Expats often face the scrutiny and skepticism of the folks back home when they decide to leave the mother country for a far flung place like Turkey.  Rich Carriero breaks down the dollars and sense of his decision to come to Istanbul.

I first realized that I wanted to try living abroad when I was a teenager.  Something about the freedom of touring far away lands and the isolation of immersion in a different culture really appealed to me.  Back then I could not have seen Turkey as my first choice for such a move--I had visions of Hemingway and Parisian cafes dancing through my head.  After a few years busting my ass in “the real world” for little material reward, I did however, find myself face to face with the very real prospect of trying my luck somewhere else.  I did all the requisite research as to cost of living and job prospects in foreign countries and I came up with a few important observations.  In Western Europe they’ll pay you a mediocre salary but your cost of living will gobble all of it up and you’ll never get a work visa anyway.  You can work in Eastern Europe and you’ll be just fine for living expenses but if you have any outstanding debt that you are obligated to service, the small salary you earn in Poland or the Czech Republic will quickly be depleted.  You can work in the Far East and get well paid but the culture shock will be stronger.  You can work in the Arab world but you might find yourself living in a concrete bunker while you make $5000 a month.  After all of my research, Turkey was the one nation that seemed to provide everything that I was looking for in a host country.  Here are some of the advantages of living in Istanbul.

1) Comparable Pay – Back in New York City I was well paid as a tutor of various standardized tests so I did not expect to achieve the same salary.  At the same time, I was surprised by how close I came to my old wage.  I make about 70% of my New York salary doing the exact same job that I did in New York City.
2) Cost of Living – Here is where living in Istanbul pays for itself.  While my New York salary was about 70% of what I paid in New York, Istanbul is far cheaper than Manhattan.  My rent for a cozy one bedroom on the upper west side was about three times higher than what I pay for a gorgeous, modern apartment in Tarlabaşı that is at least 50% larger.  Everything is much cheaper here.  Grocery bills are about half what they were back home.  Clothes are cheaper.  Basically only utilities and cell phone bills are as high, if not higher than they were back home.  Using Skype to call home, however, even cell bills have gone down considerably.
3) Side jobs – I am a teacher who writes on the side.  My principle ambition in life is to invert that sentence.  In New York, without serious connections or a kick ass portfolio, good luck getting anyone to look at your work.  In Istanbul, I find myself being able to get jobs travel writing, people read my blogs and, of course, I have this beloved periodical to share my inanities with an adoring public.  For those in the teaching business, getting private students who will pay good money just for conversation lessons is also a significant piece of supplemental income.
4) Tax exemption – Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I calculated my New York salary before, I didn’t take out the 15-20% that goes to the federal, state and municipal governments.  Turkey doesn’t tax English teachers and the US only taxes foreign income over $85,000.  So after taxes, my pay here is really worth more like 85-90% of what I made back home.
5) Bargain shopping – There are really two ways to live in Istanbul.  You can live like a westerner and get everything from the mall and save about half of what you would in the US.  On the other hand, if you follow the Turks, you can find bargains far cheaper than anything you would ever find back in the States.  There are two things that Turkey makes a ton of: food and clothing.  There is no place better to save a bunch of money on either than a street bazaar. 
6) Ease of banking – Ok, I LOVE Garanti Bank.  I love, love, love it.  Because of Garanti Bank, I never have to see my landlord.  I just pay my rent online.  Oh yeah, I also pay the gas and electric bills, top up my cell phone and transfer money to my accounts back home.  Here’s another beautiful facet of Turkish banking: cash deposits.  You never have to hang on to a paycheck over the weekend or stash money in your house when you can just walk up to any ATM and shove a wad of bills into the machine and BINGO, you have money.  In America you have to wait 2-5 days for practically anything to clear unless you wait on line for a teller and hand it to him/her in person—just as long as it’s before 4:00!
7)  Cheap Travel – Take a map sometime and draw a circle of 1000 miles radius around the city--you pretty much have the entire ancient world.  There aren’t too many places that you can’t get to from this city for less than $300.  When you start a European vacation for about $1000 less on airfare than you would pay back in the US, you can splurge a great deal more on hotels, food and whatever other frivolities cross your mind.
8)  Cool looking money – This year the United States Mint is issuing four new pennies to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.  This will be the second time the US has changed the penny in a century.  Boring!  Turkey has changed currencies three times in the past five years.  The new bills are even different sizes and colors!  Sure you feel like you’re buying wine, condoms or cigarettes with monopoly money but that just makes it easier to not feel like you’re handing people real money and thus avoid pesky buyer’s remorse.