it depends if you are alone or with family i will give you rough estimates on both since i was there for around 8 years.
with family 7-8 k will be tough , but if you are alone then you may be able to save around 2-3 k per month , following are estimated costs one may have
sharing living ie.e i bed room for your self in dubai with combined kitchen and washroom
NO FAMIILY bachelors accommodation very cheap accomodation
1, 1000-1500 aed per month for decent / good bedspace options ( buts its not preferable to live becuase of social and hyegene issues ) , a good room = 2000 - 2500 permonth typically in sharjah here is the
link
you can get cheaper options in sharjah but the travel time will drastically increase it dpeands on your choice
i would prefer living at border of sharjah and dubai , parking the car in dubai and walk around 15 minutes from sharjah to dubai and then drive to office
mostly the utilities are included in that but some times you need to pay extra 300-500 for bills as well
personally bed space is not good because of privacy issues a separate room is good option to start.
2, Food and stuff for month 700-900 pm
3, Travelling metro = 300 travel cost my metro ( 7.5 per trip *2 ) 20 days per month estimated cost ( if its assumed that saturday and friday is off ) other wise it will be 390 aed per month
4, laundry = 100 per month will be enough for normal washing and ironing
5, recreational expenses it depends on you i will take 500 aed per month , for dining out visiting parks shopping etc.
total expense = 4900 aed roughly and will be able to save 2100 aed per month easily
Family Expenses
with your wife and 1 child only if i assume 1 child
1, Accommodation 1 bed hall in sharjah will cost you around 30k to 40 k roughly per year that makes 3333 per month for a decent apartment
2, Grocery 800-1000 aed per month ( basic
3, utilities 120+ 120+ 70 +70 = phone + electric + water + gas = 380 aed est
4, if iron and laundry from outside then around 100
5, drinking water cans 100 aed per month
6, other expenses 500 aed misc expenses
7, travelling 500 aed it depends on how much you travel if you are using metro or taxi
taxi is very expensive , buses are good options but very crowded and decent option is metro
8, fuel if driving car is around 300 aed per month if you are driving normally and not going long routes how ever if you are going long routes then it will be around 500 aed per , yearly expense of car registration ( tasjeel ) and passing = 250 aed roughly
9, yearly car insurance it depends on wich car do you own , 500-380 aed for Honda civic 2007 model rough estimate
10, health if its covered your company then its good you have to pay minimum amount around 50 per visit approx other wise
health care is expensive .so ensure that you get the health insurance other then salary amount if you are with family its critical .
11, Education of child is also bit expensive i dont have any idea on this but it will also cost around 1000 per month very basic one or cheap one minimum year of admission of child is 4 years +
this will cost total = 7000 to 7663 aed per month , with family you can decrease it by removing extra expenses
hope this will help you in case of any other info do let me know
thanks
rgds