Again from me, cost of living (Alanya area)

cdw057 · 2023-09-27T06:59:54+02:00

Explore Alanya's living costs for retirees. Get insights on expenses like dining, smoking, health insurance, and more for couples. Find detailed budgeting tips.

cdw057 ViP

Member since 01 November 2017

cdw057ViP27 September 2023 04:59:54

2001

Me (61) and my wife (52) are Dutch and live in Mahmutlar with an owned apartment (quite nice).

Over the last 6 months changes in prices quite a bit and yes in EUR (or USD) expenses have increased.

Without being bothered with rent, our main expenses are:

-Restaurants (very much increased (also in EUR) over the last few months), we try to go 4x pw, normal local restaurant (including starter and fresh orange juice, main dish and tea) is EUR 25/30, for upside you can count EUR 50. Very acceptable to me, BUT this expense evolved (and our main expense (for 2 of us) I budget EUR 800 pm). Than again some savings on markets and super-markets

-Smoking (3 packages per day is EUR 200 pm is very fine)

-Drinking, a lot of communication on higher prices, fine, but bottom line slightly higher than Hungary (perhaps EUR 450 pm) (I drink much)

-Health Insurance is expensive, but complete, EUR 210 pm for both of us

-Normal shopping I would say EUR 300 pm (toilet paper, cola, yoghurt, pasta, tea, coffee, ...)

-Meat with the butcher EUR 50 pm (very very good)

-Phone/internet/audible/netflix/,, (max in total EUR 50 pm) , I am quite happy

FOR a COUPLE , One without alcohol and smoking still you have to count for EUR 2200 pm minimum, if you also drop the restaurants EUR 1800 pm (please note savings in Markets/Supermarkets)

Turkey, but especially Alanya has become more expensive聽 (relatively). I am fine, but no city for poor retirees as in the past.

If you are a couple and enjoying life (including smoking, drinking, restaurant, but without rent) I think you have to count for EUR 3.000 pm

cdw057 ViP

Member since 01 November 2017

cdw057ViP27 September 2023 05:05:46

2001

@cdw057 Even if life is good, bureaucracy can be annoying, please be prepared to ask for help

Istanbul2023 Member

Member since 08 August 2023

Istanbul2023Member27 September 2023 05:16:03

@cdw057 馃槼馃槸馃う鈥嶁檧锔� With this budget you can live in South of France. 馃し鈥嶁檧锔�

DenizeV Active member

Member since 18 September 2017

DenizeVActive member27 September 2023 07:37:43

@cdw057. I agree with you, as a poor French retired woman! Everything more expensive, Istanbul area ... eager to see a real change , if not will be forced to find a cheaper country !

Gino_C Serial expat

Member since 21 May 2021

Gino_CSerial expat27 September 2023 12:19:14

204

@cdw057

True, costs have risen quite a bit but as you had mentioned in a prior post, "Alanya is mentioned to be Dubai of Turkey (ie expensive)", so there are more reasonable places in Turkiye.聽 My wife and I like colder climates (I live in Minneapolis) so we our destination of choice is Eskisehir, which offers good, hardy winters and temperate low humidity summers.聽 If you compare cost of living of Alanya to Eskisehir on the website , a standard of living for EUR 3,000 in Alanya is equivalent to EUR 1,760 in Eskisehir.聽 My guess is that inflation is more accentuated in Alanya.聽 Our choice for Eskisehir additionally is because it offers a calm pace of life and is a very progressive, clean city with a high quality of life and the lower cost of living is an added bonus.聽

cdw057 ViP

Member since 01 November 2017

cdw057ViP28 September 2023 04:57:26

2001

聽聽 Sounds like a very good choice, loads of restaurants a big city (too big for me). Personally I do not have a lot of contacts and I do not need them, but I would imagine using other languages would be a challenge from time to time. In Alanya (Mahmutlar), Russian (for my wife) but also English and German are widely spoken, in day-to-day it makes life easier.

In the center of Eskisehir it seems that all the amenties are there (no sea though and again I would like to stress language (for me it would be difficult)

If you can deal with the language topic and no beach close, I think a GOOD choice.

Gino_C Serial expat

Member since 21 May 2021

Gino_CSerial expat28 September 2023 11:38:53

204

There is nothing like being on the coast of the Mediterranean, it is a breath of fresh air.聽 In early June of 2022, we stayed in Alanya for 3 nights (A suite at Anjeliq Downtown Hotel for $58/night, very reasonable).聽聽I came away very impressed, the Cleopatra beach, the castle and the views from the castle, and the vibe of the town.聽 I like that you are in close proximity to Antalya and Mersin.聽聽I did not know of your neighborhood, Mahmutlar, so I missed that.聽 So, if it weren't for the hot summers, I would consider living there.聽聽If Eskisehir were on the coast, it would be utopia.聽 So you made a very good choice as well.聽 My wife and I are retired (I'm 60 & she's 55) so considering that vacationing costs are not so high in Turkiye, we could vacation in Alanya at our leisure any time we choose.

My last post was intended to provide a perspective that differentiates from the cost of living in Alanya.聽 And the difference in costs are vast between Eskisehir and Alanya as the numbers point out.聽 I pointed out the other aspects of the town to illustrate that residing in Eskisehir is not a sacrifice and that there are many positives.聽 I can understand your concern for the language barrier in Eskisehir but the city is a university town anchored by 3 large universities so I'm hoping the youthful population would be better versed in English particularly for my wife's sake.聽 I can speak conversational Turkish but with limited vocabulary.聽