iflyg4:
The money goes pretty fast... you will have normal lifestyle expenses here but they are all "premium".
Car insurance - very expensive, it's a percentage of the purchase or insured value of your vehicle.
Cable/Sat TV hookup... about 60 USD per month ("57 channels... and nothing on...")
Computer internet connection... 68 USD per month for mediocre service.
Phones, whether mobile or home are expensive. Local calls are not free, so although the company pays the basic line charge, everytime you pick up the phone and dial, you are paying...
You'll possibly have to pay for landscaping required on your "company provided" accomodation. This is a bit of a hit and miss thing, it depends on where you get placed. It's unfair, but that's the way it goes at Emirates.
Food - quite expensive here. A small family spends 2-3K AED per month
Children's activities... 500 AED a go... for field trips etc... plus some longer journeys, costing 5-8K AED per child.
School fees at either American School... very expensive. I pay 24000 AED above the company allowance, per child per year! That's more than one months basic salary per child... If you have high expectations from the school system here... be careful. They are "private" in that they charge money, but this is just a convention. They are just like public schools in the US.
Medical insurance supplement for your family as a few hundred AED per month...
It looks great on paper, but the nearest analogy I can think of is that you are living in a company town. Kind of like a coal miner from years ago... you live, eat, breath, sleep, purchase from and spend your paycheck in ... the company town. While I am on the subject, there is a gold-rush mentality to this place, and just like years ago, many men and women have seen their fortunes fade away under the harsh light of day. Dubai isn't really an expatriate experience in traditional terms. You will just be moving to a big, crowded city in the sun. Las Vegas crossed with Miami and Bombay.
Your decision is a tough one. Good luck.