Rouge_karlos

Hi Guys, wonder if any of you knowledgeable folks can help out. I've found a job I've applied for and the salary is just over 1500BD a month. It seemed a lot to me compared to my current salary in the UK. (I'm a football coach). Basically I was just wondering if that will be enough for me and my partner and a 7 month old baby to get by. Ideally looking to stay in a compound nearish to the causeway. We don't tend to eat out a lot and are not big on fashion and alcohol etc just the occasional meal out. She wouldn't be working.

My second question is tattoos. How do they go down in BahrAin and in Saudi (will be commuting for work) I have quite a lot but non on hands and neck etc. My partner wouldn't be entering Saudi but she has quite a few too.

Any wisdom would be great fully received. Thanks for your time guys.
Karl.

Millhouse

Are you married?

Rouge_karlos

We'll be married by then.

TGFKASE

Well, that blocked Millies opportunity to extoll on the "Its illegal, you know' diatribe...

Millhouse

I wasn't going to go down that road - I just wanted to test the waters on the suicide girl.


Anyway... jokes aside - the tatoos are OK, but the salary isn't.

Rouge_karlos

Hah, don't think suicide girl levels of ink.
Really not great then? I thought £2800 post tax was quite decent. Is everything super expensive then? Shame.

Millhouse

Yeh, it's tight. I know it looks good but tricky.

If you didn't have a baby it would be easy. I caveat that this a bit by saying things may be a lot cheaper in Bahrain than UAE (i.e. rent and child care) so things may be easier.

Can Mrs Rouge work?

flares

Maybe do it for the experience whilst the bairn is still small. Much more difficult in a few years time.

DXBtoDOH

Without knowing too much about cost of housing in Bahrain I would say it could be doable. If you don't mind not saving a single penny and being somewhat frugal. Get a small flat, not a villa. Drive a cheap rental. Eat lots of cheap curries not flash restaurants. Don't drink too much. It's still possible to have fun. Beaches and the sun are free.

Do it for 1-2 years and leave. Never get into debt.

Rouge_karlos

Cheers for the input guys. Certainly gives me something to think about. My Mrs wouldn't be working so I guess we'd save on childcare. Been looking at places online but so many seem to be big 3/4 beds. We only really need 2. We don't have tons of stuff anyhow as tend to be outdoors a lot. I wouldn't fancy doing it forever just thought 1-2 years would be great. With regard to debt would any outstanding UK debts be an issue? Nothing huge but a mortgage we'd still have as we'd rent out our UK house and a a couple K credit card debt. Nothing major.

scot47

When children are school-age this is much more difficult because of school fees. This is doable but you will not save anything. As another poster says be careful of debt and locally-issued credit cards.


make sure that you have proper health cover for you and family.

Rouge_karlos

I wasn't really bothered about saving. Just wanted to try something new and experience a new part of the world / culture. We'd return to UK before school age anyhow. And debt wise i now avoid credit finance like the plague

Meow

Boring predictable post alert.

Just because you receive the salary in Bahrain free of tax that does not necessarily mean you won't have any UK tax liabilities. That depends on date of exist and how long you remain non-resident. As an example, if you go for a few months, decide you don't like it and return to the UK, all of your overseas income is likely to be subject to UK income tax as you'd still be deemed UK resident for tax purposes.

I think the salary is very low for three people and not a good idea at all unless accommodation is provided.

Rouge_karlos

I read that somewhere. So would that mean I would have to stay in Bahrain tax year to tax year? Or regardless when I came back it would be subject to taxation?
That's a shame. Us 3 get by at the minute on about £1800 and that's including mortgage,council tax, 2 cars, football season ticket, mobile phone bills etc. I didn't realise BAhrain was more expensive then UK. Will certainly give it second thoughts thank you.

Bahtatboy

All "civilsed" parts of the ME are more expensive than UK. You can be frugal, but choose your friends there carefully: many are on decent packages, and if you try to keep up with them then your £2,800 pcm will disappear very quickly. And to reinforce what's been said before: make sure you have good health insurance for your family -- check what it covers, because on that income you won't be able to afford to pay for anything that's not covered.