Many people are thinking of making the move to Dubai with its sunny skies, sandy beaches and tax-free income; but in reality, what does it really cost? Mohsin does a breakdown of his average month in Dubai. The result might shock you.
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About us
We're Ibrahim & Mohsin – ex-city lawyers and authors of "Halal Investing for Beginners". We've been studying investments and the traditional Islamic sciences for 13+ years. Over the year we've been published by the Financial Times, the World Economic Forum, Foreign Policy etc.
Today we run a sharia-compliant wealth management platform that manages over $35m in assets. We make videos about investment, personal finance, careers, and entrepreneurship.
We do this to make downtrodden communities better-off. To take people of colour, Muslims, and minorities from being among the poorest in society to the richest.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What is this video about?
00:41 – Starting with a higher salary than usual
00:57 – Expense 1: Rent
02:00 – Expense 2: Groceries
02:41 – Expense 3: Utilities
03:15 – Expense 4: Mobile and Internet
04:04 – Expense 5: School fees
04:57 – Expense 6: Fuel
05:30 – Expense 7: Other expenses
06:10 – Expense 8: Entertainment
06:59 – Monthly Grand Total
07:10 – Other things to budget for
07:26 – Special message for those in the UAE and those considering to move
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Jazakallah for the video, interesting to see the figures.
Fair expenses to be honest cheaper than London…
While having quality of life improved 100%
Cheaper? idk anyone spending 6k a month in london and I live in london myself
If you convert AED to pounds you could see AED is a bit cheap
I’d like for brother Muhsin to comment on this himself but my take is that the same quality of life he described (4-bedroom house, a maid, private schools etc.) in London is at least twice the cost of Dubai.
Lol
4 bedroom villa for 130k … I think the villa is very far away from the city center…. I rented 1bedroom for 130k in downtown
Mirdif. Underrated.
I live in UAE and I agree about your estimations
Your bills budget will be blown out come the summer months so estimate more for that. School fees you should estimate at the higher end of your budget for better schools as well as transportation cost per child, usually in the range of 8k – 10k per year per child (a lot of companies do pay an allowance towards school fees separately, I get 44k per year). I would estimate a little more for entertainment per month as everything is much more expensive here compared to the UK, maybe 2.5k AED per month. Remember you also have to worry about saving for your retirement so you should allocate at least 10% of your salary per month towards that too. All in all, for a decent upper middle class lifestyle don’t come to UAE for less than 45-50k AED per month (if school fees are not provided separately).
Yes you can scrounge and live in a small place and save around the edges but if you’re going to give up all your friends and family you at least want to give it up for decent lifestyle.
If you’re single, or leaving wife and kids behind you can definitely save as much on even half that salary. One thing to keep in mind is your salary will NOT go up by much year on year in the UAE, so airways negotiate a salary that you’ll be happy to be on for 5 years at least.
Bro what field of work are you in if you don’t mind me asking ? Also I’m finding it really difficult to find a move to the UAE with a good package salary wise .
That’s why you go back to the UK during summer 🌞
“…or leaving wife and kids behind…” HUH 🤣
A lot of people move here without there families to maximise their savings. It’s a short term sacrifice, at a decent salary you can save enough in 5 years to pay off a decent chunk off your house and maybe invest in an additional property.
Jazakallah Khair for this breakdown. I moved to Dubai from London a couple of weeks ago with my family and won’t have school fees or maid so it’s looking very doable!
Thank you for this video and apprecaite the transperency. At the same time, I think it’s fair to say that this video represents a standard of living that’s more close to the upper socio economic class. Having been lived in the UAE for a long time since I was a child, I can assure you that is possible to maintain a decent lifestyle (Subjective ) for far lesser the amount suggested here. For young brothers who are tight on budget and looking to move there are affordable options in the UAE and country hosts people from various socio economic backgrounds. So please dont feel dettered.
Hope you have a good time in dubai brother Muhsin!!
Thanks for the comment, though I’m not sure I agree! For someone with a family, I’d love to hear which bit of my life is upper class! Is it technically possible to spend less? Sure. But the goal isn’t survival it’s a video about normal living costs.
@@IFGuru people which want to make hijra and dont have a company might get scared of the high prices.
@@nadeemzakeer9183 I have so many questions. Is there anywhere I can contact you?
@@nadeemzakeer9183 salaam akhi is there any way to contact you regarding this. To answer some questions I have
@@amexvruae is not really a muslim country
I think you missed initial setup cost which is also quite significant based on the size of the family, people eat out alot as it some times costs less than home cooking, depending on ones availability, one may need a driver for school pickups and drop offs. I lived in Dubai 7 years and now back in Surrey again.
Try exploring cedar villas in DSO, much better community and very quite, plus very interested in talking to regarding halal investments, as when in Dubai I relied on National Bonds for investment and halal profit.
We’ve got a video on setup costs coming soon, this was meant to solely cover an average cost of living month on month.
Thanks for the other tips!
Well 6k month to live there and thats just starting and we say it’s expensive in the uk
JazakAllah khair for this video; I’m sure it will help a lot of people. However, running your numbers through my experience of 7yrs living in Dubai (and having also lived in London) I’d say you’re off by a bit:
1. Rents are definitely NOT 100k for a one bedroom apartment – the norm is around 40-60k depending on the neighborhood, and yes “western” areas are more expensive. A 4-bedroom villa near central areas cost at least twice as much as you’re paying.
2. Groceries are as expensive or as cheap as you want them to be – if you’re looking for British foods not commonly available here (I could never find Jaffa cakes for some reason) then expect to pay 3-4 times more…but otherwise “common” groceries by a local definition, are quite reasonable.
3. Utilities: AED 700 a month for DEWA (electricity+water+sewage+municipal tax) seems quite a bit off…I’d estimate at least 1,200 for a 4-bedroom villa. Also keep in mind that your costs will vary quite a bit between summer and winter because of a/c costs (unless your rent includes air conditioning)
4. Internet, sadly is a minimum of exactly AED 429/month because of Etisalat’s monopoly on this.
5. Schools, again, wildly vary in price…I’ve seen British schools costing well over 100k a year, and you’ll need to factor in extra for transport (i.e. school bus) since schools generally aren’t walkable from most residential areas.
6. I don’t know anyone, literally ANYONE who pays 3,000 a month for a maid. Maybe that’s just me.
7. Entertainment yes you can really lose it here. Unlike the UK which has lots of (free) museums, wildlife reserves and parks, it is very difficult to spend a weekend out in Dubai without spending any money. For the kind of lifestyle you’re portraying (i.e. 4-bedroom villa etc.) I’d estimate at least 5,000 a month.
8. Health insurance is an important one you seem to have mentioned only in passing – unlike the NHS, hospitals are not free, and insurance is definitely an amount to consider.
9. You need to factor in a monthly average for costs like car insurance, renewals (equivalent of MOT), visas, shopping (i.e. clothes, furniture, personal electronics etc.) which I’d say is easily another 3,000-5,000 a month on average.
All the best and enjoy Dubai 🙂
Is there anyway to contact you akhi to ask some questions?
my cousin lives in dubai with a 3500 aed a month salary like yall need to be more realistic
@@intergalactic2393 does he work in construction
no, that would be worse, in sales @@flawedzak
@@intergalactic2393 that’s why i asked cuz it’s pretty low.
How long has he been working in Dubai
You missed to include 5% housing fee (kind of council tax) which is added to the utility bill. 5% is calculated based on your annual rent and divided in to 12 monthly payments. So for your 130k annual rent it will be 541dhs a month on top of your electric and water consumption.
Even if u own the apartment?
This is only for landlords?
This Is paid by whoever is living in the property. So if the tenant is occupying the property then it will be borne by them. If you own the apartment or villa and living in there then you will pay as part of the utility bill.
@@Gabriel-fr3sd Yes, even if you own, but the calculation is fixed as 0.5% of the purchase price of the property.
You missed the traffic fines, you actually have to budget for that Lol
Mohsin this is over exaggerating I repatriated in 2020 15000AED is the normal average living expense for a family of 4
I looked at the budgeting and I have been doing so for last two years in hopes to make the move already. He’s not over exaggerating. This could be classified as perhaps upper middle class. Sure you can save on rent if you live in an apartment or in Sharjah or Ajman instead of Dubai or in deira and area. You can also send your kids to a school that costs 300-500
Dollars a month and not exactly 1000. But other than that. I don’t see how anything else is overly exaggerated n
No way!!!!!!
For the most part, i agree with the numbers. Maid cost seems fairly high; you can get a cleaner once a week for a thorough clean which will set you back around 500 to 800 dhs. 3,000 to 4,500 is more in line with a full-time maid/nanny but personally i’ve never liked that option for several reasons.
– School costs are correct
– Internet cost is for the basic package which is MORE than enough considering it’s 10x faster than what most homes can ever dream of getting in the UK.
– Groceries average out to about the same as the UK. It’s hard to calculate this one; tomatoes can be cheaper, carrots more expensive etc etc; You’ll find some items cheaper than UK and other items more expensive. Meat is roughly the same cost as UK but for some butchers it’s at least 10% cheaper than UK. Where things get expensive is branded cereals and ‘some’ other imported branded products
– Other miscellaneous costs also worth considering especially for cars; maintenance, SALIK toll gates, parking tickets etc
– deposits are one time costs but they also add up. Not uncommon for some homes to have deposit for landlord, deposit for electricity, deposit for cooling supplier etc.
– Eating out i think is a VERY big one you missed out. You might have allocated some of it under entertainment or other costs but this one alone can bankrupt you. In the UK for most towns your only options are Indian/Donner/McDonalds/Subways/Chicken or Fish and Chips (London is an exception of course). In Dubai you are in Food nirvana (Latino/brazilian/Syrian/Lebanese/Moroccan/African/ etc etc) you are extremely spoilt for choice and the quality of food is on a different level. I think easily have of my budget when i was living there was waited on takeaways and eating out.
Here is me chillin at 5000 AED a month with a retail shift job and living with 8 roommates in a bed space. We talking of same dubai?, must be nice 🙂
I have been living the UAE with family (parents and siblings) since 2012.
Lived in the UK for my Master for 1.5 year and in Pakistan for 2.5 years in between.
In this overall living period, I have been living in Dubai Sports City with my own studio apartment with mother only.
The cost has always been like below
Rent and bills = 5000
Grocery = 1500 – 2000
Fuel, Car maintenance, Mobile = 1000
Maid = 500 AED for whole month in Sharjah
School fee no idea
This is the average cost of living here.
I would really like to ask here. What made you leave UK where your kids were having free education and moved to Dubai and pay hefty fees of your kids school yourself?
@@hafsa.naveed most probably because UK’s free education system also comes with free brainwashing of immoral, evil and harami values.
@hafsa.naveed she doesn’t have kids that’s why she doesn’t know about school fees
You are spot on with the costs and from what you have said on mobile and phone/internet, I know who you went with 🙂 – you missed off the fact that while your Du internet is 408Dh, you will be on at least 500Mb depending on the area, or 850mb down 200mb up. The reason is the UAE’s infrastructure is new and the place is filled with fibreoptic cables rather than the UK’s copper and POTS. Reliability is solid and if you want installation, you wait a day. Try that in the UK for 100 GBP!
No estimate is “wrong” per se but it depends on whether you’re happy with a family car or budget for a Rolls Royce. 28K is on the higher end even for a family and you can do with less if you are financially disciplined. I can tell you that I live here (single) in a 1BHK apartment, not in the downtown but decent gated community, and my monthly expenses come to around 6K. For people earning 25K or above per month, kids’ education, medical insurance, and return tickets are usually part of the salary or you must negotiate before coming here.
Thanks. Sir. For. Very. Good. Information. About. Dubai. (. U. A. E. ). ❤❤
What about healthcare? No local NHS probably? Compulsory health insurance for expats? Cost? Were the school fees here for a private or a public school? Are public schools still fairly good? I’ve heard that non-citizens pay school fees for public schools too.