Step1 - Our UK house is on the market!

[Highlander]

I apologise if I misunderstood those two statements janice.

[cheers]

I have been watching this thread with interest and there has been some very good advice.  Here is mine for what it is worth ...
Rent your house out in the UK and don't sell it.  Rent in Turkey but do the best deal for a long term rent of a year or so. Make sure you have enough money for flights home to the UK if it doesn't work out.
Apart from get a job, get schooling for the kids and finding out where the cheapest places to buy anything that you need are a priority.  Go for it if that is what you want and I wish you all the luck in the world xxx

[busybee]

You are a lovely family, you made my 25th wedding anniversary cake with the bumble bee on it.  I think you need to find out how much rent and possible agent fees you would get on your house and remember you will need to have someone on hand or have a contigency fund to deal with any repairs or emergencies. You and your husband sound so unhappy in the UK and if it was me I would 'go for it' on a trial period living on a budget. You have the love and sense not to put your children in jepordy. Nothing is set in stone in this life and and you can always go back if it doesn't work out. I think you will be even more miserable if you dont give it a go. I can email you a breakdown of costs living here if that helps at all. Good fortune which ever decision you make.

[hubblebubbles]

A very hard decision for you. Remember when you are making your financial calculations that just over 200 lira per month will be needed for the compulsory health service as your husband is Turkish, approx 600 lira to rent plus as I understand it the schooling is not free until they are seven years of age so if you want the children to go to pre schools it has to be paid for .Turkish lady I know pays 350 lira per half year and has to purchase all the necessary books etc. No doubt Turkey is a lovely place to bring children up in but financial worries can soon turn a life sour wherever you are.I wish you luck in deciding the right answers for your future.

[Janice1971]

Wont my husbands employer pay for his health insurance?

[Dutchie]

Yes, your husbands employer will pay for his health insurance (which will cover the whole family).
That is...if he can find a job where his boss is willing to pay it.

I've been reading this thread from beginning and have started to write a reply several times but have deleted it every time.
Simply because I couldn't find the right words.

I understand your reasons for wanting to go back but at the same time feel that you shouldn't underestimate life here.
You have been living here before so you know what you can expect. But...apparently you had to go back since it didn't work out financially.
Why do you think it would be different this time? Life here isn't cheap, especially with children.

Many of my friends have returned to their homecountries around the time that their children had to start school.
Simply because they weren't able to afford a private education for their kids.
If you would like your children to go (a good) university, it will cost a lot of money.
Either a private school, or the expensive dershane lessons, or bribing your way into one of the better state schools.

Another issue is the so-called "better quality of life".
That is definitely possible but only if you can afford it.
Both my husband and I have a business and at the moment we are closed on Sundays. Yes, that is costing us income but we have a 2 year old and we don't want her to grow up in such a beautiful area without ever going to the beach, walk in the forests or such with both her parents. We can afford to close but reality is that a lot of the children never get to enjoy the amazing surroundings because the parents don't have time. And if they do, it is quite often without their father since he could be working night and day in tourism without a day off.

I think that in your case, my decision to come or not would be based on the chances of your husband being able to find a good job.
Does he have a profession/education/previous experiences that will allow him to work all your round for a proper wage?

I don't know whether such a thing is possible in the UK but can't your husband get a leave of work (for example 6 months).
He would then be able to come to Turkey, find a job, look for a place to rent, etc before you and your daughters come over.
You might stay separate for a while but at least you won't be making decisions that are difficult to reverse in case it doesn't work out.

Good luck with deciding what to do!

[Janice1971]

Im hoping that it will be different this time because there is no way that we will enter into any business like we did last time!  We simply ran out of money!  This time we will have a set amount of money and we will have to make it work we wont have a choice.  To be honest Im not bothered about what my girls do for a job in the future, I just want them to be happy, I wasnt academic but I worked my way up and became a pretty good sales person.  My husband used to manage a hotel restaurant before I met him and im sure that with all the contacts that he has in Turkey he will be able to find something.  I dont mind him working long hours as that is what he does now, I will make it a main priority to find myself a new set of friends and make the most of our lives, to start off with we are going to put money in the bank, try and live off the interest, put some money away for Ayse to go to a private school for a short time to get to grips with the language, then hopefully by the time that she is 7 she can go to a state school, hopefully she will pick the language up quite quickly as also she will be around her Turkish family part of the time too.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

I have refrained from making any comments on this subject but I had to reply to your last statement.To say that you are not bothered with what your girls do for a job in the future is not what I would expect from a parent. I would expect every parent to be extremely interested in their childrens futures and want the best for them.I am sure most hard working parents hope that their children have an easier life than they have had.A bit like the old days in that the father worked down the pit so it is assumedthat is where his children will work.

One of the main reasons why you want to go is that you work so hard in the UK. I suppose Turkey is heaven and you will not work as hard. These guys who work in tourism, work many more hours than an average Brit does and for a lot less. A great deal of work in Fethiye is in the tourist industry and that is seasonal. So you could have to make 12 months income in 5 months.You are also making the assumption that you will get work. Turkey has a much higher unemployment rate than the UK.

People are throwing figures around about how you can invest £65k and live off the interest.By the time you have relocated that will be down to around £60k or maybe even less. You are saying that you are going to use some of the money to pay for education so the pot is getting smaller and the interest earned getting less. There are many people who moved to Turkey and thought they could live off interest and have finished up having to return to the UK. Your capital sum is not sufficient to allow you to live off the interest because a downward move in rates will have a major impact on your income.

Some of the people quoting figures have been on here telling everyone how expensive it is to live in Turkey during the winter.

If you rent your house here remember that you will still continue to have to pay the mortgage and the repayments will be higher because it will be trested as a buy to let. Also rent will be subject to UK tax.

Sorry for being so blunt but these are the realities that you have to face.

On a general note if the quality of life is so good in Turkey why do so maany Turks want to leave and go to western Europe.

[Highlander]

I too have refrained from commenting mainly because many more people will have direct experience of living in Turkey than me.

But purely from an economic point of view and using supacabby's figures (which he did qualify), it seems to me that a 1.00% drop in interest rates coupled with 10.00% inflation rise in 2013 would mean that expenditure exceeded income.

[Janice1971]

"To say that you are not bothered with what your girls do for a job in the future is not what I would expect from a parent. I would expect every parent to be extremely interested in their childrens futures and want the best for them"

This comment has made me really cross, what are you saying then that Im not a good parent?  Did I actually say that I wasnt interested in what my children do, or that I wouldnt want the best for them?  What I said was that neither me or my hubby are academic and therefore i wouldnt push them in a direction that they didnt want to do!  Also we will both do what we have to to get by, neither my husband or myself are afraid of hard work, we will do whatever work is available to bring in what we need to.  After reading your reply again I find your response quite aggressive!