Abudhabi2018

Gavtek

Can't judge the package without knowing what the job is. If you're middle to upper middle management, it's a good package. If you're a CEO, not so much. Either way, it's more than sufficient if your school fees are covered. Cost of living is much higher though, if the package is not a significant increase on your UK package, I wouldn't bother unless you particularly want to move to Abu Dhabi.

Al Reef is ok, everyone I know who moved there did so because the rents are cheaper more than any other reason, none of them are unhappy there. Rents are dropping all over the place though, you may be able to find somewhere comparable in Al Raha Gardens for 150k if that's similarly convenient for work/school.

scrubbedexpat141

50,000 a month
+ Schooling - fully covered or an allowance?
+ Medical

So:
50,000 monthly.
- Housing 12,500
- Cars 5,000
- Flights 1,500
- UK money 10,000
= 29,000 left
= £5,800 for savings, beer, whores, skateboards, holidays, new kicks.

Depends how that compares to back home and if that money is an improvement or similar after you've paid rent / mortgage and transport where you are.
If it's a chunk more then it's probably worth the jump, if it's the same it's just whether you want sunshine or not. If it's less most would say don't bother.

Pongo

scrubbedexpat141

Food shops
TV
Internet
Mobile
etc

All that stuff is so broadly similar to the UK that comparing them is just making the lists longer than they need to be.

Abudhabi2018

Thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated!

Gavtek - It's a supervisory role, one step below management. Thanks for the recommendation on Al Raha gardens. In your opinion is this a better location than Al Reef? My office is near al Maryah Island so driving time looks to be similar from both locations.

Scamp - We get an allownace of 40k AED for schooling for up to three children. By the time our kids start school our UK costs will be around half the current level (loans/mortgages paid off).

I forgot to mention that we also get an annual home leave allowance which should cover 2 trips home to the UK each year. There is an annual bonus scheme and the relocation allowance is more than enough for us to transport our belongings from the UK, buy furniture over there and have plenty left over.

I think we'll be able to save some money but not a huge amount. The key things for us is my wife can work less, (she works full time in the UK), kids will go to nice school (can't afford private education in the UK) and we like the idea of the way of living and the climate.

My main concern at this point is choosing the right location and dealing with the traffic. Do any of you know what times of the day the traffic is at it's worst? I was hoping I could start early/finish early to avoid the worst of it.

helloworld2014

Al Reef v Al Raha is pretty much the same in regards to traffic. We live in Al Reef and it'll take you around 20 (no traffic) - 30 (with traffic) minutes going in and getting out from Al Maryah Island - usual rush / school run hours apply!

hw2014

Abudhabi2018

Thanks helloworld2014.
It's good to hear from someone who lives in Al Reef. Have you lived there a long time and would you recommend the area for an expat family with young children? I take it rush hours tend to be 7-9am and then 3-5pm? Or thereabouts?

helloworld2014

Hello,

We've lived here for just over 3 years - our son (10) loves it, we live an apartment (my wife's employer's pays for it), we have 2/3 pools that we can use, a small supermarket, costa, starbucks, fast food restaurants, chemist and more 2 minutes walk away. It's great for kids as they all congregate near to the supermarket area in the evenings - with open space to run around in, and a small park etc. It's good for my wife's commute into work and sons school trip (bateen area - 25 mins away, my wifes employer's pay for his school fees), and for my work commute in Dubai - at the beginning of Sheikh Zayed Road (45-50 mins) away. Everything is "25 minutes or so away" from Al Reef in Abu Dhabi - the Corniche, Yas Waterworld, Al Mayah Island, Yas Island etc etc - Yas Mall (the best Mall in Abu Dhabi) is 10 mins away. Good location for the airport too, 10 mins. And also for those staycations and visits to Dubai on a weekend.

Yeah - rush hour is as you mention. I travel into Abu Dhabi quite regulary in rush hour for work, and I can get pretty much anywhere in about 25/30 minutes regardless of traffic in the morning evening - occasionally there are one or two issues on the Al Reef roundabout - usually when there is an accident, or the police block one of the exits as there is a palace 3 minutes away - but this usually clears after 5 minutes or so.

hw2014

Pongo

Abudhabi2018

scrubbedexpat141

Food shops aren't optional, nor would electric / gas / water. It's just comparing stuff for the sake of it I think. May as well leave those to one side and keep the calculations smaller, in my opinion.

I think our municipality fee is 5% here in Dubai, not sure what it is for a villa. Managed to avoid it the first couple of years.

Not much point in contacting an estate agent until you're here basically. Places go in hours / days.
When you do arrive, get an estate agent to drive you round and show you loads of places. Make them work for their 5%.
One cheque can help in negotiations for sure, you might see some places advertised at "150-4 chq, 145-2 chq, 140-1 chq" for example.

Abudhabi2018

Thanks Scamp. Great advice on making the estate agent work for their 5%. My employer provides accomodation for the first month so it gives us time to look at plenty properties.

reddiva

When you say you want your Wife to work less do you mean find her a part time role? if so,part time roles are like unicorns here and most if not all people work 45 hours a week. I work longer hours here than i ever did in the UK

Abudhabi2018

Thanks for the advice on part time work. She works in marketing so it may be she can do some work from home for some research based companies.