Monthly family budget in Dubai, with a free AED template

How much do rent and school fees cost in Dubai?

In Dubai, rent and school fees usually decide whether the rest of the budget works. Get these two lines right first.

Rent

Average yearly asking rents from dubizzle’s report for the first half of 2026, with the monthly equivalent. These are asking prices from listings, not signed contracts, so treat them as a guide.

For a family that needs a villa, the same report gives average asking rents for three-bedroom villas of AED 112,000 a year in DAMAC Hills 2, AED 142,000 in Mirdif and AED 146,000 in Dubai South.

School fees

Khaleej Times reported in July 2026 that KHDA confirmed Dubai private school fees remain unchanged for 2026–27. At schools rated Outstanding, yearly tuition in that report ran from AED 29,488 (preschool, at the lowest) to AED 111,799 (Year 13, at the highest). That is roughly AED 2,460 to AED 9,320 a month per child.

Fees vary by school and by year group, so use your own school’s fee sheet and divide the yearly total by 12. Budget separately for transport, books, uniforms and activities.

How much are DEWA, the housing fee and the internet?

Electricity and water

DEWA charges residential electricity in bands, according to Property Finder’s guide (February 2026). Each band’s rate applies only to the units inside that band.

A fuel surcharge of 6 fils is added to every kWh. Water is billed per cubic metre: AED 7.70 for the first 27 m³, AED 8.80 from 27 to 54 m³ and AED 10.12 above that. DEWA moved water billing from gallons to cubic metres in March 2025. A meter charge of AED 5 to 35 applies, and a sewerage fee is added too. Some buildings also bill district cooling separately. Check the current rates on DEWA’s own tariff page.

An illustration, not data: a flat using 600 kWh and 15 m³ in a winter month would pay about AED 290 for electricity, its fuel surcharge and water. The same flat using 2,500 kWh and 30 m³ in summer would pay about AED 985. Both figures leave out the meter charge, sewerage, any water surcharge and VAT, so your bill will be higher.

The housing fee

If you rent and are not a UAE national, DEWA also collects the Dubai Municipality housing fee: 5% of the yearly rent in your Ejari contract, in 12 monthly instalments (Bayut). On AED 72,000 a year, that is AED 300 a month.

Internet and phones

Numbeo’s crowdsourced average for home broadband in Dubai was about AED 346 a month in November 2026, with reported prices from AED 230 to AED 450. Check current plans and promotions with the providers, and add your mobile plans as their own line.

How much does getting around Dubai cost?

By car. Fuel prices are set monthly. For November 2026, Special 95 costs AED 4.04 a litre, Super 98 AED 4.16, E-Plus 91 AED 3.97 and diesel AED 4.75 (Hi Dubai). As an illustration, driving 1,500 km a month in a car that uses 8 litres per 100 km takes 120 litres of Special 95: about AED 485.

Salik tolls are AED 6 at weekday peak times (6 to 10am and 4 to 8pm) and AED 4 off-peak, and free from 1 to 6am (The National, 2025). Since 1 June 2026, 5% VAT applies, so the tolls are AED 6.30 and AED 4.20 (The National, 2026). Forty crossings a month cost roughly AED 170 to AED 250. Add parking, insurance, registration and any car loan yourself.

By metro and bus. RTA’s Silver nol card costs AED 3 for a trip in one zone, AED 5 for two zones and AED 7.50 for more than two. A 30-day Silver pass costs AED 140 for one zone, AED 230 for two and AED 350 for all zones. Children aged 5 and under travel free, and students can get 50% off with a Personal nol card.

What does a family budget in Dubai look like? Two worked examples

These are examples, not averages. They add up the researched figures above. Lines marked “you set” depend too much on your family for any figure to be honest.

Couple with two children, two-bedroom flat

A three-bedroom villa in Mirdif or Dubai South would instead cost about AED 11,830–12,170 a month in rent, plus a housing fee of about AED 590–610.

Couple without children, one-bedroom flat

For a rough outside check, Numbeo’s crowdsourced estimate for a family of four in Dubai was about AED 15,080 a month before rent, and about AED 4,275 for a single person (updated 6 November 2026). Crowdsourced figures are a sense check, not a target.

How should an expat family split its salary? 50/30/20, adapted

The 50/30/20 rule comes from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi’s 2005 book All Your Worth: 50% of take-home pay for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings (Bankrate).

For many expat families in Dubai it needs two changes. This is our suggestion, not a rule:

• Give money sent home its own bucket. For example: needs 50%, remittances 10–15%, savings 20% and wants 15–20%.
• When needs go over half, which rent plus school fees often cause, cut wants before savings.
• Keep giving outside the percentages. Zakat estimates are worked out on wealth held over a year, not as a share of each month’s pay, so give it and sadaqah their own Giving line rather than squeezing them into “wants”.
• Don’t count end-of-service gratuity as savings. It is not money you control until you leave your job.

How do zakat and sadaqah fit into a monthly budget?

If zakat is due on your wealth, setting aside a twelfth of your estimated yearly zakat each month means the amount is ready when your zakat year ends. Our zakat calculator gives an estimate from the figures you enter. Any zakat figure from a calculator, including ours, is an estimate: it has not been reviewed by a scholar and it is not a fatwa. For payment, the zakat hub links to official UAE channels.

Free monthly budget template (AED)

Download the blank template below, or use the Print button to print just the table. It has a line for every cost in this guide, grouped as needs, wants, savings, giving and remittances. Fill in the Monthly budget column at the start of the month and the Actual column at the end. Difference is your budget minus your actual spending: a positive number means you spent less than planned. The file has no formulas, so it opens the same way in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets; add a sum at the bottom of each column if you like.