Does anyone have any information on the cost of living in Dubai versus Dublin. I am trying to assess really the buying power of a €100k salary in Dublin versus a similar one in Dubai. Any ideas???
I've done a bit of investigation into this area and rental prices in Dubai are very high at the moment as demand is outstripping supply. Even studio apartments are going for in the region of €20k per year up to €75k a year for a 3-4 bed villa, which a lot of the time has to be paid in advance for the full year (some landlords are now taking 6-monthly or quarterly post-dated cheques). Check out for some idea of rental prices or www.dubizzle.com for house shares. They say that there should be more supply coming on line in 2009 but there are also a lot of people looking for accommodation who are working in Abu Dhabi as the housing situation is a lot worse there. House shares are possible and more reasonable but illegal in a lot of cases as they cannot be done without the landlords consent. A couple of websites to check out are www.expatwoman.com (even if you are not a woman it does have some good info in the archives) or the UAE section of [broken link removed] or www.expatforum.com.
There are some cost of living comparisons on these websites too, which will give you a good idea. Cars, petrol & taxis are a lot cheaper out there, from my research, groceries are expensive but don't have any personal experience.
My hubby was told on a €100k salary to expect at least €35k to be gone straight away for rental & car expenses leaving €65k as a net salary before household expenses, entertainment etc.