From living with colleagues to beginning a new journey with my partner. Starting our new life: the cost of living in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi has been my home for the past five years. I moved here in September 2019, just a few months before the pandemic hit. I fell in love with the city from the get-go. I felt like I was on vacation, sometimes I still do. The warm weather throughout the year, the amenities included in all the apartments I lived, the beach clubs, the incomparable service and hospitality, the diversity of ethnicities and cultures. It’s a city where you can afford to experience a higher standard of living without breaking the bank. It’s such a good life! I haven’t got enough of it and now I can finally share it by living with my partner for life.
Naturally, a lot changed since I first moved here. I began my life in Al Reem and Al Maryah Islands. Between 2021 and 2023 I was living in Masdar City, and finally between 2023 and 2024 I stayed in Al Rawdah. By the end of 2024 my partner and I decided we wanted to start our new journey, together, living in Abu Dhabi. We started looking for our nest and ended up settling in a lovely 1-bedroom apartment in Al Zeina.
Key Expenses for Living in Abu Dhabi
Renting
Renting is the most significant expense you will have from living in Abu Dhabi, unless you are blessed with company provided accommodation or already own a place here. You will realise prices vary greatly by location. Some popular locations are in high demand and the prices are skyrocketing, such as Al Raha, Saadiyat, Yas, Reem, Al Maryah and Corniche. On a lower budget there’s Al Ghadeer, Khalifa City, Mussafah, Mohamed bin Zayed City.
As I work as cabin crew and my husband usually works from home or needs to travel abroad, staying near the airport was one of our main priorities. We also wanted it to be place that offered us nice surroundings and services nearby, so we looked for apartments mainly around Al Raha, Al Muneera, Masdar City, Khalifa City. This was a challenge. We did not want to spend more AED 70K per year for an apartment, but with this budget it’s hard to find 1-bedroom options, with a decent size and quality, in our preferred areas.
Eventually, we found a lovely 1-bedroom apartment in Al Zeina, an area that we’ve become more and more fond of. We ended up surpassing our budget since the rental agreement itself cost us 77K for the year, however, we had to pay an additional 5% agent commission (AED 3,850) + 5% security deposit (AED 3,850) + contract fee (AED 800) + 5% VAT on these expenses, bringing our total expense up to 86K, the equivalent to nearly USD 2,000 per month, excluding utilities. The apartment is around 1,000 ft2 (92m2), and include amenities such as pool and gym.
Furniture/Appliances
When we decided to move out of our previous apartments to live together, we had to purchase basic furniture and appliances. Here are some of our key purchases, in the total amount of AED 12,957:
- Sofa + Coffee Table + Cushioned Chair – AED 2,017 from Home Box
- Bed Frame – AED 1995 from United Furniture
- King Size Mattress – AED 1,530 from the Mattress Store
- 2 Bedside Tables – AED 260 from Pan Home
- TV Stand/Shelf – AED 245 from Ikea
- Philips QLED TV – AED 1,749 from Lulu Hypermarket
- Dining Table – AED 675 from Jysk
- 4 Dining Chairs – AED 260 from Pan Home
- Bedroom Curtains – AED 525 from Ikea
- Samsung Washing Machine – AED 600 from Carrefour
- Samsung Fridge/Freezer – 1,220 from Amazon.ae
- Microwave-Oven – AED 549 from Lulu Hypermarket
- Prestige Cooker – AED 300 on Amazon.ae
- Set of Bedsheets + Duvet + Pillows – AED 557 from Homes R Us
- Working Desk – AED 475 from Ikea
I must say that everything we purchased truly serves a purpose in our daily lives, and we were very thoughtful before buying anything. We believe that we don’t need much to live a good and happy life and we prefer to keep it simple. We didn’t go for the latest appliances or luxurious furniture, instead we went for what served our needs, was good value for money and matched our personal tastes, minimal. Also, we tried to make use of any offers and discounts we could possibly find.
Apart from these, there were small bits and pieces we had to buy to make our life easier such as a new organisation rack for the kitchen and some cook/dinnerware. There were also some other small items/appliances we already had such as the Ecovacs Robot, the Thermomix, a Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine, our Nutri Bullet and the Nutricook Air Fryer. These are not essential items we wouldn’t be able to live without but they really come in hand and actually help us save some money on dining out/food delivery and cleaning services.
Utilities cost for living in Abu Dhabi
In Abu Dhabi, our utilities include electricity, water and cooling. Additionally, in our electricity/water bill there’s a 5% municipality fee, so basically an additional AED 4,042.50, divided by the 12 months of contract . On top of this, to start a contract with the electricity/water and cooling providers we had to pay a AED 2,000 deposit (refundable upon termination of these contracts).
We have only been here for 3 months now, but so far our electricity + water bill has been around AED 500 per month, the cooling bill was approx. AED 300 per month during these first months of the year, and our internet provider has a fixed monthly cost of 450 AED, including VAT.
Regarding the mobile phone service, both me my husband and I use Virgin Mobile plans as we found this to be the cheapest option for us. On a yearly plan, we spend, on average 65 AED/month for each phone. Our plans include 6 GB of data and 50 local minutes of calls/SMSs. Whenever we want to call our loved ones abroad we use our preferred services: WhatsApp, Botim or Zoom.
Transportation
Shortly after moving to Abu Dhabi I realised this is not a city like Lisbon (where I used to live), London, or Paris, where you can live your daily life without owning a car. I would say it is possible, and many people have no other option but to do so. Though I would say if you can afford to buy a car and you need to commute daily for work, you should take some pros and cons into consideration:
- Unlike Dubai there isn’t a metro service in Abu Dhabi, meaning either you use the bus or take a taxi to get to places.
- The summers are extremely hot, therefore for half of the year you will need to bear with the heat while you wait for the bus. You may find some bus stops are enclosed and are provided with cooling systems, but that isn’t always the case.
- For some reason the public transportation network can be very time consuming. For example, a journey from Al Zeina (where I currently live) to Khalifa University can take around 1h20 by bus, while by car it would take you 25 minutes.
- Taking a taxi every day might not be the cheapest option either. For example, assuming your workplace is around 20 minutes from home, this could cost you at least 50 AED per trip, by taxi. After 20 days of work that could cost (best case scenario) AED 1,000. Worst case scenario, you might need to visit other places, sometimes further away and end up spending twice this amount.
For comparison purposes, the Honda City 2020 that we own was purchased second hand in 2022 for AED 46,000 and had 70,000 km. Overall, the cost of this car, including its annual insurance, maintenance, inspection and documents renewal has reached a cost of AED 1,570 per month since June 2022. We have used this car to travel around Abu Dhabi and also for a few trips to Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai, reaching a total of almost 30,000 km over the past 3 years. For refuelling our car two to three times per month (since we don’t use it everyday), usually it costs us around AED 300 – 450 per month in total.
Groceries and Dining
On groceries we usually spend around 1,500 to 2,000 per month, including food delivery. I would say we spend around the same amount on dining out. So in total 3,000 – 4,000 AED on Groceries and Dining, worst case scenario, for 2 pp. This varies greatly on what kind of food we are eating, how often we get food delivery or go out for dinner and naturally, to which restaurants we visit. Here are some of the costs we have:
- Food delivery (for two): 80 – 100 AED per meal;
- Dining Out (for two): 250 – 300 AED per meal;
- Groceries (for two, for 1 month): 2,000 AED *considering my husband works from home and I spend half of the week at home, we have been trying to cook at home as much as possible to be on a healthier diet and avoid overspending.
Healthcare when you’re living in Abu Dhabi
If you are employed in the UAE most likely your company will provide you not only with a working visa but also health insurance. You still have to co-pay for medical appointments, exams and medication but if you live healthily you shouldn’t spend more than 500 AED per year on a few check up trips.
Yearly Costs
Upfront, we had to spend around 100K to move into this apartment in Al Zeina and furnish it.
Though, on a yearly basis, we expect that our expenses will be as follow:
- Renting 1-bedroom apartment (including commissions) – 85 K
- Utilities (water, electricity, cooling, internet, mobile services) – 17 K
- Food & Groceries – 38 K to 46 K
- Transportation (fuel) – 4K
- Healthcare – less than 1K
From a more conservative perspective, AED 12,500 per month is our estimated cost of living in Abu Dhabi. More realistically, our average costs per month have been less than AED 10,000.
Salary Requirements
This is very subjective but if you’re living in Abu Dhabi, or planning to, you should know a single person typically needs a salary between AED 15,000 and AED 20,000 per month. If you are a couple and both earn this amount you will have more than a fine living in Abu Dhabi while keeping your savings on track.
If you have children you will need to add education/childcare costs to your budget, and of course also consider renting a more expensive apartment/villa. I suppose when you have kids you will want to continue having your holidays abroad, and include them in activities you deem important for their growth and development.
In the end, it’s all about budgeting and not incurring in impulsive or unnecessary purchases. You can always enjoy the best things in life while being smart with money. 💰
If you have any questions about what is like to live in Abu Dhabi or doubts regarding other expenses I did not mention in this post, please feel free to drop me a comment or message.