How much does a small studio for 2 people cost in Dubai?

Read these articles by Gulf News: http://www.gulf-news.com/indepth/costofliving/inde...

A villa can cost between 80,000 to 100,000 AED and an apartment between 50,000 to 80,000 AED per annum (aprx. 5500 AED/month).

It is quite difficult to independently own land in Dubai. Expatriates need to invest almost one million euro in order to legally own decent property with full documentation. The government is very stringent when it comes to land ownership and it can take a very long time before ownership is finalized. Most people will prefer apartment rentals instead since these are less expensive and easier to maintain.

If you haven't heard, commuting is a night mare and unless you want to spend upwards to 2 hours a day, the proximity of your accommodation to the office is vital. This will impact the rent you'll have to pay, so take that on board as well.

In an attempt to catch up with the other major cities in the world, Dubai's authorities have made a quantum leap and introduced road tolls, They were not in the least bit deterred by the fact that there is no real alternate public transport to speak of. Depending on where you live, the commute to and from your office could cost you up to AED 16 daily. There are toll-free options but those will cost you ... time!

Also, they are planning to introduce VAT (I believe at 12%). As their main attraction was 'tax free', this may be harming their image...but as every resident knows, there were always taxes behind the scenes.

As you can see, the cost of living is steadily increasing in Dubai:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/06/28/1013...

Healthcare is extremely expensive for expats in Dubai:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/01/14/1009...

Another thing you may be interested in is that there is a virtual monopoly on telecommunications. There are only 2 providers:

Etisalat (100% government owned)

Du (40% Government owned...majority share)

this provides a nice, 'competition' image to the western world. Also, VOIP is illegal, in case you were dependant on that.

All this is of course compounded by the fact that the UAE Dirham is tied to the dollar which dropped considerably against ALL currencies. So if you are an expatriate that has payments back home, you need to take the exchange rate into consideration as well.

Sorry, I don't know much about food costs. Being a minor, I never had that burden. But also being a 15 year resident minor, I have enough experience to tell you about Dubai in more detail should you need to know.

Take Care

Sameh

hello : Dubai is very expensive area, but you don't have to be limited to Dubai city limit to work in Dubai, most of the worker they live in the SHakaea. it the next Emirate adjacent Dubai, and that just like lake Tahoeo in the california one block and the other side is nevada,

the rent can range 4,000-6,000 dirham for one bedroom opt. and if you look up the conversion rate $1=3,66DR

so it is really depends on how much are you going to make