Cash or housing allowance?

Hi,

I have been offered a job in Abu Dhabi and about to accept it.
Please give me your opinion on below facts:

What I am making now:
- USD 6500 (including house, car, utilities, airfare annually and insurance) - with this money i saved around USD 3000 every month (after paying everything)

My offer in Abu Dhabi:
- USD 7000 (basic salary, car allowance and spending money)
- 2 BDR house or AED 75000 as housing allowance p.a

I have 10 years experience and I am a bachelor with no dependent who like to go out some time.

The questions:
1. With this salary i don't have to pay for my accommodation, so i am hoping that i will be able to save a bit more, does this make sense? (i know nobody will be able to tell me how much i will save, but at least please share how much will i spend on transportation, eating out once a week, movie and other things)

2. Should I go with the option of living in the house that they will provide or should I take the housing allowance?

Thank you for your time (I'm actually very excited to move to Abu Dhabi, so i hope this will go through)

Take care..

If you find a furnished house costing more than your allowance, ask company to foot it, as simple as that.

75,000 wont get you anything good in Abu Dhabi city so if they are offering nice accommodation in town, take it.

When you say eating out, what do you mean?  Fast food will cost you about 25dhs.  A fancy restaurant with vino for a couple, anything from 500-1000.

im sure someone put up a list of cost of basics somewhere, maybe someone can put up a link to it cos i dont know where it is.

Car hire is from 2500-3000 per month for a small non-descript low end car (eg. corolla).  Petrol is about 6dhs a gallon.

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your comments, i think i will just take the house that they provide and start my new adventure. :)

I am still not sure if i will be able to save more than what i am saving now, but i guess i will figure it out once i come.

Nevertheless, the experience that i will get by learning a new culture and living in the other part of the world will enrich me as a person.

This forum has helped me in understanding a lot of things about Abu Dhabi,so thanks so much..

Take care..

Go for the Accomodation 75K is not a lot and your gonna have a hard time finding a good place

Welcome in AD,

You can save abt 35K yearly if its fine with you living in Khalifa city.