Salary advice
Hi all,
What monthly salary should I ask for if I have to move a wife and 2 kids to Qatar and cover all my own costs (ie company not paying for anything) Also what currency US$ or EU$?
I would be working in a fairly senior role and would like a good standard of living (equivalent to reasonable western standard) and be able to save a fair bit of money. (I would only take the job to make good money because I already work and do OK in my current life).
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
According to labor law your employer has to provide your tickets back home.
Mandi
I do not mean to discourage you, but if you are comfortable with your job and doing OK in your country, I guess you better stay put there. Most of the people who come here after few months time ended up looking for jobs to be able to return home..plus you wil only add on to the inflation pressure, as the income gap is horrendous here with Western expat earning more than 20k USD a month and a Nepali guard only $200 a month...
But again, it's entirely up to you...some people has been here more than 20 years and I am sure they are enjoying their life here..
A four-bedroom house on an excellent compound (including maintenance and utilities) will run about 16,000 riyals; family-sized SUV is about 120,000 riyals + (depending what you want); airfare runs about $1000 (indirect)-2000 (direct flight) economy class/$5000 business class per roundtrip ticket. For school fees, best to check the American School Website, or one of the other schools recommended on QL, but you are looking at about $10,000 per child in pre-k and above; daycare is less but comparable to US prices. Advice on the better compounds, schools, etc. can be found on this site.
In terms of cost of living, what you have left is entertainment and food. Petrol is effectively free it is so cheap. For food, it depends on your lifestyle and commitment to eating US brand food (much more expensive here). I would say that 1000 riyals a week is typical for the grocery store if you work to economize. Diapers are more expensive here. Entertainment depends entirely on lifestyle. Dining out is roughly what it is in the US and UK; I have yet to go to the movies. Rather than going back and forth to the US multiple times a year, most US expats seem to go once a year and then bring family out to Qatar and then take vacations in Asia, Africa and Europe--plenty of great places from which to choose. Qatar can feel confining, particularly in the summer, so plan on plenty of vacations. Included in cost of living is domestic help. A good compound will provide a gardener and maintenance, but you still need to clean your house, wash your car, etc. You can do it yourself, but most choose either a live-in maid or hiring someone else's maid or cleaning agency. The first, depending on your conscience, runs between 1000-4000 riyals a month; the second is 25 riyals an hour.
Again, it depends on your lifestyle. You can do all of this for much, much, much less. You can also spend much, much, much more. It depends on what is important to you, how much you want to save, etc.
I assume I would need to:
Rent a fully furnished house
Lease or buy a car
Flight costs there and back whole family a couple of times a year
Costs for child care/education (children are 1 and 3)
Living expenses (food, utilities, fuel etc)
Being able to save at least US5,000 a month