Now will be a great time to start saving

Dubai - Dubai still pretty attractive from a cost-of-living point of view

It's no secret - living in the UAE has progressively gotten more expensive over the past decade or so. With the exception of housing costs, which have remained relatively flat (or even contracted, in some areas), most residents' monthly expenses are going up, rather than down.
Take driving, for example. The past two months have seen fuel prices go up as they align with the market rates for oil. And when it comes to car insurance, the UAE Insurance Authority recently brought in new rules that say fully comprehensive policies can't be sold for less than Dh1,300 (or Dh2,000 if you're insuring an SUV).
And next year, we'll have value-added tax to contend with, with a levy of five per cent to be added to most products and services on January 1, 2018.
None of this is to say that it's become impossible to make a living in the UAE. Indeed, compared to many of the world's major cities - think New York, London, or Singapore - somewhere like Dubai is still pretty attractive from a cost-of-living point of view. What I'm trying to get at is that costs are creeping up, and that makes now a better time than any to start saving where you can.
And by saving, I don't mean cutting back on frivolous spending so that you can use the funds elsewhere. I mean cutting back on frivolous spending so that you can put the funds away in a savings account, so that you can either earn interest on it, or simply have a pile of cash ready to be used in case of an emergency.
It's important to make that distinction before you start saving, because, depending on what you want savings for, one savings account will be better for you than another.
If you simply want to watch your investment grow, making your money work for you, you're best off opting for a savings account that demands a relatively high minimum balance. These accounts tend to offer better interest rates, and many of them offer pretty good incentives, too - monthly prize draws for customers sticking to their minimum balances, for example. The point is, these accounts are designed for people who don't have any immediate plans for their savings, for people who don't expect to have to rely on their savings anytime soon.
However, if you're viewing your savings pot as an emergency fund, you're best off going for an account with no minimum balance requirements. You'll still get paid interest on whatever you keep in there, but the payments won't be that high. The flipside of that is that you won't get penalised if you need to dip into the account from time to time.
Whichever scenario best describes you, my advice, as always, would be to compare accounts before signing up to one. Using a financial comparison site, you'll be able to view interest rates, account features and deals and terms and conditions.
With the cost of living in the UAE going north, now's a great time to start saving. All you need to do now is figure out which account will help save smartest.
The writer is the chief executive officer of compareit4me.com. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.