too your time getting here

Eeyore I really am not bothered about how much debt people have, let them get on with it. If I lived anywhere in the world and had to get a bank loan to pay my rent I would be worried.

Gareth/Eeyore was bitter then and is clearly still bitter now.

Stand by for really long threads picking every comment on here to pieces overlaid with 'woe is me I don't earn enough'.



I'd love to be wrong, but the few comeback posts are true to form...

sounds a lot like lionheart really

All I can say is that the folk that I meet and socialise with on a regular basis, including your goodself are debt free, of course they are obviously all lying through their back teeth to me and are up to their eyes in debt

Is this actually something you discuss? Of the people I speak with the subject has never come up.

No shame in having debts anyway - there is a lot to be said for spending someone else's money in a volatile region.

was at the hospital a while ago and got talking to the chashier guy. forget people not on featherbeds being in debt half of em dont have medical insurance.

now thats a terrifying prospect. personally we have always had bupa (or similar) when here, either company paid or paid ourselves. i cant imagine not having it. in our social circle i know of only 1 couple who dont have med insurance and i just cant get my head round it.


regarding debt, i would agree with eeyore there are a huge no of people here funding it all on debt, when speaking to the guy above he did mention a lot of people opted for cheaper treatments because they had no insurance and couldnt come up with the cash/credit to pay for treatments

... or maybe are on a pay and claim policy.

Yes there are quite a few people in debt, but there are also many, many people who have no debts at all and are living quite comfortably. It is not necessary to have debts to live a decent life in Dubai and most of my friends pay their rents themselves without taking out huge bank loans.

I speak to a great many people every year about their circumstances and the majority are not drowning in debts. Sorry to disappoint those who want to believe that.

Good point. For personal plans, as opposed to company-sponsored schemes, out-patients treatment is payable personally and reclaimable, unless pre-arranged.

asked about that and he said a lot are but remember you still need the form filled in etc if its not direct settlement and he mentioned a load never get any kind of claim form

Good point, and quite right, but three years ago that wasn't entirely true.

The slowdown, as it often does, has done wonders for bringing some common sense back into the Dubai mindset. If Dubai ever recovers, it will hopefully be on a more sustainable basis, which it certainly wasn't before.

hate to say it but meow you speak to a very select group. ie those who need advise on what and how to save its hardly a fully representative group. not an attack just sayin its a skewed sample

I've recently ended up on a pay and claim scheme (well technically it isn't but my health company is US based and not recognized by any hospital here) and I only ever have to submit receipts - no forms or anything. That said, I'm sure that is the exception not the rule.

Three years ago there were also many people living comfortably and not in debt. Things are certainly easier for many with the large rent decreases, but it was never as black and white as some claim.

Sure there are always those who live beyond their means, some because of unfortunate circumstances and some because they are idiots, but to consistently claim that the town is too expensive for everyone because you don't earn enough and are bitter is just daft and still really bloody dull.

Yes my clients fall largely into that group, but I also speak to a great many more people, of all backgrounds, to assist with debt management and many other issues.