Moving to Dubai · Dimitri Gourier
A new life. A well-planned budget.
The right neighbourhood, your children’s school, everyday journeys. Bring your costs together in one calculator and compare your options before you move.
Your life in Dubai, item by item.
Free calculation, no contact details needed for results. Based on 12 months of renting and one complete school year. Blank means unpriced; 0 means no cost to you.
Estimated monthly budget
0 AED
Partial total · 15 unpriced items
01 — Your household
The date sets the first month of the cash-flow calendar below. Costs are not automatically prorated or adjusted for future inflation. Add each child in the Schools section.
02 — Housing and utilities
Property Finder “New rentals” reference: 107,118 AED / year.
Indicator checked on 6 October 2026. Calculation period is not stated in this block; this is not a quote or an availability guarantee.
Rent resets when you change area, size or property type. The standard DEWA deposit adjusts to the home type; a custom deposit is kept. Review all other expenses.
Housing fee is preset to 5% for expatriate residential tenants. Do not count it again in your DEWA estimate. Enter 0 for cooling or any charge already included in rent.
Explore this neighbourhood →03 — Each child, each school
24 selectable schools, including 6 with documented grade-level fees. Use manual entry for another school or nursery. Confirm availability, discounts and extras with the school.
04 — Health insurance
Enter an annual estimate or quote for each person. Compare equivalent cover: hospital network, copayments, limits, coverage territory and exclusions. No medical history is requested here.
Employer cover is capped at entered health premiums. If entering only your own share, leave the contribution at 0. Budget any remaining care costs under Daily living.
Example of an insurer quote request — Sukoon ↗05 — Cars and travel
Add up to four cars. Fuel is calculated from mileage, consumption and price per litre. For an electric car, use kWh/100 km and AED/kWh.
06 — Daily living
Amounts are for the whole household. Do not duplicate school activities or transport already entered. Renewals are an annualised allowance, not necessarily an annual bill.
07 — Setup and deposits
Enter only costs you will pay, including tax. Refundable deposits are separate: they tie up cash without being a permanent expense.
DEWA publishes a deposit of AED 2,000 for an apartment or AED 4,000 for a villa. Activation is AED 155 for small meters; check other meters and providers. Add any other deposits to your amount.
08 — Contingency and affordability
The reserve remains your savings and is not added to annual expenses. The EUR rate is entered by you, with no automatic exchange rate or bank fees. Do not deduct an allowance already included in income twice.
What still needs planning
One rent instalment is 0 AED. It is already included in annual rent: do not add it again. School and insurance schedules depend on your contracts.
Show all calculated costs
- Rent
- 0 AED / yr
- Housing fee
- 0 AED / yr
- Electricity and water (excluding housing fee)
- 0 AED / yr
- Separate cooling / gas
- 0 AED / yr
- Home internet
- 0 AED / yr
- All household mobile plans
- 0 AED / yr
- Home / personal liability insurance
- 0 AED / yr
- Groceries and household supplies
- 0 AED / yr
- Dining and food deliveries
- 0 AED / yr
- Sports, leisure and subscriptions
- 0 AED / yr
- Childcare / household help
- 0 AED / yr
- Clothing and personal spending
- 0 AED / yr
- Metro, buses and taxis (excluding cars below)
- 0 AED / yr
- Uninsured care, copayments and dental
- 0 AED / yr
- Annual travel for the whole family
- 0 AED / yr
- Other annual costs (pets, subscriptions…)
- 0 AED / yr
- Annual allowance: visa / ID / licence renewals
- 0 AED / yr
- Child 1
- 0 AED / yr
- Health after contribution
- 0 AED / yr
Your year, in detail
Twelve months. The right payment schedule.
A monthly average is not enough to plan a move. Allocate your budget to your contractual payment months and see how much cash to keep available. Annual amounts stay as entered above.
Incomplete budget: 15 items remain unpriced. Displayed funding needs are partial.
Your starting position
Income is not entered: funding needs exclude salary. Enter income under “Your household”. Employer reimbursements follow that month’s payments. For direct employer payment, enter only your own costs and remove the matching contribution.
Often-overlooked costs
Only add amounts not already included elsewhere. No prices are preset. Recurring annual costs receive your chosen contingency; one-off costs join initial expenses.
Customise each payment month
Zero or unpriced amounts are not shown. A custom distribution moves an annual amount without increasing it. To allow more summer cooling, first adjust its total, then its distribution. Edit amounts in the budget sections.
Schools: the 40 / 30 / 30 model follows KHDA guidance; its four-month spacing is an example to adjust to your school calendar. Enter nursery and individual contract schedules manually. KHDA ↗
Utility deposits2,000.00 AED
Month 1 : 2,000.00 AED
Moving the first instalment rotates the distribution within these twelve months. For a partial contract, enter the actual amount due and use a custom distribution. No deposit refunds are assumed.
Required opening funds
2,000.00 AED
Including retained reserve: 0.00 AED. This is not an additional annual expense.
Highest-outflow month
Month 1
2,000.00 AED · payments, deposits and allowances
Additional funding required
—
Enter available opening funds.
Your cash-flow calendar
Balance is measured at month end. Opening funding also accounts for payments made before income within the month. Allowances are money set aside, not invoices.
| Month | Payments | Deposits | Allowances | Employer | Income | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 0.00 AED | 2,000.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 2 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 3 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 4 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 5 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 6 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 7 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 8 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 9 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 10 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 11 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
| Month 12 | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | 0.00 AED | — | — |
Twelve-month total after employer contributions: 2,000.00 AED. Matches the first-year budget, including deposits and excluding reserve (rounded to cents).
First year and following year
First year, excluding reserve
2,000.00 AED
Indicative following year
0.00 AED
Projection uses the same recurring expenses, benefits and contingency, without setup, cash purchases, down payments, balloon payments or new deposits. No deposit refund is deducted. Car instalments repeat at the same count: use another scenario if your contract ends. The adjustment is your assumption, not a price forecast; recalculate for grade, housing or cover changes.
Method checked on 7 October 2026. Your contracts remain the source for amounts and dates. Calendar and exports are calculated in your browser and only included in your enquiry if you submit the form.
Same family. Different possibilities.
Save a scenario, change the area, school or car, then add the next one. Up to three scenarios. An incomplete total should not be compared as a final budget.
From a budget to the right home.
Send Dimitri the currently displayed scenario to prepare your housing search. Your criteria, amounts, calendar and unpriced items will accompany your enquiry. This service is not an insurance quote or credit approval.
Sources, coverage and methodology
References checked on 6 October 2026. This catalogue is not exhaustive: 24 school choices, 6 grade-level fee schedules, 24 rent references (8 areas × 3 sizes) and 2 car models. Other choices use your quotes. Data does not update automatically.
Rent: Property Finder’s displayed “New rentals” indicator, recorded by area and bedroom count, with no extrapolation to villas. School tuition excludes extras and does not guarantee admission. Jean Mermoz remains labelled 2025–2026; the other five integrated schedules are 2026–2027.
Calculation: monthly costs × 12 + annual costs, minus stated employer contributions, then chosen contingency. First year: recurring costs including contingency + setup and initial purchases + deposits. The reserve is shown separately. This cash-flow calculation does not measure the economic cost of car ownership or forecast price changes.
Health, car and home insurance, visas, travel, fuel and living costs are not invented: enter a quote or your own assumption. Avoid deducting the same employer benefit twice.
Without submitting the form, calculations remain in this page. A local save is created only with the Save button. Avoid this option on a shared device. Privacy