I am back!

I love Istanbul. I sure do but life has thrown me to another part of the country since August 2010. Unable to find a decent job in Istanbul for a while I accepted an offer which brought me to my hometown. Mom and sis live here and although I do not like Ankara, I am glad that I get to see them more often now.

I left my apartment in Istanbul as it is. I did not move my furniture. Every month I go to Istanbul to meet with a group of friends. My original plan was to go every two weeks but, that is not very frugal and I need to save money to go back to Istanbul for good.

I stayed with mom for about 7-8 months when I first came here. She had both her knees replaced in December 2010 and needed my assistance before and after the surgery for a while. Later on, I decided to invest my money in an apartment here in Ankara in the early spring in 2011. I bought a two bedroom apartment and took out a short term loan of 3 years. It is minimally furnished and now I am living in my new apartment.

I am still not sure if I regret my investment decision. I have mixed feelings about it since, I hate debt of any kind. I am sure in the long run I will not regret it. It will be a source of additional income.

I am trying to live frugally and socking away most of my income to build a healthy emergency fund. For me that is a whole year's worth of expenses. Once I have that kind of money aside, I feel stable and happy. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen soon enough. I may have to stick to my job here in Ankara until next year. That is one huge year doing something I do not like anymore. Initially, I was happy but things have changed.

I decided to blog again since it helps me focus on my goals and lets me communicate with total strangers who might help me in coping with the situation.