In October 2019, I moved to Ankara, the capital in Turkey until the first days of March 2020. This was the first time that I was living independently and I was very excited about the experience. Let me tell you how much did it cost me the living in Ankara.
Don't forget to check out my other posts too!
Table of Contents
Renting an Apartment.
I rented a small room in a neighborhood called Küçükesat, which was near of Kızılay. It costed each month 1100 TRY (187 USD) and it included the utilities (electricity, water, garbage pickup and internet).
Living in Ankara with Strangers
Since I went without a job to Turkey, I needed to find a place that my savings could afford. Therefore, sharing an apartment with strangers was apparently the only way to go for living in Ankara.
Laundry, kitchen, balcony and the living room was shared between the “roommates” or “flat mates”. The apartment had 6 rooms, each one was rented by each stranger.
My apartment did have an elevator and it was located at the 5th floor. I didn't complain. It makes you fit :).
My Room
It was small and compact. Two dressers, a desk and a bed. Here is a picture before renting it.
I hanged the flag of Ecuador and Turkey. My computer and monitor fit in the desktop and I decorated it with this phrase from the Creative Penn.
Looking for Convenience.
The advantage of this place was the short distance to my Foreign Language academy. I only had to walk around 10-15 minutes and the metro was nearby.
I could have paid something cheaper. Other shared apartments could have costed around 500 TRY (85 USD) with less flatmates to share with, but they were far away (30 minutes in bus).
Food and Drinks.
Before reading anything about the costs of the food, you have to see the quality of food in Turkey! Click in the link below to read 5 foods that I recommend:
Supermarket
Weekly, I spend around 150 TRY (25,5 USD) in food from the supermarkets; either Çağdaş, Migros or Altun Bilekler.
Since I was learning to cook, the typical meals were chicken with a quick salad (tomato, corn and lettuce) or spaghetti with tomato sauce for the afternoon meal. Almost every breakfast, I had cereal with milk and honey.
Other shops
But not far from the street Esat, the was a store called Mandırake which offered food with unmatchable flavor. Normally, I spent 25 TRY (4,25 USD) per week here. In this small shop, I used to buy:
- Olives.
- Eggs.
- Cheese.
- Sausage.
- Honey.
- Mermelades.
And the man on the shop didn't have just one of each product… it was very assorted!
Casual Meals
Of course occasionally, I went out to eat middle eastern fast food. It's so delicious! Here are typical prices for these meals:
- Tombik Döner: 28 TRY (4,76 USD).
- Iskender of Chicken: 20 TRY (3,4 USD).
- Döner or Dürüm with Ayran: 12 TRY (2,04 USD).
Turkish Classes for the Living in Ankara.
In the street Meşruriyet, in the neighborhood Kızılay, there were many many foreign language academies. I found two appealing options, which offered 4 hours daily (Monday – Friday) of Turkish classes with the same books, which are divided in levels A1, A2, B1, etc. In each academy, the level costed:
- Dört Beceri: 700 TRY (119 USD).
- Çağrı: 1000 TRY (170 USD).
And every lesson lasted for about a month. I decided to go to Dört Beceri I had my clases since I arrived in Ankara. If you are curious about the book that I used, they were the book series “Yedi İklim Türkçe“.
How did I found out this?
Most Turks are monolingual. So how are you going to find out about the classes of Turkish if you can't yet speak any Turkish?
What I did was to learn a spoken course of conversation Turkish. The Pimsleur CD program of Turkish I heard daily (for around 2 months) before coming to Turkey. I learned there what I needed:
“Affedersiniz, İngilizce biliyor musunuz?”
“Excuse me, do you know English?”
If the secretary didn't speak English, then someone will call the English teacher!
Public Transportation for Living in Ankara.
While I was living in Ankara, I didn't use car, bicycle or motorcycle. For the whole stay, I had to move around in metro or bus.
Each trip costs 3,5 TRY (0,59 USD), metro or bus. If you take again another within a few minutes, the next trip will cost you half the normal price.
A Numerical Aproximation
If you use the bus or metro 2 times everyday, each month you will spend around 200 TRY (34 USD). If each day you take 4 times (for example, you need to change the bus or take the metro), then each month you will spend 315 TRY (53,55 USD).
A ‘Transportation' Shock while Living in Ankara
Unfortunately, public transportation is not as AWESOME as it is in Germany, Many buses were ‘missing' during peak hours!
But it is safe, clean and they have the culture of honesty because everyone pays the fee. If you want to read more about the safety in Turkey, click in the following link:
This isn't over.
Fortunately for you and me, I write (most) expenses that I do. I'm going to check out the file and keep updating this blog post about my typical expenses. This way, you will get an idea about how much the living in Ankara could cost you.
voyageLlama's Index of Content
Click on the following link to browse likewise content in the blog in voyageLlama. This index will help you see what you are looking for in a bird's eye view.
Keep Reading!
- How do Americans think? A letter from an expat
In this letter, an expat living in USA tell us how do Americans think through his eyes and experience. Click here to read. - Study in Portugal, an exciting journey in this whopping World?Find reasons to study in Portugal from the perspective of Juditova. Is it appropriate for you too?. Click here to read.
- Phantasialand, an immersive theme park in GermanyPhantasialand is a theme park located near Bonn. The exchange students went there to enjoy the ride. Click here to read.
- Independence of Mexico nostalgic party in GermanyThe Independence of Mexico was celebrated by classmates during a nostalgic party in Germany but I had to avoid neonazis. Click here to read.
- Visit from a friend, a short connection back to homeDuring the exchange year, I faced loneliness a few times. Luckily, I got a visit from a friend from my country. Click here to read.
