Job Discussion Forums

[nurlnz]

How much $ for food a day can one survive on in Turkey? I am planning to be in Turkey in a few weeks for a few weeks and am on a tight budget. BTW Can you find oatmeal there?

[keitepai]

Hello,

I find it cheap to eat in Turkey especially at this time of year, a short list below of basic items if you are able to cook here;

loaf white bread - 1TL
tomatoes 1-2 TL kg
cucumber 1-2 TL kg
lettuce 2 TL each
10 eggs 3-4 TL
200g basic white cheese 2.5 TL (or less depends on your taste)
650g plain unsweetened yoghurt 3TL
400g green olives 4TL
oranges 2TL kg
500 ml UHT milk 1.5 TL
1 simit (bread similar to a bagel) .80 kurus
500g chicken breast 5-6 TL
1 packet sweet biscuits 1.5 TL

Find a local market if you can and you may get better prices on the vegetables.

Kebaps should be between 2-4 TL and are a great lunch, fresh orange juice is a good deal at 2.5 TL. A meal of chicken shish with rice and small amount of salad is 7-9TL - probably easier and cheaper than cooking yourself. Look for these places, they have basic seating and check the cleanliness! I choose a place busy with locals as a rule - it is a good sign. Chai (tea) should be 1-2 TL.

A sit down restaurant will be a lot more and be wary of drinks prices, some can charge 5TL for a Cola.

Always, always ask BEFORE you order how much each item is

More expensive items as an example;
200g imported cheddar cheese 4.5TL
minced meat 25TL kg
steak 29TL kg and upwards
salmon steaks 26 TL kg
peanut butter 7TL jar
packet of sliced brown bread 3-4 TL
cosmetics, sun screen is expensive here - bring it with you

Oatmeal is easily available, the brand I have is 'Eti Lifalif' and it is called 'Yulaf Ezmesi' - has a picture of oats on the front and is in a yellow packet.
It is about 3-4 TL for 500g.

I hope this is helpful, any other items you would need?

[Listener]

There's no "instant" oatmeal though, and you can't find that oatmeal everywhere. If you'll be staying in a hotel and won't have access to a stove and you REALLY want oatmeal (though I'd recommend that you try local foods instead, I bet you'll like em) I'd say bring your own instant packets.

By the way, as a followup to a comment by the previous poster: it's perfectly fine to ask how much things cost before you order them. I know you might feel a bit silly, but Turks will often do the same.

[bulgogiboy]

You can eat a type of bread called 'simit' for a ridiculously low amount of money per day, with street vendors selling them for about 3 a lira. The street sellers usually only sell 1-2 kinds of them, but even buying them from sit-in/takeaway shops like 'simit sarayi', where you can get lots of different kinds, is extremely cheap. Regular loaves of locally made bread are also unbelievably cheap, at under a lira for a good-sized loaf.

The only problem being you might have to invest some money in a good laxative if you go overboard on cheap bread

There are lots of other kinds of fairly-nutritious food you can buy cheaply on the street too, like hazelnuts or corn-on-the-cob.

In Turkey you can virtually eat for a few liras a day, if you really want to.

[nurlnz]

This is great informatiom!
Thanks, Keitepai for this list! You included things I would be interested in.
And Listener I will Be careful about the bread!
Bulgogiboy, Thanks for the encouragement - seems like this is do-able!

[nurlnz]

Sorry Listener - thank you for the info about asking before I order and Bulgogiboy - thanks for the headsup about bread!!!

[nurlnz]

This may be a silly question but...is toilet paper easy to find everywhere? And is it what we are used to in the states?

[nurlnz]

Can I find Splenda there?

[nurlnz]

Sorry for all of these questions - y'all must still be sleeping at this time ~ but what about drinking water there? Is it safe for newcomers? Can bottled water be had? Is it expensive?

[keitepai]

Hello again,

Toilet paper yes, everywhere and cheap enough! It is the same as NZ - don't know about US, the more you pay the softer it is

Splenda? Is it an artificial sweetener? I am sure you can get other brands here and I have seen Stevia which is a more natural sweetener.

Don't drink the tap water, bottled water is about 50 kurus for 500 mls and available everywhere.

Completely agree about the bread but it is soooo cheap

[fishmb]

You can buy toilette paper easily, but you should carry some as there are plenty of public toilets or even toilets in restaurants that often run out, which is a nasty surprise if you're unprepared! Also, in most toilettes you can't flush the TP so there's a little trash can wear you put it 'after use'.

I also drink bottled water, and, like the other poster said, you can buy 50cl bottles for 50ks or 10 liter jugs for 2-3 lira. If you try to eat western food though: cereal, peanut butter, pesto sauce, you can start running up costs pretty quickly. Another cheap option is cooking lentils and rice: extremely cheap, a complete protein, lots of fiber, lots of iron, and available in all grocery stores.

[nurlnz]

Thanks for the info about water.
Ya, I like lentils and rice. I feel so much better not having to worry about prices of food.
I do have another question - has the new fast train from Istanbul to Ankara and back started yet? If so how much is it and how long does it take?

[Listener]

Splenda is only just becoming available in certain pharmacies here, and is so expensive that you wouldn't want to dream of buying it.

You can get candarel (nutrasweet) for about 5tl per 300 tablet container at pharmacies and saccharine is available at pharmacies (i think) and many food stores for cheaper but it tastes odd to me.

[Otterman Ollie]

To ask the number and type of questions you have makes me wonder what (if any) preconceptions you may have about this country. Before you ask, yes there is electric, and people use mobile phones too. Contrary to popular belief stateside, this is not a third world country but if you can't eat well on less than 5-10 dollars a day you need praying for!

[Hadit]

I was wondering if I could jump in here and ask about the cost and speed of the internet in Turkey? Is it available in apartments for rent, and is broadband available? Thanks.