Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

Hi Everyone,
I'm back after not reading for a couple of weeks.
Need your input please, today if you don't mind.
I might be moving to Dubai, having often visited over the last 22 years. I'm currently living in Shanghai, and I wondered what you thought your daily costs were on the basis of the following. Note that I see you can get decent 2 beds for 100-140k, and a car will be provided for me. So here's my costs, what are yours? Quote in AED please.

1) Spending total - RMB7000 or US$1000/month
I usually don't spend more than this. I eat out every day at lunch time, go out at weekends, this includes paying for my girlfriend fully too. Usually eat in at night time.

2) Maid, part time, around 20-25hrs/month - RMB450/month or $65.98

3) Big Mac Meal - RMB23 or $3.37

4) Pint/bottle of Lager in a bar - RMB40-80 or $5.86-$11.73

5) Cocktail in a bar - RMB50-120 or $7.33-$17.59

6) Average pub meal for 2 people (drinks additional) - RMB160-250 or $23.46-$36.65

7) Coffee in Starbucks - RMB30-40 or $4.39-$5.86

8) Petrol - RMB26/litre or $3.81/litre

Appreciate all your help! If there is anything else significant that you find you spend on please let me know.
Cheers! Keep smiling :D
MP

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

1) Spending total - RMB7000 or US$1000/month
I usually don't spend more than this. I eat out every day at lunch time, go out at weekends, this includes paying for my girlfriend fully too. Usually eat in at night time. No idea sorry

2) Maid, part time, around 20-25hrs/month - RMB450/month or $65.98, you get part time maids from an agency average 35AED per hour, minimum number of hours is 4
3) Big Mac Meal - RMB23 or $3.37 - don't know but a big tasty meal is around 20AED
4) Pint/bottle of Lager in a bar - RMB40-80 or $5.86-$11.73 - about 25 to 30AED (loads of happy hours though around town)
5) Cocktail in a bar - RMB50-120 or $7.33-$17.59 - On average about 45AED, but if you go to Trader Vics, they have happy hour every night from 6pm to 8 pm
6) Average pub meal for 2 people (drinks additional) - RMB160-250 or $23.46-$36.65 - about 130AED for two without drinks (look out for the entertainer though buy one main meal, get another free)
7) Coffee in Starbucks - RMB30-40 or $4.39-$5.86 - not sure about starbucks but gloria jeans is 16AED for a medium cappucino

8) Petrol - RMB26/litre or $3.81/litre - don't know, I have an explorer and it costs me around 100AED to fill up.

hope this helps...

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

You forgot the water & electricity plus 5% of your annual rent added on to your W & E bills.

We live in a 3-bed small villa and have no kids ......... but a live-in maid and our electricity/water/dewa bill is approx 2,500 dhs with 1042 dhs being the tax on the house :curse:

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

Thanks SG,
Can you clarify? Do you mean that you don't pay water/electricity/gas separately, as you use it?
Where does that AED1024 tax come from in tax-less Dubai?

I pay from RMB250-500 in electricity, Water RMB 60, Gas RMB 40

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

The 5% of the annual rent is a housing fee to the Government. It used to be separate I believe - but a lot of people didn't pay it, so now they've incorporated it in the Water & Electricity bill which comes monthly.

Haha - yes it's a tax free country in as far as you don't pay any tax on your salary, but believe me - you pay tax on everything else especially when you consider that ex-pats pay something like 4 times as much as locals for maids, rents, water, electricity etc. There are no houses with mains gas (as far as I know) - you buy gas bottles/cylinders when and as you need them..... they don't really cost much - I think it's something like 120 dhs and mine lasts about 2 months (depends on how much I bake;))

Our electricity bill always seems to be much higher than anybody else's - but I work from home so perhaps because the house has got a central a/c unit for the sitting/dining/hallway, I'm using more than usual..... no idea - we had the same problem in AD which was cheaper incidentally. But then booze was cheaper there too - here we found out you pay some 36% tax on each bottle :curse:

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

Anymore benchmark prices guys or do you agree with those above? You can number 1-8 with just the amounts if you like.
Cheers :-)

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

I'll throw in a few, quoted in dollar equivalents,

Big mac meal cost around 17 AED, which is about $4.50

A standard bottle of Heineken or Corona at a standard bar is 25-30 AED, or $8-$11. Cocktails more expensive. At a fancy bar pay as much as 75 AED for a cocktail ($20).

Eating out is what you make of it. Cheap Indian/Pakistani food (very good), from 25 to 50 AED/head (8 to $13). Western style restaurants are 60 to 100 AED per head ($15 to $27), not including alcohol. I eat out daily for lunch, and spend between 10 AED ($2.70 USD) and 50 AED ($13). Very mediocre Chinese food in Dubai, sorry to say.

The all-drinks inclusive Friday brunches are between 170 and 300 AED ($45 to $81 USD)

Maid cost vary. Full time live in can be had for 1500 AED/month ($400) but you are responsible for health insurance and one flight home as well. My twice-weekly maid comes in for 10 hours a week (40 a month) for 900 AED ($245). This includes all the ironing, laundry and cleaning in a four-bed villa. Note: maid quality vary, so some are worth more for the money than others. If it's just the two of you in a standard apartment in the Marina, you can get away with a maid in 5 hour a week, at half what I pay.

DEWA is expensive, but it's noticeably cheaper in an apartment than in a villa. We have an older villa and we pay the Emirati landlord directly, so perhaps we get a reduced rate? But DEWA does certainly vary from villa to villa, and it's not based on size of the villa or usage, and I have no idea why.

A full tank of petrol in a Pajero or Prado is about 100 AED ($27 USD).

Re: Monthly Costs in Dubai - Top 8?
 

Thanks for your time Ethos... ;-)