Moving from the US to Qatar. HELP!

You did read the post? Everything paid for, housing ,school, air.

Hope your not an accountant.

Keeping up to the Jones must be exhausting.

" if its not a good time, its a good story"

Sorry to burst your bubble but 25000 /month is just enough to get by in Doha these days. Doha is extortionately expensive .  After realistic expenses you are looking at saving  nothing to a pittance. Forget about the tax break. That will be eaten up by your landlord. Ah but yes there is one and only one thing inexpensive - GAS !  Knock yourself out and get a Hummer if you come. 

hi, let me tell you, even though my offer is lower than yours, i add up the fact company is providing housing as well as other benefits, and i can manage to save a lil by the end of the month, maybe is not much but is a saving.....consider you salary even better than mine and I'll be saving....oh by the way I'm not a spender either    !!!! Just will live in comfort

Qatar isn't borring at all, don't expect to be entertained. You can do enough here but you have to go out and explore things yourself.

And like novita said..there is also the social group and they do have nice and fun outings from time to time with lovely people I can say out of my own experience

life is what you make it Kelly ... come here make the most of it while you try to save. Make friends through this site ... Or you can come here ... never go out and whine how boring Qatar is.

If you do ended up taking the job ... this site have  social group :

http://www.qatarliving.com/group/qatar-living-social-group

Have a read at the rules and regulations ... maybe then you can join and start meeting people and make friends through the group.  

K elly, am sure you will enjoy it here.

Why is joining a gym so expensive?  Is it really 1800QR per month?

If you are someone that has to be entertained every second, then yes, it might be boring to you..but if you take time to look and seek, there are many things to occupy your time, from the natural beauty of the country to clubs, to the people...just come with a positive attitude and the rest should fall into place. 

no its not super conservative...in fact, its very comfortable. You don't have to cover, unless you just choose to. Be respectful in dress, ie, no extreme skin showing/ cleavage...

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Thanks everyone.  That helps me out a lot.  So another complaint I've heard besides the cost of living..is how boring it is out there.  Are there really no fun things to do?

Is it super conservative in Doha?  Do you have to wear a scarf? Or is it just better to, so one doesn't bring too much attention to themselves.

Welcome to Qatar kelly :) If you ever need some advice or help from a local, I'll be glad to help.

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Click here for Qatar info

when you arrive in Doha..rent a car for a while..then make up your mind if you want to buy one or not...

gyms..most the major hotels have them..some are better than others, but then again some of them have waiting lists. Again..when you arrive, tour them and THEN make a decision. Some of the gyms are excellent for working out, others are there to be "seen" working out, and not break a sweat.

good luck in what you decide!!

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Thank you for your help bigd. I will be moving to Qatar in two months and i don't know where to start. I was waiting to receive a reply that gave more insight.

Now, do you and your family live in a villa? How about if I wanted to join a gym. I know they have a Gold's Gym, but people have suggested i should definitely not go there. What do you or anyone else suggest?

I think I know where you'd be working. Just wanna know whether your company is going to give you an apartment or a house or will they put you in the camp.

Anyways Welcome to Qatar

is the 25k a monthly rate? if so... you are fine... if it is a yearly rate... you will be in serious trouble... because getting a rental will cost you around 1800 a month... and over the period of 12 months... thats almost all your money...

but if its 25k a month... you should be loaded... and im just curious... can i borrow a dollar or 1000... hahahahahahahh 

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just hanging out and watching dvd's with helen keller... kind of a quite night.

   I don't know whats more frustrating reading this advice, the simpltons who suggest QR 25000 isn't a lot or your willingness to listen to them.

   Base it on facts. I'm Canadian. Family with 2 kids. We bring in 25,000 a month like you and we send 10k home each month. We eat out 3 nights a week, we have a Honda Accord, and we go on 2 major trips a year and our kids are spoiled.

  Your single and 25000, well come on, do the math.

  If you can't live very comfortable on QR 25,000 a month, all benefits  and single, your right don't come here and get ready to have a long a debtful life cause something is wrong with ones money mangement skills.

Please e-mail me privately if you want insight or not. Like to help.

" if its not a good time, its a good story"

The Penniecode

I am earning less than 10k and i can still make both ends meet.

Some of the people i know, takes up  much much lesser than that but still can manage .

I dont know in terms of ur capabilities and the position it calls for but i think that's quite a reasonable rate for both budget and savings.

if you only stayed here for short time alternatively rent a car.

You say you are not a big spender, therefore 25,000 QR is not a bad salary. I don't know where some of these people work but I assure you that on 25,000 QR you can live quite well and still save money. Buy a car it's not that big of an expense and more convenient than using taxis all the time.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Wow, this makes me sort of hesitant to come.  Even after my company takes care of the housing rent..it sounds like just living and doing day to day things is expensive. 

So what do you guys suggest should I buy a car? I have heard the driving is too crazy out here.  Should I just get a car and hire a driver..oh gosh more money down the drain. 

It's just that my main goal of coming ther is to save, since my rent and flights are taken care of.

it is pretty expensive to live here at the moment, I would say if you budgeted well you could save a bit earning QR 25000. I suppose it depends what standard of living you want. If you have other outgoings it wouldn't be much to save a great deal...in my opinion...

Hmm...i guess that could be the case in the U.S. as well.  You are either rich or not.  If "rich" is your base comparison..but, I guess what I should've asked is what type of lifestyle can that amount give you in such a fast growing country like qatar? 

i'm not sure that ones salary in qatar makes them any 'class' theres rich and theres not....

Thanks!  No iam not a big spender.  I just want to save up some money and hopefully advance in my career.  I'll eat falafel's everyday i wont mind ..haha

If you are single and bit wise spendtrift, that is just fine. But if you are sociable, then nothing will be left but the sweet memories of working, passing the money thru your hand and paying it off for unnecessary things.

Anyway if your motive is to enjoy life, then go ahead! 

"There's nothing we can do to change the past, if it teaches  you a lesson profit from it then, forget it."

u want to spend 25000 QR in food , you think you will buy food or the supermaket itself