JEDDAH PETE

When I check out these threads I am astounded how some people in Dubai can survive, obviously everyone is not on the same money, but from reading these threads I am amazed people can afford to earn 15-20 K a month, housing excluded, car etc and afford to pay Dubai prices and save. I have not lived in Dubai so can not comment on the exact living costs but from my many visits it seems pretty pricey.

Living in Saudi there are far more restrictions but the pay and benefits seem on average quite considerably higher, it astounds me the amount of people who are moving to Dubai to clear their debts when they have a better chance in the magic kingdom!

Have I got the wrong end of the stick ?

Blue Cat

people would rather earn less and live somewhere civilised

JEDDAH PETE

Ouch ! ........

Slap it on the credit card !

Blue Cat

we don't have any debt thank you

Debowing

Dear Pete - if jeddah works for you and you are making good money then you should be happy. I remember back in 96 when I first came to dubai - there were some brits coming down from the plane - they remarked and i quote (Saudi - its the dungeon - the pits) - Anyway if you like jeddah -it's not that far to come to dubai for a holiday sometimes....

As for salary - BETTER BROKE IN DUBAI THAT RICH IN JEDDAH.

Meow

Yes, because no one in Dubai earns more than 20K per month.


You can stay living in the Middle Ages. We'll remain in 1910 with our booze and pork.

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klaus3974

The Kingdom? No Thank You.

I have a lovely wife and daughter. So... no thank you again.

Euc-

Yeah we must be crazy that we´re not all living in a place where women can´t drive, you can get absolutely no alcohol, racism is considered normal, men can´t go to the mall alone in the weekends or evenings and so on.

Silly us..

Amazing Grace

Its not for everyone, but dont knock until you try it. Sure there are no clubs and pubs and places to eat out but at the end of the day your social life is exactly what you want it or dont want it to be. We worked in a place in Saudi which was no where even close to anything Jeddah has, our biggest store was Grand Stores. After 4.5 very happy and busy years working there we came back from our time there and refurbed and re-roofed our house and paid for it in cash with some left over.

Jeddah Pete if you are enjoying it as much as you can do then enjoy, Cyprus is only a 2 hour flight for a bit of R&R. We did it often.

JEDDAH PETE

Thanks for your responses, I did not expect so many negatives... Was only putting another option out there. Everyone knows Dubai has lots going for it. But I am sure there is a fair bit of negative also.

Saudi may not be for everyone, but Jeddah is a pretty laid back place, the comments about men not allowed in Malls is Rubbish. Also every week I am at one of the consulates, so getting a drink is no problem either, except it only costs 150 SR with food thrown in.

My earlier comments were not aimed at you guys but the new people looking to the middle east for work. Jeddah is a great option, I am sorry a lot of you guys have had a bad experience.

Amazing Grace

Perhaps some of the negative comments are from people who have not actually been in KSA. I was in Khamis Mushayt and had a great time, social life was hectic and great fun. We used to play rugby against a team up from Jeddah and then retired to the club for "refreshments". We had 160 people help us celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary 10 years ago to the day. We sat on the Rec Hall steps listening to first prayer call.

Absolute baldidash about men not being allowed in the malls, my husband used to take the nurses into the souq regularly with an escape plan everytime when the matawahs were sighted

Jeddah today is very laid back compared to what it was like back in 1996, I dont think I would like to do it again, getting too long in the tooth but our time there was great fun.

I like visiting Dubai to see friends but I dont think I would like to live there, but then again I might be wrong

klaus3974

Sorry, not trying to be negative. I think the Kingdom is great to save and also for some people but everytime somebody approaches me with an offer and I ask them how about my wife? They always answer the same: the consulates and compound organize parties and coffee mornings. So... not an option for us.

commander

yea, not for us as a family, but each to their own. Whatever drives you i suppose.

We have family over there justnow and after listening to some of the stories (from 2 teenagers) i wouldnt move there if i could help it. Never say never mind, because if the only way i could support my family was to take a job there, then of course id consider it.

lionheart

...and Jeddah is only a hop, skip and a jump to Addis Ababa and/or Nairobi for some recreational fun.

Meow

I may be hopelessly out of date but Addis Ababa (or indeed anywhere in Ethiopia) isn't a place I think of as a fun destination!

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