Job Discussion Forums

fishjock · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject: Saudi saving possibilities.

Bit of a mercenary question but am wondering how much it is possible to save while working in Saudi? Have been offered a package including accomodation/transport to work and 11,000 Riyals per month. Given that I imagine that there will be little to do in terms of frittering away cash, how much do people look to save off such a salary?
cheers

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

If you are very 'careful' you can live on 300 riyals a month. More spendthrift souls may aspire to membership of the 500 Club. Candidates fior that august institution must swear to live on 500 riyals a month or less.

running dog · Joined: 20 Oct 2005 Posts: 37

First thing to point out is that this is exactly the same kind of salary Aramco sub-contractors were offering ten years ago. While the costs in the Kingdom haven't gone up much in the interim, prices elsewhere have and should be reckoned for accordingly. As you and Scott point out, most of this can be put away. But, recently at least, I'm starting to have my doubts. Minimum six years of ascetism in the desert for two years back in the real world (play stock market and see if you can elastify matters)? Especially nowadays when Western Europe is finally starting to wise up to the facts of Globalisation? Salaries as good as this and better can nowadays be made in France, Italy, and even Greece for instructors who've got ESP (especially in Finance, Economics, IT, Telecoms etc.). Sure, the EU is expensive but you build up contacts and get continuity. If nothing else it'll do wonders for your sex life. Head off the TEFL sites and contact firms directly. Good luck.

GabeKessel · Joined: 27 Sep 2004 Posts: 150

The standard savings rate for most ESL teachers ( who do not work for some exclusive high-paying contracts) is roughly $20,000 a year. That is the amount of money that you will be able to save more or less without depriving yourself of too many things, while taking vacations, eating out, etc. You can probably try and do $25,000 but you will have to do without too many things. I started out with SR10,000 and 41 days paid vacations and 2 tickets a year. So, my savings rate was about that.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

If you go down the path of 300 a month ie 10 riyals a day then bear in mind that some spend the rest of their lives on that path. Do you really want to turn into a Gollum-like figure intent on only one goal - maximising your savings ?

BEWARE !

US$2,000 a month would be quite reasonable and leave you enough for goodies like vacations and the sort of electronic toys that you young folks like.

guangho · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Posts: 476 Location: in transit

Mark100 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 441

You might be able to live on 500 rats a month but most who do that don't enjoy their stint in Saudi and don't stay too long.

I think a more realistic figure is around 2000 a month and that way you can include a few trips to Bahrain and go out to a few restaurants during the week. Also you can run a car and get a good satellite tv connection like mnet.

Many guys seem to postpone life in Saudi. I feel it is far better to spend a bit more and that way you can have some enjoyment and still save a bit and stay longer in Saudi thus in the long run save more money.

The_Prodiigy · Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 252

One way of maximising your salary is thus ....

Spend nowt in Saudi as there is precious little places for entertainment anyway. Chill out with friends by the pool and watching TV and internet. Reading and writing your fiction about living in The Desert.

Then save all your cash for a semi-decent place like Bahrain, which you can drive to from Riyadh in about four hours and from Damman in ... about 30 minutes.

Bahrain has cinemas and malls which are pleasant places to stroll around. Saudi Arabia does not.

Do not spend any money on shorts as the Mattawah (Mattyawah) will look sterly at you and gruffily tell you that you are BAD!

The food is cheap and you may be able to make sand castles.

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

In the west, most financial advisors will tell you that an ideal savings/living costs ratio for those on a professional salary is 40/60 after-tax i.e. if you can save 40% of your net wage you are doing exceptionally well. In practice , most do not manage this.

In KSA, not because of high salaries as such but because of accom and other perks being provided, that ratio can easily be reversed. So, if you save 60% you are doing fabulously by world standards and still having a good life. Of course, a lot still depends on what you earn exactly. 40% of 15K a month gives you a great lifestyle in Saudi, while 40% of 6K does NOT!!

However, if you earn 10K, and you have a decent life, i.e. car, maybe occasional trips to Bahrain (once every 6 weeks?), satellite TV and a couple of hols a year, you can still manage that 6K a month in savings. You could save 9.5K but what sort of a life would you have? I've met people in KSA who think that because one is "doing Saudi", one has to live in utter penury.

Think of the normal 60/40 ratio being reversed and you are still doing great, while having a very nice life too. Too many Saudi expats agonise over every single Riyal.

Incidentally, if anyone is looking for decent investments, Eastern European real estate is booming while still very affordable. You could even PM Bebsi for more info on this.

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

MNET-Good?

Series channel with Matlock 4 times a day.

MNET Movies with each movie repeated at 2 hour intervals for 6 weeks and sometimes they bring them back again. Nigerian series and crap South African movies. Still if you want to know about SA prices...

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

Of course, you could get Orbit, which is not great but passable, but also has one big drawback...it MIGHT cost a bit more.

Drat! Any entertainment you have to pay for in Saudi isn't really fun is it? At least, watching the paint peel or the window boards warp is free, I suppose, so they do have that going for them as useful activities.

Can anyone answer a question that's been bugging me for years? It is this: the REAL scrimpers in KSA, the ones who don't believe in spending anything if at all possible, and exist for many thoroughly miserable years cooped up in their digs watching free Bollywood movies, and occasionally meeting fellow expats in hot apartments (where the a/c has been turned off to save money in 50 degs, and they mop their brows with stolen loo-roll) to moan about the misery of it all...what DO they DO with the money when they eventually leave Saudi?

Party on down aboard a yacht in the St. Tropez? Live in a Spanish villa on the proceeds of the other 4 villas they've rented out? Or maybe savour the culture of European capitals? Live like Kings in some Asian resort? Or live frugally in some isolated desert outpost in North America/Asia/Africa (I am referring only to "westpats", to clear any questions) or wherever?

I'm not talking about the average Gulf expat. I mean, the REAL misers!! Do they change their lifestyle in the those golden years, and enjoy the proceeds? For example, One-Riyal-a-Day-Man in Qatar...will he eventually become a serious party animal in Marbella or maybe even a wine connoiseur in Bergerac, or will he continue living forever on one riyal a day? OK, two with inflation!!!! Laughing

The_Prodiigy · Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 252

This can be done. Even recommended.

The sheer variety of entertainments on offer is seriously resticted in that place. Examples of free entertainments are driving up and down the wide city streets, attending camel races, driving into the desert and pondering the barreness of it all ...

Most of the entertainments that many Western expats would be more than willing to pay for and are of interacting with others and enjoying life are unavailable ... comfortable coffee houses where you can chill with your friends (gals and guys), going to the cinema, strolling and shopping in the malls and on the streets to people watch, paying to watch football games or volleyball games, drinking in bars, going to Xmas decorating clubs (illegal to import), visiting other expats on compunds; it is utterly different.

Learning dancing and going to clubs are out as dancing is frowned upon. Buying art and painting is a no-no as the Saudi culture despises depictions of others.

Best to save and as suggested put the cash down on an apartment in the West and then party on in Japan, China or I hear Dubai is a decent enough place to live. Saudi is restrictive and it says it all that it is the ONLY place in the world where you have to secure exit visa to flee.

Cleopatra · Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:53 am Post subject:

A very important point for non American posters is the exchange rate between the rial and the currency into which you need to convert your savings. The Saudi rial is linked to the US $, which as we all know only too well, has been in decline relative to most major currencies over the past few years. Currently (and I can barely bring myself to check exchange rates anymore!), the $ stands at a horrific 1.28 to the Euro. What this means in real terms is, of course, that people who need to save in a currency other than the US$ have seen a very real fall in the value of their Saudi salary over the past few years. And there are few signs that things will improve in the near future - if anything, they could get a lot worse.

Mark100 · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 441

Thrifty

Mnet is superb if you are a sports buff like myself. It has all the soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis , golf etc

If i want to watch movies i go down to the souks and buy the dvd copies with 4 or 5 movies on them for 20 rats.