One of the most frequently asked questions on my Instagram account is: “Can you save money in Qatar?” Lately, I’ve read posts claiming that the days of earning lots of money in the Middle East are long gone! I disagree…big time. In this post, I’ll outline some ways to maximize your savings as a teacher and really make the most of that tax-free salary.
1. Tutoring
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again. If you are a teacher and you want to save money in Qatar, you need to tutor. Prices range from 200-250 QR/hour (40-50 euro). If you tutor for a few hours each week, you’re talking about a decent lump sum at the end of each week. We tried to save our entire salary and live off our tutoring money each week, thus hitting our saving goals each month. It is tiring after a long day’s teaching and some days it’s the last thing you want to do. But once you see those notes coming in, it’s hard to stop. The cost of living is expensive here and may continue to rise, the closer we get to the World Cup. But by living off (or partly living off) your tutoring wage, you make saving here much more do-able!
*Private tutoring is illegal in this country, but 90% of teachers that I know, tutor! Don’t advertise publicly. You’ll find tutoring through your school, parents will ask you as the year goes on! Let other teachers in your school know that you’re looking for some tutoring hours and once you start, you’ll find your number gets passed around!
2. Shop Around
Shopping around definitely applies to any country you live in, even back home. When you move to a new country, it takes a few weeks/months to get your bearings with where’s best to buy your groceries etc. The main grocery shops here are:
- Carrefore
- Lulus
- MegaMart
- Monoprix
You’ll find one of these (if not more) in any shopping center that you go to. They have pretty much any food item that you require, however they can be incredibly expensive! Particularly MegaMart! For fruit, vegetables, rice, milk, bread, cleaning products etc, shop in the local hypermarkets. There seems to be more and more of them popping up in all areas. Generally, they’re not appealing to the eye and are tightly packed, but the difference in price you’ll pay is a deal breaker. The quality of fruit and vegetables is the same as in the dearer shops. However, just me personally, but I wouldn’t buy my meat in the hypermarkets. I’d always buy meat in either MegaMart or Carrefore.
3. Buy Furniture, Electronics & Appliances Second Hand
Qatar has a high turnover of expats coming and going. People are constantly selling furniture and appliances second hand and most of the time, they’re in pretty good condition. Before buying anything for your house or apartment, be sure to check out the following Facebook groups:
- Qatar Expat Leaving Sale
- Buy It, Sell It, Swap It, Qatar
- IKEA. Buy & Sale. Qatar
- The Pearl Classifieds (If you live in the Pearl).
- Used Cars for Sale in Qatar
You end up saving money and ending up with pre-loved items that are almost as good as new. Sustainability and all that!
4. Download and Use the Entertainer Application
The entertainer is an application that you must purchase if living in Qatar. The ENTERTAINER is full of exciting Buy One Get One Free offers for restaurants, beauty salons, health & fitness, leisure activities and many more. To make it even better their offers are always Buy One Get One Free, valid 7 days a week (excluding public holidays) and all year long! Eating out can be expensive here, but with the entertainer, you can have a nice lifestyle for half the price. Not a weekend goes by without us using this application. It also tells you how much you’ve saved by using it, which is also a nice boost!
5. Run private classes through your school
It’s no secret that people in Qatar have money! If you have a skill/talent outside teaching that you’re willing to teach, by means of an extra-curricular activity, utilize it! This may not work in every school, but it’s worth your while asking. Each term, all teachers must run an ECA (extra curricular activity) for free as per your contract. However, this year some staff members ran an extra paid ECA. For example:
- Swimming
- CAD (Computer Aided Design)
- Football Academy
- Guitar
They pitched the idea to the principal and of course, the school received a percentage of the money for this class. The teachers ran these classes once a week for 6 weeks- it was a huge success. Just another way to maximize your saving opportunity while you’re here!
With the way the property market has gone back home, it’s no surprise or shock that teachers are moving to the Middle East to save. As I’m here 3 years now, I thought I’d share some of my saving tips that I’ve picked up along the way to maximize your chances of saving some money too!
If you’ve any questions or queries on anything that I’ve shared here, please let me know below in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!
