Renad Ghanem

Saudi Gazette



JEDDAH — The vast majority of expatriates living in the Kingdom say they are facing difficulties saving money.

As many of them are already working on low wages, the rising cost of living is hitting their savings hard.

In the past 10 years, most expatriates living here have been hit by rent increases, rising private school fees and others.



They said their families back home think that they are saving a lot of money, an illusion they have to maintain each time they travel back home for a vacation.



The main aim for the vast majority of expatriates working abroad is to send money to help their families back home.



Nowadays, their wages are barely enough to pay for basic needs and utility bills.



Ahmed Roushdy, an Egyptian engineer working and living in Jeddah with his wife and two children, said he spends all of his monthly salary on basic needs.



Roushdy said, “I came to Saudi Arabia with the aim of working in a job to fulfill family needs and save some money before I go back home. The salary here is double my salary in Egypt, but unfortunately I don’t save any of it; life is so expensive.



“This year I have to pay SR10,000 to my son’s private school.



“This is over my budget, because my rent is SR2,000 a month while I receive SR800 in housing allowance. The remaining amount I pay from my own salary, which is SR1,200.”



He said these expenses make it very hard for him to save any money to support his family back home.



Mohammed Shahin, a Sudanese expatriate working in a private company in Jeddah, spends most of his salary before the end of the month. He even borrows money from his friends to cover some expenses.



He said: “The transportation allowance doesn’t cover my monthly car installment fees.



“I have to use about SR1,200 out of my salary because the housing allowance is only SR500, which is too little to rent an apartment.”



Shahin pays the tuition fees for his two children, an additional burden on his budget.



He said: “My relatives and friends don’t believe that I don’t save money from my salary. They think that I’m rich, while I borrow money every month from my friends to cover my needs.”



Mahmoud Shah, a Pakistani national working in a private company, came to Saudi Arabia in 2008. He was planning to work in the Kingdom for five years and save enough money before going back home.



“The rising cost of expenses force many of us to work an additional job even though we’re not allowed to do this to pay for expenses and save a little amount.



“Rent prices are increasing and the prices of foodstuffs are increasing as well.”



Tamer Abdulshafi is an Egyptian who works in the medical industry. He came to Jeddah four years ago after working in Dubai.



Before, he thought that anyone working in the Gulf was rich, but that opinion changed after he arrived in the region.



He said: “I’m single and my salary barely enough for me. I was working in Dubai and I left because the city was very expensive.



“I came to Saudi Arabia thinking it would be better and I could save money but it’s the same.



“Whether I am working here or in Egypt, it is the same. I don’t save money in either of these countries.



“Every month I receive phone calls from my relatives who are asking me to lend them money or pay their bills, but I simply cannot.”



Asian expatriates too are in the same boat, with their relatives back home expecting the earth from them.



Most of them are presented with responsibilities far beyond their means and they get weighed down by their relatives’ repeated requests.



Apart from the financial burden that keeps them at a perpetual risk of debts or in debt, family relations get strained by the inability of the expatriate in the Gulf to fulfill everybody’s wishes.



Even a normal, truthful negative reply would be viewed with suspicion that the expatriate’s sole aim was to hoard wealth and selfishly enjoy his gains.