Money Diary: How Much Do You Spend in a Week Living in Turkey?

Occupation: International Teacher
Industry: International Education
Age: 33
Location: Mersin, Turkey
Salary: $36,000 USD
Paycheck Amount (Monthly): $3,022

Day 1: Saturday

In the morning, I book a Turkish Hammam for $18, including tip. I messaged for an appointment and was on the table in less than an hour.  I enjoyed a 1.5-hour massage, tea before and a coffee afterward. The hammam is within walking distance to my apartment.

For brunch, I make a Turkish breakfast dish at home.  The Turkish economy is in a recession, so locals report a significant increase in the price of produce. However, I can purchase a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery for $1, tomatoes, peppers, onions, oranges, lemons and herbs for less than $10 that will last me for the week.  

After working at home, I earned a night out so for $2 round I can take a trip train into the next city, the price is reduced when I remember to show my government issued a teacher ID card.  The train station is a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment.

$25 dinner out with friends including appetizer, main dish, dessert, and drinks.  The restaurant is a 10-minute walk from the train station in the next city so I avoid paying extra cab fare.

Day 2: Sunday

In the morning, I do some professional development and take the Google Educator Recertification Exam for $10.  Three years ago I made my first exam and decided to take the exam to keep myself current. Living in a smaller town means there aren’t too many things to do so I find I am reading more, catching up on TV series and films, and taking online courses while working on my future application materials.

In the afternoon I go out for a walk to do my weekly snack run. I visit a local candy and nut store.  These shops sell a variety of nuts, dates, corn nuts, and coffee which I take to work and munch on in the evenings and weekends.

I have a busy week that includes late nights this week, so I prepare a vegetable curry that I plan to eat each night after coming home. I use the vegetables I purchased on Saturday, along with some lentils and coconut milk I find in the cupboard.  

Day 3: Monday

After work, I visit the gym.  For dinner, I check out a new dessert place that recently opened in town.  Lokmaci is a sweet fried dough akin to a doughnut hole with toppings, cost $2. For dinner, I eat leftovers from Sunday.

Day 4: Tuesday

For $17, I purchase a belated birthday gift for my mother on Amazon.  I was delighted to find I had Amazon card, perhaps from selling some textbooks over the summer.  A benefit from living abroad is I don’t shop online often. There are local sites in Turkey where I can buy online, but I’ve chosen not to register because I can find everything I need locally. Again, I eat leftovers for dinner after visiting the gym.

Day 5: Wednesday

After work, I visited a burger joint with a colleague and spent $5.50. We go back and forth paying week to week.  This week, but next week it will be on him.

$12 On the way home we stop by a grocery store.  My school provides daily lunch, so I benefit from eating healthy salads and fruit.  A more significant benefit is that I don’t have to pack and prepare a lunch bag or leak-proof containers. When I visit the grocery store, I stock up on oatmeal, yogurt, and snacks.  I buy fresh fruit and vegetables at my neighborhood market on the weekends.

Day 6: Thursday

Nearing the end of the week, and perhaps feeling a bit tired of leftovers for dinner.  I spent $3 for flavored coffee and simit toast, basically a Turkish bagel with cheese at the school canteen. Each morning I prepare my coffee or tea, throughout the day I visit the school’s instant coffee and tea area, but every so often I enjoy a coffee with a colleague.

For $2 on the way home I grabbed an ice cream bar with my neighbor and then prepared to visit the gym with a buddy.  For dinner, I finished leftovers from Sunday.

Day 7: Friday

After visiting the gym, a friend and I decide to spend Friday night at the local mall.

For $5, I eat American inspired fast food in the food court. After eating I notice a shoe store I like to check out, and the Mango store is gone, possible signs of the recession in Turkey.

The oddest purchase I make this week is a $2 pair of stockings I see near the cash register as I wait for my friend to check out. I can feel warmer humid weather is coming, but some mornings are still a bit chilly.  I justify that one more pair of stockings may be necessary.

Before leaving the mall, we hit up a beauty store where I spent $6 for cotton buds, a lip mask, and some face cream.  I give the cashier my phone number each time which may result in some discounts, but I don’t speak enough of the language to understand the benefits programs at the various stores.  One change in Turkey is a new plastic bag fee to encourage a reduction in plastic consumption. I generally bring my reusable bags with me to the store and if I forget I buy a new one or don’t shop that day.

Monthly Expenses
$400/month international travel during holidays
$150/month groceries
$100/month clothing
$90/month virtual counseling
$80/month restaurants and meals out
$50/month apartment cleaning
$33/month retirement fund
$16/month gym membership
$12/month Audible subscription
$12/month beauty supplies
$3/month Netflix

This article was submitted by an ISC member. Why not submit your Money Diary article for your area of the world and earn free premium membership to the ISC website? Contact us here if you are interested.

Is Your Host Country Safe?

Nobody wants to live in a place where they feel unsafe. It doesn’t matter if you are a man, a woman, a gay or lesbian person, a person of color, a physically challenged person, a senior citizen, etc., you definitely want to live somewhere you can you feel safe in your environment and surroundings.

It is unfortunate, but not every city in the world is considered a safe place for everyone. But I think people would be surprised to find out which cities are making the lists of top 50 safest cities in the world.

If you haven’t been to a certain city in the world before to check it out yourself, then there can be a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions about that place. People tend to revert to using stereotypes to describe the places that they haven’t been to before. Surely your mom has said this to you before you move to or even travel to a specific country: ‘oh, I’ve heard some bad things about that place. Make sure you are safe there!’, but most likely your mom is just getting her information from her local newspaper, for example. Maybe your mom is just referring to a story she heard about that city 10, 20 even 30 years ago! And of course, some of that information might not actually be true and cities can and do change over time.

After having visited many cities in many countries in the world, people will realize that every place has nice people that live there. Even if there is a small lack of safety at the moment, the fruit seller is still selling her/his fruit. Meaning that life goes on as normal, in most cities in the world, regardless of most recent events.

Besides war, we unforutnately consistently see episodes of terrorist attacks on a number of cities around the world. And they are happening everywhere, any place and any time. It would appear impossible to avoid living in a place where there is a 0% chance of a terrorist attack.

“The political unrest has subsided and feel very safe. However, It seems that many people get frustrated with politics between the National school and the International school. The National school has control of everything and it has a negative impact on day-to-day working conditions at the International school. If the International school was independent of the National school, I feel, it would be a tremendous place to work. Many people, however, simply get tired of trying to work with such limiting parameters imposed by the National school.” – MEF International School Istanbul

In some cities, often found in developing countries, you might find yourself living in a compound or a building with some level of security. Living in a building with a guard can be a new experience for many international school teachers. You might also find yourself living in a city where you will see high walls with barbed wire surrounding each building as you drive to and from your home to work. Not everyone wants to look at that every day. Even though it gives you a feeling a being safer, it doesn’t give the best feeling that you are constantly reminded of the fact that you seem to be living in an unsafe city.

“Many of the buildings, stores and houses will have fences around them with barbed wire. There are also police couples walking around the downtown area of the city all the time. Though these things keep you safe and feeling security, it doesn’t have the most cosiest feeling as you go around the city.” – American International School of Costa Rica

When you live abroad in a new city, you want the freedom to explore and walk around your new city. As you spend more time there, you will find out the ‘right places’ that you can walk around in your new city. Most people would prefer to walk around freely without any worries, but it is always good to aware of your surroundings as you do your exploring.

“Compared to many Latin American cities I have visited or lived in, Santo Domingo is safe. You don’t have to look over your shoulder all of the time if you stay in the right parts of the city. You can exercise in a park without worrying about getting mugged. Of course you shouldn’t flash money and expensive jewelry around but with common sense it’s not hard to stay out of trouble.” – MC School

Many of us are used to having our own car in our home countries. However, a smaller percentage of us own cars while living abroad. It might be that we view cars as an unnecessary expense in our expat lives, but it also might be that it would be unsafe for you to drive there in your host country. Maybe you would be the unsafe person on the road as it might also be that you are unfamiliar with the local way of driving and that the roads are not very well maintained.

“The best way to make the best out of your stay in KL during your contract it to buy a car and drive around. Driving is really safe, roads are well signaled and the quality is very good. Considering that Malaysia is a relatively small country in terms of territory, it is possible to visit all states and major cities during weekends and have fantastic road trips with gorgeous views.” – Fairview International School

In the end, international school teachers want to move abroad and have a goal to start a new life exploring a new country and getting immersed in a new culture. Thinking of all the factors that come into play with regards to feeling safe while living abroad, achieving this goal can prove to be a difficult talk. But with great cities improving and becoming safer all the time, there are more and more good options for us international school teachers for our next move!

12 Submitted Comments About the “Awesome” Parts of Working at International Schools

International School Community is full of tens of thousands of useful, informative comments…31058 comments (17 March 2019) to be exact.

Members are recommended to keep their comments objective on our website and share what they know about what it is like working at a specific international school.

We scoured our database of comments, and we found 12 that stood out to us as being some of the most interesting and useful ones related to the “awesome” parts of working at international schools from across the globe.

12. PARENTS ONLY – General comments from parents of students that go to this school. How was your child’s education and socialisation at the school?

“The preschool is fantastic. Teachers and assistants were excellent and our child learned a huge amount! One memorable field trip was to the local international airport where students visited the traffic control tower and got to role play…pretty awesome.” – MC School (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) – 49 Comments

11. Describe the different aspects of the school building and the school grounds. Also, describe the surrounding area around the campus.

“The new Middle School is up and running! It’s pretty awesome. Lots of open spaces, a rooftop terrace, an auditorium, big classrooms with whiteboard walls that you can write all over. Amphitheater is also very nice, great during the spring and fall for reading outside.” – American School of Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain) – 165 Comments

10. What does the school do to create a harmonious state of well-being and high morale amongst its staff?

“We just had three weeks of mindfulness, with lots of different classes offered, including free massage at school. It was awesome! School year begins with a Karaoke night, where everyone joins in, local expat, support staff, everyone, it is fun. There are staff spirit days, we just had an amazing Christmas party and THEN a Christmas lunch. There is a system for nominating who did a great job and the names are put into the hats for prizes. At the end of this term we all received a blue tooth travel speaker and a portable drink cup, everyone not just teachers, I like that. Plus everyone is just nice to each other at work, its is happy place” – KIS International School (Bangkok) (Bangkok, Thailand) – 296 Comments

9. Name your favorite restaurants, favorite places to go to and favorite things to do in the city.

“If you want to have some tasty dumplings, I suggest to go to Chao Chao Sanjo Kiyamachi. It is a small restaurant and full of tourists, but still the food is fast and good. There are so many temples/shrines to see here. Many of them are going up the nearby mountain side. There is such beautiful nature there with amazing trees everywhere. In the spring, it is awesome and in the fall it can be very gorgeous.” – Kyoto International School (Kyoto, Japan) – 55 Comments

8.Describe the city’s weather at different times of the year.

“It is the beginning of June at the moment and the weather can’t be any better. It is sunny and warm basically every day. It is awesome. You can go out and enjoy the outdoor areas of the city. The high is in the upper 20s during the day with minimal breeze in the air. You can definitely walk around in sandals and shorts/t-shirt. Though once the sun finally goes down (like around 10pm), then it is good to have a light jacket to wear or a long sleeved shirt if you are walking around the city.” – International School of the Gothenburg Region (Gothenburg, Sweden) – 6 Comments

7. In general, why are people staying at or leaving this school?

“Staying because some people find an awesome niche in Berlin’s counterculture, or because they’ve had kids here and they’ve set up a nice suburban life near school. Leaving because some departments have disorganized, antiquated approaches, or because the school can ask for too much at times (learning to set limits is important as an employee here.)” – Berlin Brandenburg International School (Berlin, Germany) – 80 Comments

6. Describe the technologies available at the school and how people are/are not using them.

“Each classroom in grades 4-5 has their own classroom set of ipads and own classroom set of Chromebooks. It is awesome!” – Anglo American School of Sofia (Sofia, Bulgaria) – 49 Comments

5. Describe the different aspects of the school building and the school grounds. Also, describe the surrounding area around the campus.

“We have moved into our new building/campus. It is truly unbelievable. It is so huge! It can take like 20 minutes or more to walk from one tower to the other tower at the other end of the building. Being on the water is so beautiful. The sunrises and sunsets are just so awesome. With the big windows in every room, there is always a good view to look at. The kids are getting distracted by the huge ships docking and going past, so we’ll see how that continues or stops in the near future.” – Copenhagen International School (Copenhagen, Denmark) – 345 Comments

4. Describe school’s location in relation to the city center and to the teacher’s housing. How do staff get to school before and after school?

“The school has an awesome location in Seoul — 20 minutes from downtown, but there is tons to do in our own neighborhood too. Most teachers live in on-campus housing which is maintained by the school and quite nice. Walking to school from on campus housing takes about 5 minutes or less depending on which building you live in. One of the largest faculty housing units had to be demolished for the construction of the new high school (scheduled to be completed in 2018). Those faculty members have been displaced to the nearby Grand Hilton. The apartment units over there are quite nice and the school runs two shuttles from the hotel to school in the morning and in the afternoon (at different times). The hotel is about a 20-30 minute walk from school and a 5 -10 minute taxi ride. Many teachers also ride bikes or scooters from Hilton to school.” – Seoul Foreign School (Seoul, South Korea) – 147 Comments

3. Name your favorite restaurants, favorite places to go to and favorite things to do in the city.

“I haven’t been to many restaurants, but I like Rolly’s stake house. The atmosphere is awesome, food is great (they also have salads if you are vegetarian, but meet is main meal there 🙂 Also there is a really nice restaurant on Uetliberg, with the great city view, that is one of my favorite spots in Zurich. Also ride on the lake is really beautiful.” – Inter-community School Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland) – 69 Comments

2. Describe the different aspects of the school building and the school grounds. Also, describe the surrounding area around the campus.

“The school building location is awesome. The surrounding area is amidst a row of other like buildings, some residential and some other businesses. The whole area is quite nicely manicured in terms of gardens and the upkeep on the other buildings. It doesn’t necessarily look like an entrance to a school (the door to ICS), and there is just a small sign on the door letting people know.” – International Community School London (London, England) – 49 Comments

1. How is this school different or the same when compared to schools in your home country?

“The teachers at the American School of Asuncion are great and work really hard. In general, it appears that the foreign staff work harder and put in longer hours than local teachers, but this is one perception. There are lots of extracurricular activities offered after school for students: chess, sports, photography, newspaper, student council, etc. In the elementary, the workload is awesome! Primary teachers only have about 4 hours of contact teaching time with the students each day. The rest of the time for students is spent in Specials and Spanish class. Middle and high school also have apple time to plan lessons and take a break between classes.” – American School of Asuncion (Asuncion, Paraguay) – 145 Comments

If you have an interesting and useful comment to add related to the awesome parts at your school that you would like to share, log in to International School Community and submit your comments. For every 10 submitted comments, you will get one month of free premium membership added to your account!

All about schools

More features

Let's connect

Meet us on Facebook
Follow our Tweets
Join our Linked In Group

IS Community