being happier in the Middle East where I’m from originally. When I married hubby at just 25 years old, I left my all my friends and family to start a new life abroad in the UK. It was hard for me but I adjusted. Now I’m being forced to move back because he’s so unhappy over here in Dubai. Even if we downgraded, he would still be unhappy and want to move back to London, if not this year then in the next three years. I’m not going to ‘live it up’ don’t u worry, I’ll be too busy trying to be in catchment of oversubscribed secondary schools to go drown my sorrows at the local pub.