Is my salary good enough to save enough in Riyadh?

It depends what are the deductible components in 23000 SAR !!

Hello Human, Alien here 

What you have asked is a very common and yet the most important question every expat has in his mind before making a decision to relocate from his home country and I am sure you have read the previous post under similar heading from members residing in India and Pakistan.

a) " Additional benefits include medical insurance and trip back home. " You forgot to mention if housing is included or provided by the employer since this will make the whole difference. If it is provided on top of the SR 23000 salary, it will work perfectly okay for you.

b) "considering if I come alone to Riyadh." I will never recommend any professional to leave his family behind, I know this will mean a lot of additional issues like the education of kids, but I suggest this is a small hurdle. ( Remember British Prime minister David Cameron also believes in the 'family unit')

c) I suggest you consider the option of working in Saudi not only in terms of  earning Y amount and saving X out of it.

Expat life has a  lot more to offer than just savings!

Guys

Thanks for your reply and I totally agree to what you said.
23000/- is inclusive of HRA.

Medical insurance: given by employer.
Trip back home including family: given by employer

Thus,
I need to manage housing, food, transportation & any other expense in 23000/- only.

Would it be sufficient ?

My friends who relocated to US for a similar profile aa mine are earning $9000 / month, but then there is this Tax that they need to pay etc.

What do you suggest.

Cheers
Buddy

As i see here for the short period i spent here. the most of living cost goes for housing and attending events.

Yep that could be true, given that there are not many options for outsiders for entertainment.

Here's what my maths says:
Housing: 2000 /month
Travel: 1000 /month
Food (if I cook at home): 2500 /month
Ocassional outside food (once a week): 1000 /month

Total: SAR 5500 /- per month should be fine for monthly expenses.

What do you say?

23 grand is an enormous amount here in saudi arabia....it'll take time for you to spend all of it and before you know it, it's pay day again.....there's really nothing here to spend it for...believe me.

Well if you are comfortable in India with own housing and like to lead a happening life ..tht money is too low :>
But if u don't mind change in lifestyle for quick saving then for Single person :-
Annual rental for 2 BHK - SAR 25K annual ( If u share, which is the norm for singles it becomes proportionally lesser)
Transport - 800-1000 monthly
Food - 2500  monthly max including occasional dine outs at costlier resturants...

I have to say that Your math is very much accurate. Its very difficult to spend in this country

  you mentioned about leading a comfortable life will not be possible in 23k, I may have an option to negotiate on the salary further, what is the amount you feel is required for a comfortable life in Riyadh.
Note:
I am not planning to live in compound.
I am not vehicle savvy, so I can manage in a normal sedan.

Regards
Buddy

human83 wrote:

  you mentioned about leading a comfortable life will not be possible in 23k, I may have an option to negotiate on the salary further, what is the amount you feel is required for a comfortable life in Riyadh.

LOL; I never mentioned that this amount will not be comfortable; I just asked for the deductibles. If you have to pay for the housing; kids schooling etc; then this amount doesnt sounds good !!
Regarding negotiations its all upto you and companys requirement. If I would have been in your shoes and this would be the first offer from the employer, I would have definitely gone for negotiations.

Also keeping a car in this part of the world is more of a necessity than a luxury.

Good Luck

you are spending 5000SR in india? what on? that a lot of expense. maybe you have a very expensive lifestyle which will cost you a lot more here. Schooling is very expensinve. you will spend thousands per child for a good school. If you live in average apartments here you can save over 10K easily. if you want to live in a really good home portion then you will save much less.

grocery for two people costs me 1500SR. fuel costs me 50SR a week so thats 200SR a month. electricity, internet, tv water gas etc all combined is around 1000. use that to get a good idea of your expenses.

The annual air ticket most companies give is after the completion of one year so if you want to go during your first year here you will spend a lot on tickets and 200SR per person for exit/reentry visa.

for a couple your salary is good enough. for 4 people im not so sure

a "normal" sedan is relative to what you consider normal. I can speak from my example. i will not feel safe driving an elantra, civic, or corolla in this country. the traffic is crazy. not just the unpredictability of it but the speeds as well. people drive too fast on all roads even streets. you will see accidents everyday. i only feel safe in a large sedan or an SUV, i suggest you think about it as well.

Also, the biggest thing i dislike here is that i have to pay 6 month rent in advance. Luckily i was able to convince my company to give me the housing part of my salary in advance for the whole year.

in your negotiations i would suggest you ask for housing paid in advance.

That's a good point to ask for the HRA in advance. Yeah I consider driving a SUV would be much more safer.
For the initial term of 3 months I am coming alone and once I feel that it would be safe to call up my family, I will do so.

Moreover, the expense that I incur in India is as follows:
HOUSE LOAN: 46000/-
Food & restaurant: 15000 /-
Transportation: 4000/-
Child education: 11000/-
Miscellaneous: 5000/-

Total: INR 81000 /- Month = SAR 5000/- per month.

Regards
Buddy

human83 wrote:

HOUSE LOAN: 46000/-

Thats not an expenditure; Thats an Investment

Hmm yeah, house loan is an investment

Dear All,

Thanks for all your valuable comments. I tried to negotiate on my salary further, but turns out that they cannot do any adjustments.

Apart from the salary I.e. sar 23000/month, there is a yearly bonus component of 23000*3: sar 69000. They also agreed to pay the rent in advance.

Thus,  the monthly salary comes to ~28750/-

Does this sound a fine salary for 9years exp. IT professional. Should I go ahead with this offer? What say?

Thanks

Congratulations,

I suggest you join asap. Let all the members know when you arrive in KSA, we will celebrate.

Like Riaz said join ASAP-

Sure, I will let all know once I reach there.
We can plan a get together   

Hi all I have read your comments on Riyadh with interest.... I am thinking about coming over for a minimum of a year to see "how it goes" been on websites which state that my salary of 25000 GBP is inadequate but would like some feedback of "Real People" ....

I am a single parent but my son may not be coming over with me... so I would appreciate feedback on what the true living costs are for a 2 person apartment + living expenses and a single persons expenses (eat out a lot + entertainment) if you would be so kind

Thank you

dradon wrote:

Hi all I have read your comments on Riyadh with interest.... I am thinking about coming over for a minimum of a year to see "how it goes" been on websites which state that my salary of 25000 GBP is inadequate but would like some feedback of "Real People" ....

I am a single parent but my son may not be coming over with me... so I would appreciate feedback on what the true living costs are for a 2 person apartment + living expenses and a single persons expenses (eat out a lot + entertainment) if you would be so kind

Thank you

For cost of living try www.numbeo.com