Guides
Money-saving and consumer guides for the UAE, written to be useful rather than clever.
All guides
Everyday Life
UAE public holidays: what they mean for work, banks and travel
Which UAE holiday dates are fixed, which depend on the moon, and why that matters for anyone planning around them.
Things to Do
Weekend trips from Dubai: Hatta, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah
What is actually at each destination, how far they are from Dubai, and what official tourism sources confirm about getting there.
Money & Household
How to open a personal bank account in the UAE
What the Central Bank's rules actually require, what banks commonly ask for, and why a figure for one bank isn't a figure for another.
Money & Household
Cutting your TAQA bill in Abu Dhabi: using less at home
What TAQA Distribution's tariff, subsidy and complaint tools cover, and what not to assume will lower your bill. For Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
Shopping & Consumer
Refunds and returns in the UAE: your rights vs. retailer policy
A faulty item and a change of mind are two different situations under UAE law. Knowing which one you are in decides what you can actually insist on.
Business
Business licences in the UAE: what the different types mean
Ask three authorities how many licence types exist and you can get three different answers. Here is why, and what the terms actually mean.
Business
Freelancing and self-employment in the UAE
Freelancer, freelance permit, sole establishment, professional licence: these get used as if they mean the same thing. They don't.
Business
How to start a business in the UAE
The licence isn't the first step. Here's the order the mainland setup process follows, and where the five other guides pick up the detail.
Business
Mainland vs free zone in the UAE
Free zone does not mean cut off from the mainland. Here is what the rules actually distinguish, and what they do not.
Business
How to open a business bank account in the UAE
The Central Bank's own due-diligence guidance sets no minimum balance. That's set bank by bank, not left to chance.
Business
The real cost of starting a business in the UAE
There is no honest single figure for this either. A framework for separating what's a government fee from what's a sales pitch.
Things to Do
Free and low-cost days out in Dubai
Public beaches, a nightly fountain show and a historic district that cost nothing to visit, plus the few genuinely cheap exceptions worth knowing about.