Low-cost Frontier Airlines is adjusting its route network and suspending more than 40 less profitable flights through February.
I was an expat working in Dubai for 4 years. The culture of splurging on luxuries made saving harder than I expected.
03.12.2024 - 11:43 / insider.com
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation and emails with Victoria Blinova, 30, about living in Dubai and moving to London. The below has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in Cyprus and moved to the UAE in 2013 to study at New York University in Abu Dhabi.
While there, I studied Arabic. A significant part of my day-to-day was being immersed in the culture. I wanted to stay in the region after graduation to continue my immersion.
I spent four years in Abu Dhabi, and then I worked in Dubai for four years. Initially, I worked in management consulting in a boutique firm. Later, I got a job at Nestlé and worked there for a couple of years before moving to London.
In Dubai, people are very transient. Everyone's an expat. Bymy fourth year, most of my friends had left the city. I felt like I needed to explore somewhere new.
Dubai has amazing work opportunities, and I plan to return at some point. There are so many complex and exciting projects you can work on. People are so generous, open to learn, and hungry for opportunities.
For entry-level jobs, if you are at the right company, Dubai is one of the most lucrative markets.
At Nestlé, back in 2019, I was making a good salary tax-free.
When I left Dubai, I saved around 30% of my salary over four years. But I was constantly biting myself thinking I could have saved even more.
A lot of people in London are like, "I'm going to move to Dubai. It's like 40% to 100% more salary."
But I had a period in my life where I spent a lot more in Dubai than I spent in London. In London, you can be very thrifty, and that's not frowned upon.
When you're in Dubai, it's not part of the culture. Luxury is very affordable. Because of that, everyone automatically opts into that luxury.
I very often went overboard.
I remember clearly booking a five-star hotel to treat myself randomly for 200 dirhams, which is £40 ($50). I'd do stuff like book a five-star hotel for one night, and that's quite normal.
It was also very common to go to yacht parties. I've been to so many.
In 2021, I remember paying £80 for a yacht party. When I told this to my London friends, and they were like, "But that's 80 pounds?" I responded that was cheap for a day on a yacht.
Bottomless brunch is also very common. You would spend every weekend going to very luxurious bottomless brunches.It would be like £100 ($126) to experience something unforgettable.
In Dubai, if you go out, you're not just going to go to a cheap little place around the corner. There are more expectations on gifts.
You can't walk outside your house in Dubai and not spend a significant chunk of money.
Whereas in London, I feel like everything is so unaffordable, you end up not spending. The lifestyle in London differs
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