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Advise required....a move to Bahrain??

D
#1
Hi all,

I am hoping you guys can help me with the big question, that being whether my family and I (wife and 3 kids)should make the big move to Bahrain from Ireland.
I have been offered a post with a salary of BHD3000 per month with health insurance, flights and half of the kids school fees being paid on top of this figure.
I am not running from the recession as I have a reasonably well paid job here but I guess I am looking for a positive experience for both myself and family and obviously would like to save a decent amount of cash while out there if possible?? We are not into the high life by any means but do like a good standard of living.
So, if any of you guys can shed some light on the financial front and also, would love to hear of anyone has any past experience of moving to Bahrain with kids and how it went regardng their settling in etc.
Anyh and all info greatly received guys.....many thanks in advance.

DJ
See also
VidoDido
#2
Hi doublejay and welcome to the Forum :)

Here you go the link to similar post which may give you some ideas about cost of living in Bahrain

/forum/viewtopic.php?id=202180

If you still have more questions, feel free to post it in Bahrain Forum for better visibility and proper responses ;)

Cheers :)
H
#3
@doublejay, welcome to 大咖福利影院!

Your thread has been moved to Bahrain forum for better visibility.;)

Harmonie.
D
#4
Thanks for moving the post to the correct area...newbie error I guess!!

Vido, the info you gave in the post you referred me to was great but I am concerned that with the company only paying for half the kids school fee's that it may erode any hope I have of making some savings....any thoughts?

Thanks again for you help....DJ
VidoDido
#5
Unfortunately I have no idea about School Fees in Bahrain. But I would imagine that it varies drastically based on which school you would send your kids to.

Hope one of the members with school experience in Bahrain, can provide some valuable information in this regard, so that you can work out your calculations and check about the savings you could make.

Regards,
Josnuggles
#6
Hi

School fee's are quite high and go up every year with the age of the child. We pay 2500BD a term for our son in year 7 at St Christophers. The salary sounds about right - my husband is on a similar wage. BUT the education is amazing, the country is amazing, the weather is amazing. Need I say more?? Jump at the chance. We have a lovely villa to let on our compound (of only 4 villa's ) all inclusive and fully furnished - fantastic rates too. Let me know if you want pics lol.

Don't hesitate - move here and it will be the best decision you ever made :-)
VidoDido
#7
Josnuggles said it all :top::one

doublejay, you must be eager beaver now after reading Josnuggles' post ;)

Good Luck :)
Josnuggles
#8
:shy Aww shucks thanks Vido
D
#9
This is great info guys. The more responses here I get the better as its a big move given the ages of my kids.
I had an idea of the prices of schools and this cost is the one thing that I am concerned about affecting our lifestyle out there given the salary I would be earning and the fact that I would have two of school going age.
Am I correct in saying that rent, school and car/transport would be the main area's of expenditure we would encounter (apart from all the regular day to day stuff?

Cheers....DJ
Josnuggles
#10
We pay all our school fee's which is the same as you paying half for each of yours and our lifestyle is great. Yep you are right on the expenditure - allow to join a club so you can have a drink and meet people too - all clubs differ in price and you can get in the country club for free. Food is cheap. Eating out is cheap. Cars - 200BD a month for a small one 320BD for a big 4x4. There is a bus company that take the kids to school and drop them back home for 70BD a term per seat.

Once here and sorted you can always shop around for a higher paid job but I think you will be just fine
D
#11
I am liking the sound of the 4x4, what kind of brands are popular over there?
Thanks for the advise about the clubs...not thought about that at all. It is amazing to find out what you really dont know about until you ask someone living there.
Can I ask you Jo, woudl your experience out there be the norm among your friends etc.?
brightonguy
#12
The salary you earn is very good for Bahrain standards, consider it done :) Saving, although is entirely depending on your lifestyle, is very possible with the salary you mentioned. Some locals here earn that much over a year I heard (although how they survive is entirely unknown to me but there we go). Usually at that salary level, your company should cover the cost of accommodation, but maybe they include the cost into your salary so I don't know.

School fees can be high here, but you won't have any problem.

One thing I highly recommend is if you don't know how to drive, get a driving license before you come here - otherwise you will really struggle getting one here - finding a driving instructor is a big pain. I am yet to find one and it's been a month since I started looking for one.
Josnuggles
#13
I have quite a few expat friends out here - they all get their school fee's paid in full though. We don't as my hubby is a consultant and not "employed" so to speak. Although that did change today and he got taken on a permanant contract so school fees will be paid from now on in.

I would say that my experiences are about the same as everyone elses out here to be honest. You learn really quickly and everyone on this forum have been amazing in helping me settle in and they will all help you too.

4x4 is kind of a must out here - they drive like maniacs - go through red lights, cut you up, no indicators, undertake, overtake etc etc etc but you get used to it and end up just as bad after a week of driving :-)
Josnuggles
#14
@Brightonguy - My friend learnt how to drive here. Do you want me to ask her for details for you? Although she did say he was on his mobile and just said "drive around, it's the only way to learn" and that was it!!!! Her hubby had to get a special licence and teach her (they nearly divorced) but she is a good driver now. Either that or pop home and do an intensive course lol
D
#15
@Josnuggles, congrats on the job news, thats great especially with the added bonus of being'employed' as opposed to being a聽 contractor!
Its great to know that there's such a strong expat community out there. Based on your assessment on the driving skills out there, it sounds like ya need a tank as opposed to a 4x4 lol.
@Brightonguy, both my wife and I have been driving for years both here and on the continent but it sounds liek a very different ball game out there, suffice to say, I have no doubt that my wife will defo not drive (her statement and not mine!!). I'll be the inhouse taxi!
Josnuggles
#16
I said I would never drive in Bahrain, but after a month of going stir crazy I had to have a car. During the daytime in the week the roads are quite placid as most people are at work. Agree re the tank but the police seem to have nailed the market on those lol. As I said in our emails though, I'm happy to show your wife around when you are at work which will give her some independance as public transport isn't really available here so it's drive or taxi.
D
#17
Tks again Jo for the advise and offer of showing my wife around. Think it will be like that for her also re the driving. I cant see someone who lives for her car here suddenly going cold turkey. Having said that, we have spend long period of time in Spain in recent years and she had no inclination to drive so wait and see guess. Just thought of something now, do they drive on the left or right hand side of the road there?
Josnuggles
#18
We drive on the right hand side here - 90% of cars are automatic as we have to watch all the maniacs on the road and can't change gear too .... way tooooo complicated :-)
D
#19
omg, was that a woman driver comment...allowed ONLY when comes from a woman!!
Automatic is good...I have an automatic here for the past 9 months and love it...never had driven one before. Why is the word maniac always used when ppl talk about driving in bahrain!!!lol
Josnuggles
#20
Maniac is the ONLY way to describe driving in Bahrain lol. The men are much worse than the women by the cutting up, swerving, etc but the women allow their kids to stand inbetween the front seats or dance all over the car which distracts them and is highly dangerous so I suppose I can't say which sex is the worst driver. My son reckons it was the 3 year old he saw on his dads knee driving down the highway at 100km/hr the other day that was the worst!!!
A
#21

doublejay wrote:

omg, was that a woman driver comment...allowed ONLY when comes from a woman!!
Automatic is good...I have an automatic here for the past 9 months and love it...never had driven one before. Why is the word maniac always used when ppl talk about driving in bahrain!!!lol


To your last sentence, my reply: because people forget that聽 the real maniacs are聽 from elsewhere and they are offending the lovely Bahraini people!
(Please THINK before posting!聽 聽 ufffff)

Cheers

Josnuggles
#22

anna66 wrote:
doublejay wrote:

omg, was that a woman driver comment...allowed ONLY when comes from a woman!!
Automatic is good...I have an automatic here for the past 9 months and love it...never had driven one before. Why is the word maniac always used when ppl talk about driving in bahrain!!!lol


To your last sentence, my reply: because people forget that聽 the real maniacs are聽 from elsewhere and they are offending the lovely Bahraini people!
(Please THINK before posting!聽 聽 ufffff)

Cheers


I saw absolutely NOTHING wrong in that quote - Doublejay was having a laugh with me and insulting NOBODY

D
#23
Thanks for the support @Josnuggles.
In no way did i intend to insult the Bahraini people nor did what I say even look like I was being insulting to them.
As Josnuggles has said, this was us having a laugh about driving abroad and maybe the sense of humour from our part of the world is hard to get!
One has to ask though, if I wanted to be insulting, why would I be looking into the possibility of relocating my family to this island that eveyone I have spoken to has only good things to say about??
Anyways...lets all get back to less heavy topics of conversation!
Josnuggles
#24

doublejay wrote:

Thanks for the support @Josnuggles.
In no way did i intend to insult the Bahraini people nor did what I say even look like I was being insulting to them.
As Josnuggles has said, this was us having a laugh about driving abroad and maybe the sense of humour from our part of the world is hard to get!
One has to ask though, if I wanted to be insulting, why would I be looking into the possibility of relocating my family to this island that eveyone I have spoken to has only good things to say about??
Anyways...lets all get back to less heavy topics of conversation!


:thanks: Beautifully said

gwen72
#25
My Family are thinking of move to Bahrain as my husband has job offer there. We are having difficulty with school places as alot of them seem to be full as are the waiting lists. Did you get places for your kids in a school and if so would would appreciate to know which one. We cannot organise accommodation until the school is sorted.
Josnuggles
#26
What year are your children in and which nationality are you? This will help us narrow down school options for you.

My son got into Yr 7 at St Christophers but he got the last place.
gwen72
#27
We are Irish and the kids are aged 5 and 7.,
Josnuggles
#28
Thanks, So they are in Junior school obviously.

The best choices are:

St Christophers in Saar
The British School of Bahrain

Unfortunately they are the only ones I have had anything to do with. But maybe if you post a new topic on the forum instead of using someone elses then maybe you will get a lot more responses and help :)- Limited viewings on someone elses posting I'm afraid. Good luck
gwen72
#29
Thanks for that tip. I have put up new post.

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