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[The Noodles]

Very warm greetings from the KSA.

A question for those who are able to make a comparison between the general cost of living between Oman and KSA...

Would you say that Oman is more expensive than Saudi? In terms of food, smokes, clothes, travel (taxi), eating out etc.

I do understand that Oman has bars and clubs which would obviously be more expensive.

Cheers

[kuberkat]

Hey, Noodles. I haven't been to KSA, but my colleagues who have tell me it's cheaper than Oman. Here's a run-down of basic prices in Oman:

Bottle of water: RO 0.100
Cafeteria meal: RO 0.500- 1.000
Restaurant meal: RO 4+
Hotel buffet: RO 8-10
Starbucks latte (tall): RO 1.400
Cigarettes (Marlboro): RO 0.750
T-shirt (Carrefour): RO 1
T-shirt (Armani Exchange): RO 50
Short-distance shared taxi: RO 200
Short-distance engaged taxi: extortion

Like anywhere else, costs depend on how you live. I like to buy a bulging bag of fruit and vegetables every week (RO 4) and add some supermarket staples like yoghurt, fish, grains and whatnot (RO 4). If I bag my lunch, this means I spend less than RO 10 per week on living (healthily, at that) and can let go of the purse strings a bit at weekends. If you are posted to a small town in Oman (like those with ministerial colleges) you will be the best chef in town anyway. (Cafeteria food becomes repulsive after a while.)

There are practically ZERO temptations for spending your money outside Muscat, which makes rural Oman great for saving- at least until the weekend strikes.