Talking about my pursuit of savings with one of my friends, and he tells me one thing, there is no “Baraka” here… in Dubai, when it comes to money. “Baraka” means you don’t get the most out of your money in Arabic… or in other words, you get the money, spend it, and don’t know where on Earth did it go.
He just came from New York a few months ago and even though he is getting paid more here, he tells me, he can’t save. He was able to save though in New York.
It could be the attractions. It could be temptations. I know I have tried many many things that I wouldn’t have had the chance to do it elsewhere. Zero regrets from my side.
At the end of the day, you spend what you have, and the more money you get, the more ways you find in spending it.
Converting the money to USD or any other currency may not be the best way to evaluate if it’s best for you.
Though, I would also think of the purchasing power.
The same exact product can cost your 100 USD, 50 USD or even 10 USD based on the country you are living in. Take for example the local SIM and charging rates for phone calls and mobile Internet. In every country I visited, the price was not the same.
Playing golf might be perceived as the game of the elite, the rich. It costs from 100 to 200 USD to play golf in Dubai… while it costs you only a few dollars in Cairo.
On the surface, you might be thinking that more money is good for you, hence, the Money Illusion behavioral bias — that swipes you to thinking about the face value of money rather than its purchasing power.
I bet it’s a trap we fall for every time we think if we are getting paid enough… which reflects on our perception if an item is cheap or expensive.