How much does it cost to live in Dubai?

This is a question I get asked a lot. There is an expectation that expats around the world are living the life of riley with over inflated salaries and benefits.

There are two types of expats, those on a local contract and those being paid from their country of origin. For those on local contracts, especially in Dubai, they pay no tax on their salaries, but they are also not allowed to make investments in their home country and pensions aren't available in the UAE. My hubby is on a local contract and makes his pension payments to the company in the UK, but as he isn't employed in the UK he has to make the company contribution also. For others they have to deal with the fluctuating exchange rates, transfer fees and the delay in their salary reaching them.

Salaries may be higher than the UK, but for my husband his salary is based on 30 years service to his employers, stems from him having a degree and just being damned good at his job. There are also housing benefits and a car allowance plus 1 return flight for him, myself and the teen to the UK, but when you're paying school fees, which is the only option in both Dubai and in South Africa where we lived previously, or in our case boarding school fees, it doesn't actually stretch that far, we also pay a mortgage in the UK and although the house is rented out, it is often empty. Don't forget the exchange rate and the cost of transferring the money. We also make more than one trip a year to the UK and the teen comes out 3-4 times a year. We can only afford to buy and run 1 vehicle as we don't do credit cards and loans, never have and never will. Throw into the mix I haven't worked for the past 5 years, we are more than 1 salary down every year.

Being on a local contract has more benefits, mainly being there is no need to keep converting the currencies to work out how much things are going to cost. Although we do have to do that when we travel to the UK as we have no income over there.

It is an automatic response to want to convert and especially coming from South Africa we were in for an initial shock as for the first month we were spending Rand and not Dirhams.

Basically there is no way we can compare our income in South Africa to our income in Dubai. Everything is just 3 times as expensive here as it is over there. When we visited the UK we found it to be twice as expensive as South Africa especially as we were still spending the Rand.

Waitrose is everywhere over here and like the UK very expensive. I picked up a lettuce for AED25/£4.50. it was just an ordinary lettuce. I've now found that if I shop at Carrefour I can buy lettuce for AED10/£1.77

A Starbucks coffee is AED17/£3 a full tank of fuel for a BMW 5 Series was AED100/£17 fuel has increased by 25% since we arrived.

A taxi fare from Dubai Mall to home, through the city, at any time of the day or night is AED35/£6

The train or bus from the mall is AED10.50/£1.95. A pint of beer or glass of wine is AED55/£9. An average meal out is AED400/£70. A Big Mac will cost you AED12/£2.10. Cigarettes cost AED20/£3.40 a packet.

We pay AED17,500/£3,100 per month to rent our villa, there is little difference between living out in the suburbs or in an apartment in the Marina. Rent is also payable a year in advance and we are responsible for all utilities and municipality fees.

We have to pay road tolls, a fee to register the cat and dog. Oh don't forget the Medical Aid, it's not provided free by my husbands employers although they do contribute towards it. The Doctors charge AED100/£17 for a consolation which is not refundable and most practitioners take payment after each treatment and theres a slow and painful process to go through to claim your money back.

It is very difficult to make comparisons when you're paid on a local contract, you spend money differently when you live as an expat. We have relatively low electricity and water bills in the winter, yet the costs are huge in the summer with the air con running all day, around AED2,800/£500

Of course there are plenty of bargains to be found and many offers and deals available especially in the summer when there are less tourists and with the outside attractions, such as 2 for 1 deals with water parks and meals out.
Knock off designer gear is available throughout Satwa and Kamara, but that is off little interest to us. In the Creek and surrounding areas you can find the souks which are wonderful to visit if you want to buy kitchen items, material and have a dress made, a variety of souvenir shops, do your food and clothes shopping, visit the markets for fresh fruit and vegetables at more than half the price but with it being so hot in the summer, we haven't been down those places since the middle of June.
There are the equivalent Pound Stores such as Daiso found in the local and larger malls the AED7 stores, where you can buy stationery, party goods, make ups, cleaning chemicals and equipment, toys.

It just takes some time to find these places, through exploring or word of mouth, it takes time to get used to the new currency and it's actual value, the spending power of the Dirham.

The main thing to remember in Dubai and South Africa is that prices are pretty much standardised when it comes to global products that are manufactured locally and under licence. A bottle of Coke for example is AED9 regardless of wherever you buy it, unlike the UK where the price varies depending on location. i.e service station, cinema, garage, corner shop or supermarket where prices fluctuate greatly.

i'm not complaining about the cost or standard of living in Dubai, I'm merely answering some questions that are put to me on a regular basis.

What can I take into Canada? Luggage and Travel insurance

I'm off to Canada tomorrow for 3 weeks, staying with Catherine Burden, my twitter buddy and penal for the past 5 years, supporting me, through friendship, from my move from the UK to South Africa and now to Dubai.

I'm not providing any links for this post as carry on and checked in luggage restrictions and customs clearance do vary from airline to airline and airports. I'd hate to provide information that is updated by the time someone clicks on the link.

I'm flying with Emirates and have a rather generous luggage allowance of 2 x 23kg suitcases, cabin bag and handbag. I am not used to packing a 23kg suitcase, as my normal routes are usually 1 x 30kg and as an expat I value the additional 7kg allowances, especially when I travel with documents and gifts for family back home. Without all the additional items, I was able to pack a 23kg case with ease, which includes gifts for Catherine and family, wash bag (I usually purchase these items on arrival to allow for extra weight) walking shoes, suitable clothing for camping and kayaking, rain wear (which I'm looking forward to) and birthday presents that I've been given to open during my stay. I will have plenty of room to bring back gifts and I can always check in my hand luggage case if necessary as I've packed a large handbag I could use for carry on.
Following airline regulations I've packed tweezers, nail scissors and other sharp items in the front pocket of my checked in luggage.

My case is by the door, I'm checked in and I've even selected my clothes for the morning. The rest of my pre flight/travel time will be spent, as always, watching Air Crash investigations and Border Control (Canada)

Hubby has a copy of Catherine's address and full names of family members and phone numbers. My gifts include food and wooded materials from the UK, South Africa and Dubai.

I fly alone, I a single, 43 year old woman, travelling from the Middle East/Africa, with multiple entry exit stamps, current and 2 expired visas in my passport. I get stopped, searched, swabbed on every flight I take, every time. I must match a profile.

Having watched Border Control Canada, I've realised I'm ideal for stopping at the border.

I will be issued with a Declaration Form and I will tick to declare the food and wooden gifts, sea shells and tea. They are all permitted goods, there is also a restriction to weight, but I have to declare them or I could face them being confiscated and issued with a fine. I am allowed to take in 200 cigarettes and either 1.5 litres of wine or 1.1 litres of alcohol, duty free.

I don't need a visa to visit Canada as I'm British, my only concern is my return trip as my visa is for residency and not work, several times I've been questioned as to whether I'm allowed to travel on my own and what my intentions are on arrival and why I'm not starting or ending my journey in the UK.

Our medical insurance in South Africa covered us for trips abroad, including to the UK, technically we are not entitled to NHS services as expats and have been out of the UK for 5 years, we don't pay taxes. (we fill in a self assessment tax return form every year though) Our actual travel in regards to delays, cancellations etc is covered by our credit card. So this year I actually had to purchase travel insurance and it was a mine field. There was the time hubby and I went to Las Vegas for a week and 'forgot' to purchase any insurance, so it's an area we've now planned with care.

It's very easy to select the cheapest option, but you really need to take care, especially if you know what activities you'll be taking part in.

For example Catherine is taking me camping, we will be travelling to the camp site via the water, in a kayak. The basic travel insurance does NOT cover me for kayaking/canoeing unless with a qualified instructor and in an organised group....who would've thought eh? I've purchased annual insurance Worldwide to include Canada and the USA. I will be spending 30 days in South Africa later this year and have another trip planned to the UK. I'm also hoping I'll be travelling with hubby to Turkey and we'll be off to Oman for a visa run when the youngest son visits in July.

It's worth noting that most travel insurance covers you for 21 days per trip on an annual policy, so I made sure the policy I purchased covered me for multiple trips up to 31 days and worldwide included Canada and the USA.

I will get my money worth's from the insurance though, touch wood I've never lost a case, but hubby and the kids have had theirs delayed and/or items missing and cases damaged on arrival. Hubby has required emergency medical care outside his country of residence, but as he travels with his employers this is covered for him automatically. I, however, have an excess to pay for none emergency's.

My last 2 things to do are:

Email Catherine a copy of my Insurance.
I always insist our visitors give me a copy of theirs, who knows if I had a serious accident how costs would be covered in the interim period if Catherine was unaware of who I was insured with. Although medical care is free in Canada, I'm not Canadian.

Call the banks.
They need to know I am travelling overseas and will be using both my UAE and UK banking cards.