Cost of Living In Saudi

There was a comment in another entry, that warranted a new entry to ensure that others who have similar inquiries can locate it.

  

umm_n Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 7:56 am ei recently started dropping by your blog and i’m rather starting to enjoy it.another reason why i’m kinda interested in your blog is that you live in saudi. and my family and i have ‘thought’ about going to saudi-only jeddah though. i hyperventilate at the thought of me not being able to go outside without a man. however, your posts give me hope. that u can leave yur kids and make a quick run for the store for some chocolate! lol.

now on to bidness, i want to know from you(someone who lives there) what a good salary in saudi is.

my family and i are on a budget of about 40 k here. we have an apartment, two cars, an $1100 rent (for our aparment) and my hsuband is going to school. so we’re okay. it can be tight sometimes but thats our situation.

so now we’re wanting definitely a two bedroom in jeddah if we go there. a compound i hear would be way nicer. we’d like to probably send our kiddo to a decent preschool/school. and u know have money to eat out, maybe travel once a year, have a bit of spending room per month and save. and have another kid. how is medical and having a baby there?

my husband said 2000 dollars in saudi is a good salary from what he hears. something tells me thats not so at all. and that decent is somewehre upwards of 8000 saudi riyals which is more than $2k for sure.

so anyway, can u please tell me what a good salary is .. equivalent to say a 50k living in the USA?

we’re not spendthrifters but we live comfortably-we dress our son well for instance, i buy used and new toys, i buy a few clothes every month. etc..

just tryna give u a picture so u can asnwer easily.

i’ll check back on your blog for your answer.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and thank you for giving me the opportunity to post something of substance that could possibly be beneficial, insha’Allah.

1. There is nothing in Islam, nor is there a law in Saudi preventing women from going out of the home without their male relatives. Islamically, we can not travel without a male relative and in Saudi women do not drive, so those are the major hindrances. Otherwise you are free to go as you please, just use good judgement and common sense, as you would anywhere.

2. It is difficult for me to say what a good salary is. When considering moving to Saudi, it is best to look at the complete package. My husband’s job came with housing or a housing allowance worth 3 months of his salary. We chose the housing option, because it was best for our needs. Others choose to take an allowance which can have two scenarios: 1. You locate a place that is cheaper than your allowance and pocket the change, or 2. The allowance is not enough to maintain your standard of living (or your keeping up with  Al Ghamdis’).

Our biggest expense is our food allowance. Some people can live on less, but we buy quality food and shop in stores where I can buy products imported from the West. My husband also loves to dote on the children, so he spends a good chunk of his money spoiling them.

3. I don’t think you want to live on a compound. Most compounds are designed so that non-Muslims and the Muslims who want to imitate them, can do all the haram they want without feeling pressured from the society of their host country. Compounds are nice, clean, and have everything you need without having to leave them, but they lack an Islamic atmosphere. It can be a fitnah, as I recently visited one that I fell in love with, but my husband missed the salat in the masjid because he did not hear the athan called! We are not sure if that compound even has a masjid on it or if we just didn’t hear the athan.

4. We send our daughter to a free Government school. She just completed 2nd grade. The preschool we sent her to, her first two years was inexpensive and nice. We sent her to a private Saudi school for 1sr grade and she only had si students in her class, they offered English and Computer class starting in 1st grade (as opposed to government school where you start those lessons in 6th grade). We put her in the Government school in our community because I did not like her to commute everyday. Jeddah has a higher cost of living and I hear the Government schools are even more overcrowded than the ones we live near (my daughter had 40 students in her class this year) and are harder to get non-nationals in.

5. You’ll here all kinds of stories about medical care here. My husband’s job allows us to get free medical care at the Government Hospitals. We have never seen any other Westerners there. I had my gallbladder taken out for free and had my son via cesarean (my middle child was born in a Government hospital in Bahrain via cesarean) and I have lived to tell the story masha’Allah (and what a birth story it is!). For the most part if we get sick, we do our own research and then go to the clinic or hospital informed. That is very important that you stay informed and let the doctors know that you are not an idiot.

6. Clothes and toys are not expensive. Any job that an American is offered will come with a salary that they can survive on. So basically whatever salary you get you will have to work with and be sure that you are living within your means. If things are tight for you in the States, then living in Saudi should give you some breathing room. Just don’t go overboard.

7. My husband has a good salary, but is not an oil tycoon or a miser so we have not saved a Riyal. Others making the same or less than he with bigger families have huge savings. It really depends on the individual if you can save or travel (we don’t travel except for Umrah and wherever we stop on the way).

I hoped that helped. If you or anyone else have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

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