Codes of Living - 6

We are looking for the magic formula to live in the current conditions of Turkey.

For this purpose, we are  trying to find out how much monthly income a middle-class family needs to lead a normal life  under today's living conditions  in Turkey.

Our family consists of a young father who kisses your hands, a schooled child, one of whom is still six bonded, fed with formula and milk, and a  young father who is a housewife with our two children, one of whom is a baby age, a standard family of four. 

For now, except for our baby, we have found enough nutrition expenses to feed ourselves. We also rented a house to put our heads in, but we can't live in an empty house, now we have to furnish our house. We will take out a loan from our bank because we do not have money at the ready.

In Turkey, banks give a lump sum of money up to 5 years to be withdrawn at certain rates at the time of the wedding, adding 25% state support to the savings amount if we save by opening a wedding or dowry account before marriage. The lump sum money received is actually our money, only a part of it is donated by the state as support. However, there is an upper limit to state support, of course.

25% state support to the dowry account means that 1 unit of state supports our 4 units of savings. In other words, the state support corresponds to 1 unit of the 5 units of credit we need, that is, 20 %.

These conditions do not fully suit our calculation and need, we need credit, we need to change the terms a little. Nowadays, it is not so easy to get loans from banks,  but nevertheless,  with our initial acceptances, our bank also provides these conditions by changing a little.

The main change is that our bank gives the loan we need without any limits instead of asking for savings in advance. Let our repayments be made by increasing the inflation rate every month, as I have written before. State support is also appropriate, but without the upper limit, again in the form of support for credit at the rate of 20%. This means that we will deduct 20% from the loan installments we will pay monthly in the same way every month. Our maturity is also suitable for the official maximum limit of 5 years, i.e. 60 months.

Under these conditions, let's take our loan and start visiting the stores for our furniture.

Yes, what kind of stuff do we need in a house and how much does it cost today? That's the price we're going to try to find. We will calculate for standard quality items, as minimal as possible, but not from the cheapest.

I guess our sine qua non is primarily white goods. Refrigerator, oven stove, washing machine, let's include dishwasher, I think these are the standard white goods in every house. Vacuum cleaners, we don't have them, but televisions, irons, these are also electrical appliances. I guess that's the minimum. In fact, we also have a microwave oven. We bought the girl when she stayed in the dormitory for a while. Now we use it in between. There's one we used to buy, and that's the dacha. There is not much need at home. That's why I'm passing this. There are a lot of food processors, blenders, mixers and so on that the lady uses, and then we look at them with the pot.

Let's start with white goods, let's take a look at the nearby store of the famous white goods brand:

The refrigerator is very simple for 5,789 pounds, and the wardrobe type is also for 32,729 pounds. There are also cheaper mini-types. If it were up to me, I would buy the more affordable price of 7,949 pounds, but the lady examined all of them inside and out, and liked a 12,409 pound no frost model. Once you buy a refrigerator, it is not changed much for many years. It is not possible to break the will of the ladies. We're going to have to get it.

There is also a simple model for 3,659 pounds with an oven stove, a cousin type for 30,619 pounds. Again, if it were up to me, I would buy the 5,609 lira one, but again I left the choice to the lady, I should only be responsible for eating the cooked food, it is her responsibility to cook, let's take what she wants. At first he asked for the model that was 8,349 pounds, but I couldn't stand it, so I used my little persuasion skills to settle for another model with better technical specifications. And it's a little cheaper, at 7,129 pounds. I hope it doesn't cause a problem, then I can't get rid of the lady's nagging.

The washing machine is 6,189 pounds, and it's 12,279 pounds. I don't quite understand, the lady chose this herself, she liked a model of 6,789 pounds, there is more laundry area, but this model also takes a lot of laundry at once.

The dishwasher costs 5,439 pounds, or 9,869 pounds. Again, the decision liked the lady's 6,409-pound model. He likes it because he has a lot of programs, a special program for cups.

By the way, dishwashers in Turkey for some reason are all wide models, 60 cm wide. We bought a model in Moscow with a width of 45 cm, we run it more often, but the advantages are many. In the small kitchen, the narrow model settles better. At least extra crockery is not required, and since the dishes are washed more often, they stay in the machine for a long time and do not dry or smell. Maybe there are also in Turkey, but if not, I recommend it to manufacturers, they should produce narrow models and put them on sale,  both cheaper and more practical.

Yes, we think our white goods are okay, let's make a total.

All of them cost 32,736 pounds. We spent a lot of money again. With 60 months installments, 545 lira 60 kuruş per month, if we take into account the state support, our monthly installment load for white goods with a 20% discount is 436 lira 50 kuruş. Let's say the flat account is $440 per month.

We look at the other electrical appliances later. Let's come to the main furniture first. Our work is difficult, we will arrange the bedroom, the children's room and the hall. It is also necessary to take something to the entrance hall and bathroom. Fortunately, there are kitchen  countertops and cabinets in the house we rent. Kitchen cabinets also cost a lot of money.

In the bedroom, there is a bed for two, a bed with a spring for two people, a dresser with a drawer, wardrobes with mirrors, the lady does not wear much make-up, but it is enough if there is a vanity table. 

Thank God that the lady's dowry had bedspreads, sheets, quilts, and we will not spend on such things. We will save with furniture. But we will have to buy the curtains, tulle and carpets.

We are a complete furniture country, there are thousands of flavors, from gold-plated to very simple to suit everyone's tastes   . The ancients said that when two hearts become one, haystacks are watching, but in the real world, haystacks are not enough, it is necessary to buy a few pieces of furniture at average prices for a normal life  . Let's go to a big furniture store, let's look at the standard furniture prices.

Let's start with the wooden carcass part of the bed, prices in our store start from 1,199 pounds, there are prices up to 8,099 pounds. We like a model with drawers under 4,199 pounds.

They also sell the spring mattress on it, for 1,349 pounds, for 10,799 pounds. After one or two trials, we choose one with a discounted price of 4,299 pounds.

Nightstands per bed are cheap, there are prices from 299 liras to 2010 liras, naturally we choose the set of our bed, with double drawers, 529 liras, one on each side costs 1058 liras.

The dresser is available at different prices from 529 liras to 4499 liras, again we have to buy the one in our team, four drawers, two for the lady and two for me, it is not very expensive, 1,349 liras.

The mirrored wardrobe has from 1,149 pounds to 7,547 pounds. We need two, the one that fits the set of the bed is 4,298 pounds, and when the mirror shelves are included, one is 4,699 and the other is 4,499 pounds, two of them are 9198 pounds.

The vanity table is left, its prices are different, the suitability for our team is 2,799 pounds.

I don't understand why the prices are low by this one lira, the authors supposedly show the price psychologically low. Although this practice has not been abandoned so far, perhaps it really works .

I guess it's over, I hate shopping, but we men have to accompany the ladies by necessity. Even though they do what they know, they want to ask our opinion for some reason.

Let's pay the bill, our bedroom cost 22,902 pounds excluding curtains and carpet. I'm swallowing a little, but there's nothing to do. In accordance with our formula, first divide it by 60 and then take into account the 20% state support, our monthly installment for bedroom furniture is 305 lira 40 kuruş for this month. If we round it up, we can say 310 pounds.

Let's make a summary total.

As a result of yesterday's account, we reached up to 10,850 liras. this expense was our monthly housing and feeding expenses. Let's not forget that the cost of feeding does not yet include the expenses of the little baby.

Today in monthly installments:

440 liras for our white goods

We understood that we had to pay 310 pounds for bedroom furniture.

The total amount of credit we need to get for the goods is 32,736 liras for white goods and 22,902 liras for bedroom furniture. The total is currently 55,638 pounds.

Our total monthly expenses have now increased to 11,600 liras.

Yes, we also have white goods, we have a bed to sleep in this evening, we bought a big bed, we sleep with the children. We visited stores all day, we were tired. The evening is also approaching, let the lady make a tea, the weather is good, let's have a cup of tea on the balcony.

Shopping is enough for today, we will continue the rest tomorrow.

Love and respect from Moscow