Job Discussion Forums

[AllOne]

Hi,
I've been offered a job in Muscat starting as soon as I can get there, preferably Sept.1 (yikes). Wondering what kind of salary I should negotiate.

Am told I will get salary plus accomodation allowance, and settling in money. They will put me up in a hotel for two weeks on arrival and assist with accomodation search.

How much settling in will I need?
How much accomodation allowance?

What do I ask for?

I have B.A., CELTA, five years TEFL experience, am single.

How much do I need to be comfortable, enjoy my stay, and also save some money?

Also what's the chance of sharing a house or larger flat with another female, or other teachers?

Do I want to go to Oman? I am so conflicted in this decision. It will mean sacrificng some other plans I had for this year, but you guys make the place sound so tempting. And I only need go for a year, right? (yeah, the last place I was in I STAYED FOUR YEARS AND COULD BARELY TEAR MYSELF AWAY...)

[kuberkat]

[kevmar]

Could someone post some numbers?

Groceries for one person for one week runs X OR.
A mid range dinner out runs me X.

Trying to get some idea what I can save in 800 OR a month (housing paid).

[veiledsentiments]

It is almost impossible to tell someone how much they would spend on groceries. Do you normally buy steak or ground beef? Or are you a vegetarian? Or is pork your favorite so you will insist on spending the big bucks in the cordoned off section where you pay filet mignon prices for a pork chop?

Figure on spending about the same amount on food as in the US. (assuming that you are American because you said 'groceries') Imported foods and in particular, American foods, cost a bit more. If you do your own cooking and avoid packaged foods, you can cook at home quite cheaply. It is a good place to start eating healthy... great fruits and veggies.

As to eating out, you can get good Indian food in small places for very little, or pay the big bucks at a typical tourist priced hotel. Generally speaking, eating out is probably about the same as the US too.

If you can't save half of that salary, you are living very luxuriously.

Your biggest expense will be getting a car...

VS

[kevmar]

I spend, a single male late 30's, about US $30 (on groceries) a week in Japan. I usually eat lunch out, spending anywhere from US $2-$5.

Telling a range of grocies is easy. Also, how about something simple like what's a kilo of rice run? A loaf of bread? 200g of lamb? 500ml of milk?

I'd like to have an general idea what the cost of living is. Shouldn't be that hard for someone living there to do.

Thanks. More thanks to anyone who can supply some basic numbers.

[veiledsentiments]

I couldn't tell you what I spent on any of those anywhere I lived. I buy what I like and never pay attention to what it costs. Terrible thing to admit...

I can tell you that I very rarely ate out... and my monthly expenses for food, phone, dial-up internet, gas for the car, books at the used book store, electric bill... was about $300.

I saved the rest for summer travels and the retirement fund - an average of 75%+ of my salary every year.

Hopefully someone can come on and tell you more specifics on rice and milk if they have paid attention. I see on your other thread that you will be outside of Muscat.

VS

[kevmar]

VS, that general idea helped a lot. I've been trying to figure out if spending about US$500 a month or less was a realistic expectation. Sounds like yes, without being particularly frugal.

[veiledsentiments]

kevmar,

It really is pretty much a matter of personal priorities. I admit to being frugal. The key to not running through large sums of money is to avoid the large hotels dinners and not be a heavy drinker. Alcohol is only sold in government stores and they don't feel the need to help you save money on your bad habits.

I would say that $500 is realistic, except perhaps for your first year. Getting to know a place and getting set up can cost you money. And you will want a car...

VS

[kuberkat]

I'm also very focused on saving, but also on sanity. My biggest recent expense was a correspondence course: there isn't all that much to do in small towns, especially for women, who have a hard time when heading out and about alone. I'm quite frugal with household expenses, but I splurge on my education and a bit of fun occasionally, and still save around half my earnings painlessly.

Here are the average prices I have come across.

Bread (Lebanese, 10 pcs): 100 baizas. Loaves are less common and cost a bit more.
Yoghurt (500ml) : 250 baizas
Apples (12) : 1 Rial
Bananas (4 medium) : 100 baizas
My weekly veg parcel (5 small cucumbers, 5 tomatoes, 5 carrots, 2 zuccini, 2 small aubergines, 1 onion) 1 Rial
(More "exotic" fruits and vegetables are seldom available in college towns and are pricier. Which is why I lug my celery from Muscat at a Rial a pop.)

Local newspapers: 200 baizas (Up to 2 Rial for imports)
Local magazines: 1 Rial (Up to 6 Rial for imports)

Cafeteria meal in college or local "coffee shop": Rice/chips/bread, Fish/Chicken/Beef, Salad, Beverage: about 600 baizas

Restaurant meals: Four Star buffet, drinks excluded: 7 Rials
Five Star buffet, drinks excluded: 14 Rials

Starbucks Coffee of the day, Tall: 1.1 Rials

Shisha : 1.2 Rial

Movie ticket: 2.5 Rial (you pay the censors for their laborious cutting.)

Short taxi ride (1-2 km), shared: 100 baizas
Engaged taxi ride to and from work, 2 km each way: 1 Rial per week (without flirting )

Full petrol tank for small sedan car: 4 Rials

Electricity: About 8 Rial monthly (more if your an AC nut)

House maintenance (plumbing etc) : 2 Rial

New entry-level sedan car: Under 4000 Rial- buy in Ramadhan for extras

Vehicle Insurance for GCC: 45 Rials annually

Can I stop now?

[veiledsentiments]

Hey Kuber... I was wondering when you or Tarka was going to show up and give us some more specific info for outside Muscat...

It looks like car insurance has gone down... or do you have an older car?

VS

[kuberkat]

Doh! Silly me! I do drive a very small car, but the local insurance was included when I bought it. (How much? Dunno!) The 45 Rials annually is additional for coverage elsewhere in the Gulf. Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy, VS.

[veiledsentiments]

I thought maybe you had an old enough car to only worry about liability insurance... another way to save on insurance costs.

VS

[kuberkat]

Well, driving a new car is not an ego issue for me- it has more to do with my cluelessness of what lies beneath the hood and countrywide emergency services offered by the car company.

And much as I love my little car, there are times when I see how something stronger and with more-wheel-drive woulda been good. Like on those many little paths of stone and sand and gravel, the seasonal wadi floods and my personal bete noir, the (male!) drivers who crawl along a single-carriage highway only to speed up beyond the speed limit when overtaken, regardless of the dangers. And yes, I still maintain that this is a gender thing.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have got something more powerful with windows tinted too dark to make out the foreign female driver.

[kuberkat]

Well, driving a new car is not an ego issue for me- it has more to do with my cluelessness of what lies beneath the hood and countrywide emergency services offered by the car company.

And much as I love my little car, there are times when I see how something stronger and with more-wheel-drive woulda been good. Like on those many little paths of stone and sand and gravel, the seasonal wadi floods and my personal bete noir, the (male!) drivers who crawl along a single-carriage highway only to speed up beyond the speed limit when overtaken, regardless of the dangers. And yes, I still maintain that this is a gender thing.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have got something more powerful with windows tinted too dark to make out the driver. Like a real redneck!