‘I don’t visit the salon much these days’

Sara Guindi, a Canadian housewife, has lived in Abu Dhabi since 2013 with her Egyptian- Canadian husband and two daughters, ages one and three.

“Things started out really well and we were happy to be here,” says Ms Guindi, who is 38. “I worked as a technical specialist for a government entity from November 2013 to January 2016, but then I was let go due to budget cutbacks and company restructuring. So that was a major loss of income.” Ms Guindi’s husband works for a private company in a financial sales role. “He doesn’t get a good salary, and salary payments are frequently late,” she complains. “Last year, payments were five months late at one point. Only small cash allowances were given to cover phone and car expenses.” In the past 12 months, Ms Guindi has noticed rising gas prices, and says her family’s electricity and water prices have nearly doubled. The flat municipality fees of 3 per cent has also added to their monthly bills. When Ms Guindi lost her job, she also lost her Dh1,500 monthly utilities allowance and company-sponsored education allowance. “Luckily our kids are still too young for school, otherwise it would have been a major cost increase,” she says. Last November, the family decided to downsize from a two- bedroom apartment in the city (which was Dh95,000) to a one- bedroom apartment in Khalifa City A (Dh48,000) to save money. “We’ve also had to cut down on entertainment expenses like eating out, and I don’t visit the salon much these days,” she says. “We’ve opted to keep paying our nanny, because we don’t want to lose her in case I go back to work. So we’re currently not saving anything.”

Last November, the family decided to downsize from a two-bedroom apartment