If housing is included (not an allowance - actual housing), in addition to transportation and school fees for kids - you can live and save some on that salary. The cost of living in Qatar is high and going up exponentially, with little relief in sight, but if the employer covers most of it, then you will be in fine shape.
A family of four can expect to spend around $1000 per month on food at this time. Hiring household help costs about $4-$6 per hour parttime, less if full time or giving housing. If you plan to travel outside of Doha during vacations, check out airfare. There are few destinations under $500 per ticket, and you'll be buying four. Vehicles are about the same price as stateside, perhaps slightly higher. Fuel is, of course, far cheaper - but the savings aren't much as you really don't put on a lot of miles it's such a tiny country. Eating out varies in price; if you're used to prices in a typical American city, you may not be surprised here. Alcohol is available with a license for non-Muslims, it costs easily twice what it does stateside. There is lots of shopping - too much shopping - and again, a wide variety of prices. Keep in mind that most locals are quite wealthy, as a fair number of expats are also making loads, so the market is aimed at them for the most part. Hopefully this gives you an idea of COL.
Make sure you're not tied into anything long term without the ability to re-negotiate your remuneration. Also, make sure if you have children that there are guaranteed places for them in the school of your choice - the American school and better British schools are mostly wait listing people at this point. If you're to be at one of these schools, obviously that would not be an issue for you. (Curious - is your offer at a secondary school or university?)
Housing is best for families if it's at a compound - if you're in an independent villa, it will seem a bit like a comfortable jail. Cannot stress enough - do NOT accept a mere housing allowance. Prices on rentals go up around 30% per year - a villa at a nice, primarily western, compound will cost around $5k-$8k and up per month - when they were half as little as two years ago. Also, if you're not on a compound and want to purchase a membership in a club with pool and beach access, count on paying at least 3k per year for family low end, 6k high end.
Best of luck in your decision making.

Guatemala is a beautiful and interesting country. The school will primarily be local population, but the kids will be pretty endearing. It does seem the school sincerely wants more foreign hires, they've adjusted their package to make it more attractive to same.
We know one couple at our previous international school who was aggressively recruited byASG and, although it was their #2 choice and they luckily got their #1 choice, in the meantime ASG altered their package to include tuition for kids, travel, etc. We know of another couple with children who've been there two years - left a terrific, high paying public school system in the US for it - and they love it - they appear on the testimonial page of the web site, as a matter of fact.
As in any Central American school, life will be pretty cheap and enjoyable, but don't count on making major payments back in the US - can't do it. If we were younger, without mortgage and college tuitions back in the US, based upon reputation, this is a school we'd want to be at.

Hit the button marked "Teaching Overseas" once at the page link takes you to in order to access articles.

Thank you to people who responded - first hand accounts of experiences and snippets of advice serve as valuable resources. I read an article on raising children overseas that mentions most of what we've written about here - the link is through the American School of Guatamala - here it is: http://www.cag.edu.gt/JOBS/JOBS.htm Doesn't seem like a link for this type of reading but it is!

In the Middle East, most decent schools - the American/international nonprofit schools which have been around - will start you probably start you in the low to mid 40s. You can save most of one salary if you are prudent, but costs in many of these places is rising exponentially, a fact their administrators haven't fully addressed. Travel out of the ME is costly, and believe me, you WILL want to get out when given the opportunity.
In China and Japan at similar schools, the salary will be higher. Even with cost of living in Japan, you will do well - in China, you will do well with ease. Japanese schools will be more competitive to get places at, Chinese schools are growing so rapidly that they are doing massive hiring. Also, it's just much cheaper to live there and many schools offer additional perks such as "wellness" allowances of almost $1000 per year for things such as gym membersehips, athletic clothing, or dental and vision costs.
Other places? New Delhi has a wonderful American school - have to be US citizens - with a terrific package, very competitive in terms of gaining a place. Other places in India also have high pay and perhaps easier to get spots - such as Bombay & Mumbai. Dhaka is a hard place to live, but good school and package. Pakistan is likewise dicey, but pay is good and cost of living very reasonable. Same with Nepal. Malaysia and Thailand have big schools in their capitals which pay fairly well and offer an attractive life style, smaller schools along coasts that pay less but less pressure.
Almost all of these schools offer housing as a normal benefit. If housing were merely an allowance in the Middle East, you would be in trouble - it seems to go up by about 30% per year. That being said, we know some who make money off their housing allowance at Singapore American School and still live very comfortably.
Stay clear of proprietary schools and use this site to check out reviews of schools you are interested in, weeding out the bitter comments from those striving to be objective. Look through The International Educator (available online - tieonline.com) and get used to the names of the "good" schools if you aren't familiar with the scene.
The ISS fair in Bangkok in January is an optimal place to get positions in the area you desire. Best of luck!

When moving a household overseas, shipping does matter. Some schools offer generous allowances with a "use or lose" policy - then by all means, ship as much as your allowance allows. Others might have it as a benefit that you pocket if you don't use it - look carefully at these places and determine if you're better off NOT shipping and purchasing new once you arrive - for example, if you're going from a 110v country to a 220v country, buy everything electric once you get there - running things on converters gets old. Personalizing a furnished house makes it seem more like your own, but be selective.
In terms of what to ship, first and foremost - your children's things. In fact, make sure at least one of your suitcases that you take with you is for their toys, etc., so they don't have to wait for your shipment to arrive - months can seem like years in a barren house.
Our shipments have been heavy in instructional materials, but we are rethinking this. Keep in mind that good schools will also have plenty of instructional materials. We've started scanning lots of favorites that we only have hard copies of; if you haven't already - try to keep as much as you can electronically and reducing heavy papers. That being said, each member of the family always chooses some favorite books to ship, and those things are like rabbits - soon you have way too many!
We've held on to homes in the US when overseas and at other times sold - my preference is for selling. Even with a property manager to take care of things, things can go awry. We've had great tenants where there were no worries and others which cost us both financially and emotionally. The best solution we came up with is purchasing a simple home in a recreation area stateside and not renting it out - it offers us a place to store things we don't want to get rid of and a place to stay in summers. There are many overseas teachers who do the same in our area, so it works for more than just us.

Taking our children overseas and opening their eyes to the world they live in has always been one of the key draws of international teaching. What we all struggle with is the confidence that they gain more than they give up. It's easy from an adult perspective to say, "you'll thank us later." What they are concerned about is the now, which brings me back to my original query, reworded perhaps. What places have teachers found better suited to teens than others?
Judging from our current situation, I would NOT recommend taking teens to live in a community where their lives will be radically different than their peers - such as going to the Middle East and not living on a compound. What works for us (proximity to school and attractive, easy to maintain housing) does little for their needs. Theit lack of freedom is a trying and daily grind. Past positions in other parts of the world did not present this problem, so we simply were unaware of how great an impact it would have, perhaps our fault but then that's some of the benefits of a forum like this, right, to make others aware of our pitfalls so they can avoid them?

This subject is not a usual one for this forum, but I was wondering if other experienced overseas teachers have found certain schools/areas of the world better for their children than others. When my children were younger, each school offered new adventures and opportunities, but a recent change put my now teens in a situation where they are definitely the lower class of the school and aware of it. Do others in the Middle East, China, or Singapore find this to be true and if so, how does one deal with it? Our school board finds the high cost of compound living prohibitive for teachers, but our children are the only ones who don't live in compounds where they are free to walk around, bike, swim, etc. Our home seems like a prison to them, and they are reluctant to invite others over as there's "nothing to do" compared to the homes they visit where they can do all these recreational activities. While the school offers activities, they are limited in number and only the best make the cut, so what are others to do?

Schultz American School in Alexandria also has a decent reputation - is smaller, not as well paying as CAC perhaps, but a reputable place and an interesting location, not as polluted.

Hmmm, how to answer on Islamabad? You will see things there, virtually every day, that you have never seen before and will never see again. Some will make you smile, some cringe, some want to weep. How resilient are you is the question? When ANYTHING in the world happens that directly or indircectly affects Islam, you willl be impacted. Are you ready for that? The country is beautiful and laden with historical impact and, for the most part, not yet even third world. Not true for Islamabad, but true for the country.
The school has about 2/3 host country nationals - for the most part, terrific kids. The middle school and high school are more local than the elementary school. Even though students might have various other passports, they are Pakistani - know that going in. The campus is beautiful - once you get beyond the "cattle chute" security system, the concertina wire, the armed guards and the video cameras, it is peaceful and open and lovely. That is not meant facetiously - truly, it is one of the most secure facilities imaginable - and truly, as disconcerting as it is at first and even later when in a rush, the security measures do recede in the background once you're used to them.
The super has been in the country a long time. She is an incredibly kind person but not so sure if that translates into a good super - left before that was apparent. Maybe she has settled into it - a current teacher could tell you. She has upped the salary scale and various benefits - it is cheap to live there so the pay package is good. The benefit of a vehicle for a nominal fee per month is an incredible plus. Housing is very nice - a variety of villas and houses, all spacious. School maintains all, and if you treat the maintenance people well, they treat you well.
The secondary principal is new since I left but all reports are good - middle and high school seem well served. The elementary school principal was leaving this year, and many teacher consequently signed on to stay for additional years, then after the due date - she announced she was staying. Simply put, had her announcemet been a week earlier, the retention ratio of teachers resigning would have been significantly different.
The question any teacher going into Islamabad has to ask him/herself is - how much can I take? There have been massive protests against the govt. in recent months - are you wiling to move into that turmoil? Do you have children? If so - don't go. Seriously - while you may be willing to endure the uncertainties there, it is not fair to expect children to.
Some people seem to exist outside the political sphere - if this is you, then you may well like this fascinating country. The weather is mostly good, the scenery (when the pollution isn't bad) is terrific, the school a pleasant place to work. It's kind of pricey to fly out of there for vacation, but your pay will cover it. You can hire a terrific person to run your household and live a very comfortable life. The school offers plenty of service learning opportunities so you can feel like you contribute to the country as well.
Okay, is that contradictory enough and detailed enough for you? It should allow you to take what you want and ignore the rest - which is what we all pretty much do when going to an unknown place anyway. Good luck.

Not sure why you would inform your current school director/head as early as October you were leaving - you know this person, would it affect the way s/he treats you? I believe no agency - Iowa nor ISS nor Search - requires letters of recommendation this early. Why not wait to ask for your letter until say November, around the time the school will probably ask you if you plan to return. You can still fill in all the other paperwork earlier and start contacting prospective schools.
You don't mention where you are in terms of contract - fulfilling a one year, two year, or more - is there any development that would make you reconsider staying at your current position? If so, you might not want to announce intentions to leave too early. I have several friends at a school who were sure they would leave this year, then the resigning bonus and salary were significantly augmented and voila, they signed on to stay- no problem!
It always seems best to leave your options open in this business and not burn any bridges.

ISS in Bangkok must be the fastest growing fair there is - we went a year ago, when it was twice as large as the preceding year, and it has grown since then. Our current supt., who initially went a few years ago merely to meet up with candidates he knew would be there, has made it part of his circuit each year because of the large number of experienced candidates who have worked in places that taught them not to judge a locale by its media coverage. With alll the new schools opening in China, this fair will grow even more until, no doubt, a fair in China is initiated - perhaps in November at the going trend. If there is a downside of this fair it is that it is ISS, expensive, and pretty impersonal. The Shangri-La is lovely and the special rate offered for the fair was 'only' $150 per night - but go outside the hotel to eat and drink.
On the other hand, this same supt. also attends Iowa each year because even though he says he's fairly sure he'll only get a few people willing to come to the middle east, they are always candidates well worth the trip. In terms of big schools attending UNI, their web site lists - among others - that Shanghai American School was there last year, Cairo American College, seemingly all the well-reputed schools from the middle east, Seoul Foreign School - these are all pretty good places! It also offers South American options, which the Bangkok ISS fair will not - there are some European schools at each. Experienced educators will find less competition in terms of people who've been overseas for awhile at the Iowa fair - when we attended a number of years ago, our experience in out-of-the-way places on several continents definitely added to our employability - six interviews, six offers.

A good point is made that people reacting out of bitterness and getting in their last kicks are not in the proper frame of mind for writing a review. It does happen, however, that people wait until they've left or are near leaving just to avoid the unpleasantness associated with giving honest criticism, and there is often very good reasons for remaining anonymous - the world of internatl. teaching can be remarkably small. However, that anonymity should not be seen as an excuse for hyperbole. Future reviewers: examine your motives. Revenge is not a good one, but keeping others' (all others) best interests in heart is.

The American International School of Muscat has an excellent reputation. I don't work there, but former colleagues do who I know to be intelligent and gifted educators. Working in the region, I know that the school administration is respected by the staff and community - this is a school the parents you speak of should look into for their child.

Still - if all those who take the forum somewhat seriously and try to offer others well balanced advice drop out because of others who complain too much, who will be left? A site of complainers? hmmmm
This site offers a wonderful opportunity for COMMUNICATION. It is up to the users to define the nature of that communication. Offer some balanced reviews on schools where you've taught; respond to novices both in the forum and at their emails - any help we can give each other, right?
It's pretty obvious to teachers who've been overseas awhile that certain schools stand out at exemplary and aren't talked about much here - that's a shame - more positive statements should be offered. At the same time, schools that once enjoyed stellar reputations might be only a terrorist action or two away from becoming something quite different - then a site like this offers far more valuable information than reputation. For example, how many teachers and even administrators have fled some Saudi schools in recent years - schools that had their pick of applicants a decade ago?
As long as we're speaking of over zealous complainers, there's a certain irony to complaining about the complainers..... whatever happened to live and let live?