10 Saving Money in Dubai Tips for Expats Living in Dubai
New arrivals of Dubai face different hardships as well as uphill to cope up with expensive and luxurious life style of Dubai. They don’t know how to cut short their expenses to save money during their economic upset of income. Expats living and working in Dubai prefer life in the expensive lane as a result they become the victims of bankruptcy. Expats who are living in Dubai for many years knows the importance of saving money in Dubai as there is a saying that “Everyone is replaceable in Dubai”.
In general, Expats in Dubai, Especially Expats from Western Countries, don’t stay for longer time period. So it is very advisable that you should avail the opportunity of high salaries and save some money before leaving the country.
Tips for Saving Money in Dubai
Following are the ways through which you can have a good time and living with a healthy bank balance and saving goals achieved.
1. Budget Strategy
Due to the luxury lifestyle overall saving money in Dubai is sometime really hard. It only takes a bit of dedication and discipline to get into the money saving habit. Make a weekly or monthly budget, and get stick to it. Focus on the percentage of your monthly income make the strategy to spend it like what would be the expenses and how much you are going to save from your income. Fix it and stick to it whatever the circumstances is. You can easily increase the percentage of savings upwards if you keep doing it.
2. Low-End Supermarkets
We all like to shop in great supermarkets but if you wanted to save money go to Carrefour or Union Co-op or Lulu Hypermarket for your monthly groceries. Avoid most expensive supermarkets. The margins are really high. You may use the Sallety mobile app to compare commodity prices in many supermarket chains. Make a list and strictly stick to it. You’ll avoid buying unnecessary stuffs. Buy sea foods from fish market. You’ll be surprised of the huge margins. Don’t buy processed foods (or at least minimize). They’re more expensive than fresh meat and other commodities – and they’re not healthy. Minimize shopping twice a week at most to avoid petrol usage or taxi fares. Buy generic instead of branded items.
3. Pay the Monthly Credit-Card Bill on Time
When you carry a balance, interest accumulates every day. Some cards charge interest from the time of purchase, even when there’s no balance outstanding. Many now require you to pay within 20 days (the “grace period”) of your statement’s closing date to avoid owing interest. If you’re late, the credit card issuer might jack up your interest rate immediately to 30 percent or higher. Rates may get hiked on your other cards, too, even if you’ve paid them on time. So Pay your credit card bill the day it arrives and you won’t forget and you won’t rack up interest charges and in this way you save your money. When the statement comes, don’t move it to your “current bills” pile. Get out a stamp and write a check, or take care of it instantly online. Alternatively, arrange to pay the bill automatically from your bank account. Avoid paying by phone; there’s often a fee. Otherwise, it’s a bit like giving the bank or Credit Card Company the right a powerful vacuum-cleaner into your piggy bank. It looks a minor thing but it can pile up with huge amount especially when you are short of money or saving money in Dubai.
4. Air Travelling Fares
Plan your holidays when the air fares are low. Once the schools and colleges are out and it’s vacation time, air-fares hit their peak. If you have the flexibility to plan your holidays for off-peak times, you can save a lot. Air-fares will rise dramatically around June 15th each year and stay high until about September 15th.
5. Transportation
Don’t buy luxury SUVs, sport utility vehicle unless you really need it and you can afford. Get a car that simply provide your basic transportation needs, suitable for your family size. Consider the monthly petrol costs, maintenance and parts costs and insurance. Some says renting a car in Dubai on monthly basis is better than purchasing one.
Drive consciously to avoid traffic violation fines. Use RTA’s prepaid seasonal parking cards usable in select parking zones instead of paying on an hourly and daily basis. It saves you lots, especially if you are using the parking for the whole office hours.
Use the Dubai Metro as much as possible for transportation mode in Dubai. At 8 AED ($2 USD), it’s cheaper than any taxi. If you have to go somewhere away from the metro, take a taxi from the metro stop nearest your destination. You’ll save time and about 30 AED ($8 USD). Otherwise, most taxis are 40-60 AED ($11-16 USD) for anywhere in the center of town.
6. Cheap Accommodation
Dubai is a home of luxurious and five star hotels. These big hotels in Dubai are fairly expensive ($150-200 USD per night). All the major hotel chains are located in Dubai, so if you have hotel points, use them. Point redemption are a bargain here. But if you wanted to save money use cheaper place to live in Dubai. Very basic hotels can be found for $40-$50 per night on Booking.com and on Airbnb the private rooms in the $35-45 range if you’re new to Airbnb, get $35 off your first stay here. There are also three hostels in town that cost $15-25 for six- to ten-bed dorm rooms. Cheaper accommodation and transportation are the major expenses in Dubai. So cutting them can end up huge savings in Dubai.
7. Dining Out
When it comes to eating out in Dubai. There are simply hundreds of restaurants in Dubai. There is a strong culture of dining out when socializing, and for some reason, Dubai expats seem to do it more than most. Many of us will eat out or get a takeaway several days a week. Cooking your own food can really save a fortune. If you do have to go out, opt for cheaper eateries, at least on some days of the week, or look out for deals and promotions. Try taking a packed lunch into the office and put aside the money you would have spent on lunch every day. You will soon realize how much this is costing you and how much you could be saving money in Dubai.
8. Rent an Apartment is More Economic
If you are with family you would prefer a villa, with everything on one floor, two at the most, and access to a garden with plants and lawn to an apartment on anywhere between the ground and 30 plus floors in the air. Villa life is more expensive then rented an apartment. You will certainly face higher electricity costs and water bills, especially in the summer months, when the temperatures are going to be in the high 40s. Apartments, on the other hand, are almost always double glazed and cooled air is fed to the apartments from large a/c units, generally mounted on the roofs of the buildings. In other words, you’re paying for just the electricity required by the fans in the apartment to spread the chilled air through the apartment.
9. Shopping Garments
If you wanted to buy clothes for summer or winter don’t go to the big shopping malls if you wanted to save money. Avoid wearing brands and shop from the local stock markets called souks to fulfill the needs.
10. Free Entertainments
During tight budget days do not go out for entertainments but if you wish then go to free entertainment spot. Dubai has numerous shopping festivals during which you will find several free shows and entertainment events such as music festivals. Some beaches also host free sporting events. For families, deal booklets offer a range of discount coupons and buy-one-get-one-free vouchers to several, restaurants, entertainment parks, water parks and other local attractions. This is the easiest method of saving money in Dubai. You can read our article of “21 things to do in Dubai in Low Budget”.
Dubai is the dream destination for Expats from all over the world. With high salaries and luxury lifestyle there is very high chances that expats can fall into the flow and sometime it happens that they are empty handed when they flew away at the end of their tenure. That is why saving money in Dubai is highly advisable. You can adjust the Savings in Dubai between your income and expenses.