Food and drink was the third biggest expense in all categories of household, after rent and "transport and telecoms".
Food and drink was the third biggest expense in all categories of household, after rent and "transport and telecoms".

Where your money goes



Abu Dhabi households spent an average of Dh135,300 on basic needs last year, much of it on rent, according to government statistics. Emiratis alone spent more than twice that amount and "collective households" less than half. Tom Spender reports abu DHABI // Households in the emirate spent an average of Dh135,300 (US$36,800) per year on basic needs, including accommodation, food and school fees in 2007 and 2008, according to government statistics.

But the level of expenditure today could be as much as 13 per cent more, or Dh152,900 per year, taking into account the Ministry of Economy's official inflation figures for the period since the raw data was compiled. The report, from the newly formed Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi, divided the emirate's population into three groups: Emiratis, who spent Dh305,500 per household in 2007-2008; middle-class expatriate households, which spent Dh106,400 per year; and "collective households", which spent just Dh47,500 per year.

Although not specifically defined in the report, "collective households" appears to refer to lower income residents in shared accommodation. Rent was by far the largest expense for all residents irrespective of nationality, eating up an average of 37.7 per cent of the total, with "transport and telecoms" constituting 17.9 per cent of expenditure and food and drink 16.4 per cent. But the statistics centre did not include savings in its survey, which is the first of its kind to have been carried out in the emirate.

The results also underlined the great variety in lifestyles among the emirate's population, with the lowest-spending 20 per cent of residents accounting for just 6.4 per cent of the total expenditure and the top 20 per cent of spenders accounting for 42.7 per cent. The survey included a breakdown by region, which shows that Emiratis and middle-class expatriates in Abu Dhabi and Al Gharbia spend up to twice as much per capita as their counterparts in Al Ain or in the areas surrounding Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.

No one at the statistics centre was available for comment on the report. But Omar Said and Ahmad Ali, both Emirati government employees in Abu Dhabi, said the spending patterns of Emiratis could vary wildly according to "social status and commitments". "It depends on whether he is married or not and whether he lives inside Abu Dhabi or outside," said Mr Said, 28, who is married with two children. "It also depends on the wife. Some of them like to spend and some don't. If they do, you have to spend, otherwise they think you're stingy.

"It is difficult to have one fixed annual budget; it does not work for us. Foreigners can do that, but we have commitments to others. Everyone likes to save but it's difficult here." Mr Ali, 25, who is single, said he and his peers felt they had to follow trends to get respect. "Restaurants, for example, are trendy now," he said. "If you don't go to restaurants, you're not respected enough. And the restaurant should be five stars, and the bill should be between Dh200 to Dh700. That is twice a week, on average.

"People need to change their cars. I renew my car every five years but this is just because I am too grown up for extravagance. Younger people change their cars every year because it is the trend." Some young Emiratis spend Dh3,000 on their sunglasses and up to Dh25,000 on mobile phones, Mr Ali said. "Have you seen an Emirati with less than three mobiles?" he said. "Every bill is around Dh2,000. Some buy a new mobile every month. Also, car monthly instalment is Dh3,000 to Dh4,000. A new khandoura costs Dh1,500, and that is for a new one every month. Shoes cost Dh1,500, with a new pair every three months. And travel to a country in the region would cost at least Dh60,000 for the trip."

Sandy Wilson, an American housewife whose husband works at the US embassy, said she and her husband spent most of their money on food and drink and travel, but saved money because the embassy covered the couple's accommodation costs and because she did her shopping online. "Our budget is mostly spent on food and drink," she said. "I barely spend anything in Abu Dhabi, I do most of my shopping online because it is cheaper than the prices here. I don't buy clothing or books here.

"Our excess money is spent on travel. We want to see this part of the world. We're not saving a lot; we're travelling a lot." Remedios Paredes, a widowed Filipina nurse working at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, also has employer-provided accommodation for herself and her three children. But she is struggling to make ends meet after paying a total of Dh40,500 in tuition fees for her children as well as food and drink and medical expenses for sick relatives in the Philippines, all of which must come from a monthly wage of Dh8,300.

"When I came here in 2000, I would spend Dh500 for food and the trolley would overflow," she said. "Now I can only buy milk and water and bread. Now Dh100 is like Dh10." Mrs Paredes said she planned to send her children back to the Philippines to be educated because she could not meet the rising costs here. "I cannot pay any more," she said. "My children ask for clothes for programmes, and money for projects at school. I don't have money, so I'm only using my credit card. Even the taxi prices have risen."

* With additional reporting by Hassan Hassan and Meera al Sayegh

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR

US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.

KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.

 

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Mia Man’s tips for fermentation

- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.

- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.

- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.

 

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding

The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press

Your rights as an employee

The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.

The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.

If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.

Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.

The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.

Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

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David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

MATCH INFO

Day 1 at Mount Maunganui

England 241-4

Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28

New Zealand 

Yet to bat

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en