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dorothy1
Joined: 08 Jun 2008
Posts: 33
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 Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: American Cultural & Education Center (ACEC) any info? |
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| Does anybody have any information on the place. I will be interviewing with them and hoping to gather any insight. Also, can you save money in Bahrain on a 800BD a month salary? How much is housing? ACEC is offering 300BD month in a housing allowance.... any info is greatly appreciated |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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On my visits to Bahrain I notice how much more expensive it is than Saudi Arabia. Not a cheap place to live.
To save on that salary you will have to ecoonomise on what I consider life's goodies. If you are trying to support a family on it, then you had better do some belt-tightening. |
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lall
Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 358
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:27 am Post subject: Savings |
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| scot47 wrote: |
On my visits to Bahrain I notice how much more expensive it is than Saudi Arabia. Not a cheap place to live.
To save on that salary you will have to ecoonomise on what I consider life's goodies. If you are trying to support a family on it, then you had better do some belt-tightening. |
Scot is right. By the way, I hope that the housing allowance that you've mentioned is over and above the figure of BD 800.
A single-bedroomed, fully-furnished apartment (with gym/jacuzzi/rooftop pool) in a decent locality would cost between BD 300 to BD 450, utilities and cleaning services included. Schooling is expensive at BD 200 (transportation included) per child at the Sacred Heart School. St. Christopher's would be even more expensive. Factor in BD 200 for living expenses for a single person (my current outgo, per month) and you are left with pretty little.
If you are a single female, you could share an apartment with someone. However, you'd have to pay a major chunk (2/3rd) of the total rent since the owner would have had an agreement with the other person regarding payment of the total rent.
The rent for a flat without the gym/jacuzzi/rooftop pool would be around BD 150. However, this would come without complete furnishing (hard-furnished, as they like to call it) which means that you get a cot, a tatty mattress, an old fridge, a hissing air-conditioner, a rusted washing m/c, a stained gas/electric range, some used utensils, a water heater for bathing and if you are lucky, a TV. The above is good enough if you are not the type to be embarrassed to bring guests into such a flat. I'm not. I'm a guest worker here for the money and pretension be damned. I'm lucky to live in a fully-furnished flat with the trappings though, courtesy my employer.
If you cook at home, the monthly outgo could be limited to BD 100.
All in all, if you have school-going kids, savings would difficult. Notice that I haven't said anything about your transportation to and from work. |
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kaw
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 302
Location: somewhere hot and sunny
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:34 am Post subject: |
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Hi, the salary itself isn't too bad for a language institute in Bahrain but it's unlikely the housing allowance will get you much.
To get a rough idea of what is available have a look through the Gulf Daily News - www.gulf-daily-news.com or see if the Bahrain tribune has a classifieds board.
These are generally all put in by agents who will tell you that the flat advertised for 200BD has gone but they do have one for 750.....
Unfortunately if you're a western expat they will always show you the expensive properties......
Just over a year ago I was paying 300 for a large 2 bedroomed unfurnished flat in a great area but had no parking or pool and bills were extra and the flat before that was another great sized 2 bedroomed apartment for 350 inclusive (unfurnished). It had parking and a gym biut no pool. |
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sacramento
Joined: 28 Dec 2008
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| Is it more expensive to live in Bahrain than in Qatar? I went over for a weekend visit and found the prices comparable but is the actual cost of living higher. Qatar is very expensive. |
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shebab
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 168
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| Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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| So...anything new on ACEC? Are salary and housing allowance still tight for the living conditions in the country? Or has the Arab Spring changed all of that? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 2:57 am Post subject: |
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| "The Arab Spring" ? In Bahrain ? More like a winter. |
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PattyFlipper
Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 572
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:37 am Post subject: |
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Other posters have mentioned the Gulf Daily News and the Tribune for finding accommodation but there is also a third newspaper, the name of which totally escapes me at this time and distance - perhaps other posters can help? I only discovered it after I had already found a place, but the accommodation advertised in this publication seemed considerably cheaper than in the other two. Admittedly it was likely cheaper for some very cogent reasons, but it may be worth your while having a look. Avoid using the property agents, as they all seem to imagine you are a banking or oil company executive with an accommodation allowance to match (your protestations to the contrary notwithstanding). Even if they show you something at the lower end of the scale, you will almost certainly pay more for it than dealing with the landlord direct.
As previously stated, Bahrain is an expensive place which does not really lend itself to living on a budget. You would need to be fairly disciplined to save much on BD 800 a month. |
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The Good Abaya Girl
Joined: 09 May 2013
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 12:54 pm Post subject: No News is Good News? |
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Hi!
A friend of mine has a potential position at ACEC. We're kind of hoping that since there is nothing posted on here, that it's a good place to work.
She would really appreciate any information you can give, as soon as possible.
Thanks y'all! |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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I wouldn't make that assumption. It is very likely that they hire few, if any, teachers who would be coming here to post. With that low pay and benefit package in the past, they are likely hiring few 'Westerners' and that is the bulk of the membership here. You can't really go by the names of these places. There may or may not be anything "American" about the place.  It is rather telling that in neither 2008 or 2011, no one seemed to be familiar with the place. And Bahrain is VERY small.
I assume that you have also googled the place. It may be an OK job... foot in the door... something to put on the CV. Just as long as someone isn't expecting the stereotypical BIG MONEY Gulf job that barely exists any more... and never for women. She would need to keep her expectations low.
VS |
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