I was so busy on Tuesday 10th March, the day started with the banana cake and tea and then I was in the office until 3pm. I bought Captain Caveman’s annual Earthquake Insurance for 1,797 lira (£30) as well as the annual home insurance for 10,723 lira (£182). I now use Aytaç Burçak of Saraymine Sigorta for all our insurances as he knows what he’s doing and is easy to do business with. I needed some essentials and some lunch so, at 3.30pm I took a break and went to the shops. Here’s what I got with prices in lira;
Parlak Bakery 1 Bread 15 1 simit 15 Total spent 30 lira (51p)
Migros Supermarket Bin Liners 29.95 4 Quark 180.00 Total spent 209.95 lira (£3.56)
I got as many Quark as I could because they were on offer. Back home I ate the simit with cheese, olives and gherkins for a very late lunch, before getting back to my desk. There was still no email or sign of pay from Resort Experts but I was reliably informed it could sometimes be as late as the 14th so I waited patiently. I arranged for some quotes for home repairs to be done by Leanne at King Emlak and then I finished a busy day around 6.30pm.
I went to meet friends who were back from the UK and had brought me butter back. When I got to Corner Bar, I ordered a red wine, and found out my friends had forgotten the butter! Still, it was nice to see them as I don’t get out an awful lot these days and they always make an effort to check on me, which is nice. I paid 170 lira (£2.88) for a glass of wine, but limited it as I had Fat Club tomorrow! Jamie walked past and was with Norman, the dog, Drew and his sister-in-law and her friend so we all did the usual hellos and Norman got a stroke. Back home I had curry for dinner and then did some writing. I hoped I’d done enough this week to lose some weight at Fat Club tomorrow.
I arranged to meet a friend on Sunday 8th March, at Kaunos tea Gardens. I couldn’t take the whole day off so we decided to meet at 9.30am with the intention of having a bit of a walk too. As I walked past the River House I noticed they had sea bream and bass on special for £10. We ended up sitting inside as it was still quite chilly. I had 2 large Turkish teas and a cheese toastie for 195 lira (£3.30). We had a good catch up and then a walk along the river, stopping to speak to the owner of the new fish and chip place between the Zabıta office and China Town. It looked really good so my friend and I added it to our places to try out soon. I went back home with the intention of getting on with my next handy travel tips book, which I needed to start again as the document had disappeared. That didn’t happen as I had emails to reply to and I ended up working until gone 5pm. I had bacon and asparagus for dinner, with parmesan on. It was so good and rather extravagant. For afters I made strawberries with quark and mini meringues. I was going to bed when I got a message from Vanessa inviting me to Matt’s birthday at the new fish and chip place on Wednesday at 5pm.
Gratitude List 1. Fresh air and a walk 2. Catching up with a friend 3. Asparagus.
I had some overripe bananas that needed eating up on Monday 9th March so I made a flourless cake. Moshed bananas, oats, egg and blueberries in the air fryer (or oven) for 20 minutes – and Slimming World friendly too. I worked all day and was impatiently waiting for the pay day email to come through to show what I was getting paid. Usually we get a statement which shows the top line amount then less any fees and charges. It is broken down by customer name and I cross reference it with my spreadsheet. I was particularly looking forward to this pay day as it was my first one from Resort Experts in 2026, my last pay day had been in December. Because I have more bookings in for spring & summer it means my first pay was due now. I started The Signal, a course about writing, with Georgina Chapman at 10am and it took my mind off it for an hour. I had plenty of tea and wrote my content for the rest of the week. At 6.30pm I made myself a Slimming World style pizza and did some blog writing in the evening. It was a zero spend and a zero alcohol day.
Gratitude List 1. Something different for breakfast 2. The Signal, a free course I’d signed up for 3. Eating healthy.
On Friday 6th March I only broke off from my laptop for a cup of tea or a couple of chicken fajita wraps. I wanted to finish as much as possible so that I could take tomorrow morning off. I had planned to go to the market with Vanessa and then grab a drink in a cafe somewhere. I didn’t take any photos, I didn’t leave the house, I didn’t spend any money and I didn’t drink any alcohol. While sitting down to post my blog, though, I saw a post which made me cry. A friend who I met 26.5 years ago on our first day of our new job at Norwich Union (now Aviva) had a date for her surgery to remove a brain tumour. About 15 years ago she met her now husband and later moved to the States to be with him. I remember this as it was around the same time I met Captain Caveman and we would both end up moving abroad ‘for love’. I’m older than her and have probably abused my body and made worse lifestyle choices than she has, so there’s something that happened to put so much in to perspective today. I didn’t even need a Gratitude List today, as it would just read ‘everything’. Over the years we’d not kept in touch as much and I’d never met her American hubby. I messaged her and we had a conversation about how she was feeling, she was being brave and was understandably shitting herself. I shared her go fund me page on my Facebook and I got a message from another friend to ask if I’d been hacked. I imagine, like me she also thought it might be too unbelievable to be true. It wasn’t! If you’re reading this and are able to donate towards Angela’s medical costs, it would be much appreciated. Here’s a link and her photo of what the tumor looks like.
I woke up early on Saturday 7th March and read some awful news on Facebook. A bloke I used to work with at Norwich Union (now Aviva) had died. He’d been one of the most entertaining people I’d known and was just so lovely. He was only about 10 years older than me so it was quite a shock. He had a huge family and was so well loved by everyone who knew him. I’d had the pleasure of being his manager for a few years and the customers just loved him too. I felt sad and searched out a photo from that period – we were a motley crew back then but had some great memories.
I was involved in a customer enquiry over the phone and I was meant to go to Vanessa’s on the way to the market but she ended up coming to mine. I checked the weekly budget and I had less than £9 left for this week, which was not impossible but unlikely, given that I needed to buy quite a bit today. We both needed the bank so that worked out better and I withdrew just 1,000 lira (£16.95) at the ATM. Before we even got to the market we noticed the new florists in town and went in for a nosey. It is brilliant and has plants, flowers and gifts – just what Dalyan needs.
Here’s what I bought at the market, prices in lira: Potatoes 30 Mushrooms 47 Cabbage (half of) 25 Satsumas 110 Asparagus 120 Strawberries 200 Total spent 532 lira (£9.02)
We went halves on a cabbage as they are huge and we even asked the stall holder to cut it in half for us. If I had gone home then, I would have been on budget for the week, but I didn’t. Vanessa had a soirée that she had been invited to tomorrow at Adam and Kath’s, so she wanted to buy some treats at the supermarket. Unfortunately, I couldn’t resist and I also got a few treats for myself:
Şevikoğlu Supermarket, now with a new name
Bread 15.00 Chocolate wafers 34.90 Biscuits 36.00 Mini meringues 66.90 Dark chocolate 67.00 Turkish black tea 184.90 Total spent 404. 70 lira (£6.86)
I had run out of conditioner and was down to the bottom of my shampoo so I had to get a bottle of each, luckily it was on offer and is my favourite.
Our bags were heavy so we decided to go to a lovely cafe next door to the computer shop. Here’s what I had:
Mornings in Mavi
2 large teas 100 1 Granola bowl 300 Total spent 400 lira (£6.78)
That granola bowl was so good and I really enjoyed it. Today I had spent a lot more than I should’ve, despite it being my 5th zero alcohol day this week. I had gone over my £50 weekly budget by £17.44. I decided to reduce the next 2 week’s budgets to £40 to compensate. It was going to be tight but it was doable if I put my mind to it and didn’t get tempted by alcohol or treats (easier said than done). Today was pay day from Resort Experts which would probably be in the bank on Monday, with it being a weekend. This was going straight into my emergency/holiday fund. It was almost 3pm by the time I got home so I ended up working until gone 8pm.
Gratitude List 1. Out and about in the fresh air 2. My first Granola bowl in Dalyan 3. Seeing Vanessa.
I was in my office by 8am on Thursday 5th March, writing Resort Experts content and catching up on more free training and courses. Today marked 10 years since I had done the trip to the biggest cave in the world, Hang Son Doong, in Vietnam. I bet I couldn’t do it now! I noticed a woman I had been following on Facebook for a while, was doing a free challenge next week; 5 days of using your voice in a market that’s stopped listening. It peaked my interest and I decided to sign up, I even decided to share it with lots of other Facebook friends who worked for themselves or had side hustles. There was a prize to be won if we got chosen, for sharing the link so I asked everyone I could think of, including my Resort Experts colleagues. I had a quick walk round the block and to check if my parents’ trees had started to grow back after a rather over zealous winter prune – they weren’t but it had been a pretty cold and wet winter, here. I let my mom know and tried to reassure her they would be in full bloom by the time they arrived. At 2pm I attended the team meeting where more talk about new improved systems were coming our way and things were business as usual, despite the Middle East conflict.
After a busy day I decided I would have chicken fajitas for dinner, only to realise at gone 6pm that I didn’t have any peppers or onions. I took it as an opportunity to leave the house for some fresh air to go get some and have a walk by the river with my new phone. It was also a good opportunity to get a selfie of me wearing a music related t-shirt in memory of an old Aviva friend who had died 1 year ago today.
I tried doing sunset photos and videos to have a practice with my new phone too, appreciating the beauty around me. It was quite a warm evening until it got dark.
Here’s what I bought at the shop, prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket 2 Onions 4.27 2 Green peppers 24.79 2 Red peppers 25.89 8 Satsumas 26.63 Total spent 81.58 lira (£1.38)
Seasonal fruit and vegetables are still quite cheap here in Dalyan but I’m always careful not to buy out of season produce. I was tempted to pick up a bottle of wine but decided to enjoy a 3rd day this week without any alcohol. I also thought I might try to avoid alcohol for the rest of this week.
I walked the long way round to take a photo of a couple of local hotels which I was recommending to friends who were coming later in the year. They were closed for the winter at the moment but would open next month. I made sure to say hello to my regular doggy friends, the usual white two were excited to see me and came over for belly rubs. Back home I made fajitas which were really tasty and I got ready for a busy day at my desk tomorrow.
Gratitude List 1. Being busy from getting out of bed to getting back in it. 2. Appreciating a walk while using my new phone 3. Good food.
I had a slight fuzzy head when I got up on Tuesday 3rd March and I had quite a few things to do. I’d started to get queries from people who hadn’t booked holidays with me (who had booked directly or online), they were worried about their holiday due to what was going on in the Middle East. Unfortunately, I could only help my own customers as I had no idea of the cancellation or amendment terms that these bookings would have been made with and I advised them to call who they had booked with or read their terms and conditions. Meanwhile, at the moment all the holidays I had booked for my customers were safe and going ahead as planned. I broke off for lunch of homemade lentil and tomato soup with rye bread and butter. I’ve been eating a lot more lentils since I’ve been in Turkey and they are so good for bulking out meals cheaply.
I nipped to the shops again around 6pm to try to finish off the shop I half did yesterday and hoped I wouldn’t be too late to get some decent meat. Here’s what I got with prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket Pasta 15.25 Dido chocolate bar 34.95 2 tins of tomatoes 99.90 900g chicken breast 180.35 940g chicken thighs 235.95 Total spent 566.40 lira (£9.60)
Dried pasta is so cheap here, especially as I buy the supermarket own brands. I couldn’t resist the new Dido bar which tastes like a Ferrero Rocher in a chunky KitKat – highly addictive. Of course, I didn’t need the tomatoes but felt compelled to buy while they had some in stock and I was chuffed to be able to get chicken. It always amuses me that here thighs are more expensive than breast because the Turks prefer to cook thigh as it has better flavour. I had leftover pasta for dinner then spent the evening catching up on my blog and a much needed zero alcohol day.
Gratitude List 1. Customer holidays being unaffected 2. Getting chicken 3. Dido chocolate bar for a treat.
I already knew that weigh in results on Wednesday 4th March were not going to be favourable, given that the Slimming World plan had gone out of the window. I’d eaten out and consumed lots of alcohol in the last week so it was only right that I had put on 0.8kg (1.8lb) on the home scales this week. My measurements were -1cm from my bust, no change to my waist and a whopping 4cm on my hips! I chucked the ingredients for a chicken casserole in the slow cooker and cracked on with my to do list. At lunch time I looked at flights for the girls trip to Spain where I wanted to be on the same flight as the rest of the group from Gatwick. I had a wander to Jamie’s to pick up my new phone case, he was laying on a sun lounger by the pool. I still had jeans and a hoodie on but he and his friend were sunbathing in their shorts and a bikini! Norman was indoors having a nap. At 3pm I was facing Carol’s scales at Fat Club to find I’d actually put even more on; 0.95kg (2lb) and I was blaming Captain Caveman for that! I couldn’t blame him for what happened next though. I stayed at Ren Garden after the group had left and ordered a hot chocolate while waiting for Vanessa to join me. She arrived a bit flustered and late then ordered a wine and soda. We had a good catch up for the next couple of hours and, as I had not eaten lunch, I gave in to temptation and had one of the fresh homemade cookies. They are so good! We had another drink each and this time I joined Vanessa with a wine. Here’s what I had with prices in lira;
Mine 1 hot chocolate 170 1 cookie 120 1 red wine 170 Total spent 440 lira (£7.46)
We said our farewells and I went home to see if my casserole was cooked yet. It needed another half an hour so I decided to take my new phone out for a walk and practice using the camera. On the walk along the river I bumped in to one of the Dalyan Dwellers (quite literally) who had stumbled out of Tapa bar and was zigzagging his way to Corner bar. My camera on the new phone was super snazzy and I was so happy with it. The video took some getting used to though.
I was back home before 7pm ready for my dinner which I made some mini roast potatoes to go with. It was delicious and there were more portions leftover. It had been a good day, but not a zero spend or zero alcohol day, I would try to get at least 1 more each of those in this week.
Gratitude List 1. Meeting Vanessa 2. Great food and treats 3. My new phone and it’s fab camera.
Over my morning tea and toast on Sunday 1st March, I checked my blog stats. I had just 1% more views in February than January. Interestingly, I had viewers from a country which wasn’t previously on my viewers list, let alone at number 4: 1. UK 2. USA 3. Türkiye 4. Israel 5. Australia 6. Vietnam 7. Hong Kong 8. Ireland 9. Canada 10. Sweden
Because I had taken Friday and Saturday off to accommodate Captain Caveman being here and the postponed boat trip, today was spent in the spare room/office catching up and drinking tea which I made with my new kettle! I loved the new kettle but I did think I might need to be careful about increasing the amount of caffeine I consumed. I consciously made sure today was a zero spend and zero alcohol day but tomorrow I did need to go food shopping as I didn’t have much in, especially as I had missed the Saturday market yesterday. I decided to set my budget for the first week of the new month at just £50, although strictly speaking I could have put it at £140 – I chose not to so that £90 could go in to my emergency/travel fund. Captain Caveman got back fine and I had my first proper meal of the day at 8.20pm, just a pasta dish that I knocked up. I’d not even left the house today.
Gratitude List 1. Catching up on stuff after 2 days off 2. Having good blog stats 3. A zero spend day to get me back on track.
After tea, toast and a couple of hours of work on Monday 2nd March, I decided to pop to the shops to stock back up. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira:
I’ve been buying my milk in small cartons to reduce waste. If I buy a normal sized carton, there’s a chance I don’t use it all before it goes off and I don’t like to waste it. I had tried putting it in to ice cube trays but I’m not convinced it’s as good with my Yorkshire tea. There was also a shortage of meat on the shelves so I would have to try again later or tomorrow. While I was looking at my copy of ‘The Handy Travel Planner’, which I’m using a lot, I noticed I’d already added Israel and Iran to countries I wouldn’t visit, before any war started. The planner was proving to be better than I thought for mult-trip planning. I had a check of flights to the UK to see Captain Caveman when he returned from Vietnam at Easter. I could get a one way without luggage for £30 and I almost booked it. It’s a good job I didn’t as Captain Caveman said not to bother as he was down to work on site over the Easter weekend. We toyed with the idea of me going back at the end of April/beginning of May but the flight prices were higher, my parents were arriving in Dalyan around then and I was looking forward to seeing them. I didn’t book anything and decided to see how things went. That evening I had been invited round to dinner with Jamie, Drew and Nanny Kay so I called at the Yaman Büfe 2, off licence, and picked up a bottle of wine for 300 lira (£5.08). When I got there Jamie ordered me a phone case from Trendyol as he’s got an account and I gave him the 400 lira (£6.78) cash for it. I had no idea if this was a good deal but to me it felt like an absolute bargain to not have a broken phone if I should drop it. Norman was pleased to have visitors and he was keen to get a snaffle of something, as usual. We discussed requirements for his 15th birthday and Nanny Kay very kindly agreed to make a carrot cake for the occasion. We had a lovely homemade meal of shepherd’s pie and plenty of wine. It was pretty late when I got home having had a good day where I’d spent a total of £22.78, mainly as I had only done half a good shop.
Gratitude List 1. Allocating more budget in March 2. A walk and a shop for fresh air 3. Dinner & wine with friends
I didn’t feel too bad when I woke up in bed, fully clothed, thinking I had overlaid for the boat trip, on Saturday 28th February. Because I don’t drink alcohol that much any more and am going through the menopause, I get drunk very easily and the hangovers are usually horrendous. We needed to get up as the boat was leaving at 9.30am but I still had to undress from last night’s outfit and get ready. Time was ticking on and we didn’t have time for breakfast. That wouldn’t have mattered ordinarily, as the boat trip we were going on had breakfast included but I’m always a bit wary of how the Turkish breakfast affects my stomach.
Captain Caveman and I arrived separately to the boat, me first this time and I paid our £30 each for the trip. I was very well wrapped up and had my big coat, a scarf, gloves and a woolly hat on. Captain Caveman turned up in thin trousers, a t-shirt and a jumper (no coat) and a towel for a very optimistic swim! The boat was Captain Fuat’s (of Dalyan Dreams) new smaller boat which was going on its maiden voyage with us today. Water levels had gone down and we set off towards Köyceğiz lake. On the boat there were 13 of us as a private trip of friends, which was lovely. Captain Caveman had his transfer booked for tonight at 7pm as he was flying back to Manchester. The boat was smaller than his main one but it still had a toilet on board and we all got a tea or coffee as we set off. The scenery was great and although a little cold, the Captain had his plastic flaps down to shield us from the wind. There was a lot of wildlife to see, the keen photographers amongst us were on the look out for the kingfishers and we saw loads. Because I didn’t yet have a case for my new phone, I had left it at home and my old one was playing up still. This meant I didn’t get as many good photos as I wanted to. For breakfast we had lentil soup, by which time I was feeling a bit fragile so I only managed half of it. Because I don’t eat eggs, tomato or spicy peppers, I just had bread cheese and olives (from the Captain’s garden) to eat and it’s probably a good job as I started to feel a little hungover. We played a great game of Who am I? It was absolutely hilarious as our organiser had chosen suitable people based on our individual personalities and interests. We got to Jimmy’s Island and the sun was quite warm by this point, a few of us had a walk while Nanny Kay and I did a shorter walk then back on to the boat. The recent storms had badly damaged Jimmy’s Island, the boardwalk had collapsed. On the way back, my work phone was unusually active so I checked it; I was shocked to find out that the USA and Israel had started a war with Iran – it didn’t look good! I mentioned it to Captain Caveman and both of us were on our phones checking for more information. I didn’t want to spoil anyone’s day out so I decided not to mention it. I’d got a couple of messages about whether upcoming holiday travel would be affected and it all looked rather worrying. The Captain served his usual cake for everyone but Captain Caveman and I didn’t have any – he doesn’t eat sweet stuff and I had a bit of a belly ache so was avoiding it on purpose. On the way back, it was pretty cold and I had to huddle together with Captain Caveman who was wearing the towel as a blanket as he was shivering a lot. It was a long day, after our late night last night, and we got back after 4pm, both with hangovers and shivering. Back home, we got straight in to bed with our clothes on to try to warm up. Sadly, we had no time to eat even though I was peckish and Captain Caveman didn’t make himself any wraps for the airport as he’d planned to. We said our farewells not knowing when would be the next time before July, that we would see each other. I wished him a safe trip to Vietnam in March, sad that I wouldn’t be joining him. I had already commited to helping Norman, the dog, have a great 15th birthday. I was in my lounge wear on the sofa drinking tea and eating crisps before Captain Caveman had even got to the airport. I was ready for bed but I stayed awake long enough to know Captain Caveman had taken off. I did a check of the finances with it being the end of (not so) Frugal February. In this week alone Captain Caveman and I had spent over 21,000 lira (£500)!!! Obviously, in this last week of February we had drank alcohol, dined out quite a bit, paid the council tax and even spent the day on a boat! The total spend for February was £632 and I was glad I had attempted to keep more frugal in the first 3 weeks so we could splash out in the 4th week. Unfortunately, the money going in to my account was less than I spent so I was ending the month on -£86, however, Captain Caveman had left me £120 in sterling. I intended to keep that as cash to use for boat trips and airport transfers in future months. Incidentally, the minimum wage in Turkey for 2026 is just 33,030 lira (£560) per month and locals who earn that still have to pay all their rent and bills from that. It’s much tougher for those people and I empathised. I decided for March I would set my monthly budget at £560 to see how that worked out. Could I live like a local on minimum wage?
Gratitude List 1. One last day with Captain Caveman 2. A boat trip with Captain Fuat and friends 3. Having a really good week with Captain Caveman.
It was Captain Caveman’s last full day and night in Dalyan on Friday 27th February. He decided it would be nice to go out for breakfast and we chose Ela’s Kitchen, another favourite of ours. Unfortunately, it meant I had to cancel a call with a friend that we had booked in, but she understood and said to enjoy my time with Captain Caveman. We called at the bank to put in English money to cover the council tax expense and in readiness for our last couple of days. The breakfast was so good and my massive sandwich came with chips and salad. Here’s what we had with prices in lira:
My next mission was to leave Captain Caveman to get on with work and for me to go find a phone case, and a kettle in Ortaca. I was also booked in to have my hair done at my favourite hairdressers. The bus takes about 30 minutes and is just over a £1 each way but it can get busy. Once in Ortaca I spent over an hour traipsing between phone shops and electrical stores. Interestingly, 2 shops sold the same make and model of phone that I had in my hand but none of them sold cases for them. There was no way I could have a phone without a case so I was a bit disappointed and would have to see if I could get one online. I couldn’t even find a suitable kettle so I decided to give up and go early to the hairdresser’s. I took some Turkish delight which cost 150 lira (£2.54) and was from the lovely shop I bought gifts from last time. I’d completely forgotten it was Ramadan but, luckily, most of the staff weren’t observing and we shared the sweet treats. I love going to Emrah to have my hair done as he always does such a good job. I know I can get it cheaper in Dalyan but it’s one of the things I really value and trust – a good hairdresser. The cost of a colour, cut, blow-dry and curling cost me 2,300 lira plus I gave a tip of 200 lira, so I spent 2,500 lira (£42.37) and I felt human again – and my hair looked pretty good too! On the way home I popped in to Migros to buy that Turkish kettle I’d seen for 799.95 lira (£13.56) and a packet of wraps for 120 lira (£2.03). The cashier told me to go home and check that the kettle worked and to bring it straight back if it didn’t. I didn’t need telling twice, the kettle was out of the box in no time as Captain Caveman was giddy to see how it worked too. For the price I paid, I was happy with the kettle with the tea pot on the top.
After finishing work, Captain Caveman and I met Jamie and Geoff in Sofra bar and had a few Friday night beverages. I’d not eaten since breakfast so the wine went straight to my head and I jumped at the suggestion of food, by which time it was almost 10pm so finding a venue may have proved tricky. Jamie was on it and got us booked in to Ela’s Kitchen, for the 2nd time today. Here’s what Captain Caveman and I had, prices in lira on our last night together;
Ela’s Kitchen Walnut pesto pasta 550 İskender kebab 700 Drinks 975 Total spent 2,225 lira (£37.72)
We had a great time but I was drunk and couldn’t remember finishing the İskender kebab or getting home. I didn’t realise at the time that we had spent more than £120 in a day – that would usually last me almost a month! We got home and I don’t recall getting undressed or setting the alarm for tomorrow’s boat trip.
Gratitude List 1. Food at Ela’s Kitchen (twice in a day) 2. Getting my hair done and the new kettle 3. Having a night out with Captain Caveman, Jamie and Geoff.
There were plans for an after work outing on Wednesday 25th February and I was looking forward to it. I was also quite tired on our morning walk round Dalyan where we saw that the water levels were back down. The Dalyan Dwellers who had been having to use the back door only, for drinking at Tapa bar would be pleased with that progress.
Before breakfast I did my measurements and got weighed. Despite putting 1cm on my bust and waist and losing 1cm from my hips, the home scales said I had lost 0.4kg (0.9lb), which I was surprised about. I felt sure I would’ve put on some. After work and soup for lunch, I popped off to Fat Club where I had unfortunately put on 0.25kg (0.5lb) on Carol’s scales, so that was disappointing but better than I had expected, plus I was about to ruin it with a night out. I finished more from my to do list and left Captain Caveman working until late but he would join us later. I met Nanny Kay, Jamie and his Dad, Geoff, at Ren Garden for a drink before dinner. I just had a red wine for 150 lira (£2.54) then it was time to go for food. Captain Caveman joined the 4 of us at Jik’s pub where we ordered food. All of us except Jamie ordered pizzas, Jamie chose a chicken curry. Jik’s is one of those places that is consistent and has friendly staff. The wine and beers flowed for a weekday night too. Captain Caveman paid our bill of 1,760 lira (£29.83) which included red wines, beers, pizzas and chips. I thoroughly enjoyed our evening out and didn’t think about having to get up early tomorrow.
Gratitude List 1. Seeing Dalyan being dryer 2. Being lighter on the home scales than at Fat Club 3. An excellent evening out with friends.
Disaster struck on Thursday 26th February when our kettle started to leak! It turned out that the calcite in the tap water had finally made the kettle come apart where the measurement level section was. We didn’t have a walk as we both had work and laundry to do. While Captain Caveman had a meeting, I went to several shops to see if there were any kettles. They were very expensive in the electrical shops although there was a Turkish style kettle and tea pot in Migros for only 800 lira (£13.69) but I wasn’t sure it would be good enough. I decided to wait as tomorrow I was taking the afternoon off to go to Ortaca and I might find one there. For our dinner, Captain Caveman had insisted that we go out to another one of our favourite restaurants in Dalyan. We arrived at Duble just after 8pm when Captain Caveman finished work. Ibo welcomed us and we sat at a nice table inside. We decided to order a bottle of red wine, 2 soups for starters and 3 dishes to share for main; cheese rolls, liver and chicken shish. It was all very tasty and the liver there is my absolute favourite. We had a great night and we ended up paying just less than £40 for the 5 dishes and a bottle of red wine.
Gratitude List 1. Still finding time to go out after working a long day 2. Captain Caveman suggesting Duble for dinner 3. Great food which was such good value for money.
On Monday 23rd February Captain Caveman needed me to find the paper work for the Council Tax from last year. One of the jobs he was doing while he was here was sorting out paperwork, insurances and anything he needed signatures for. I usually work in the morning but today Captain Caveman needed me to help him and he wasn’t working until midday our time (9am UK time). Oddly, although we only paid 3,379.20 lira (£57.27) for a whole year’s council tax, this was an increase of 55% on last year’s. This was based on us being 2 people in a 2 bedroom apartment. Captain Caveman was ecstatic about how low this cost was as his monthly amount in Pontefract on solo occupancy was twice the price of our annual amount for just one month! We both worked hard and I made us a bowl of soup for a late lunch at 3pm, then went back to work. I finished at 7pm so that I could cook Captain Caveman and I a meal for when he finished at 8pm. I was tired but glad that Captain Caveman had been able to work all day and the 2 lots of internet we had, worked enough for us to both work from home. We have Captainnet for the home WiFi which can be very slow at times so I also have Turkcell as a back up on our ‘bat phone’.
Gratitude List 1. Council Tax bargains despite a 55% increase 2. Managing to get stuff done 3. Having Captain Caveman in Dalyan.
By 8.15am on Tuesday 24th February Captain Caveman and I were on a walk round Dalyan before starting work. The weather was fine but the water levels hadn’t receded that much yet. We called at the bakery where we bought 1 simit, 1 açma and a fresh loaf for 50 lira (85p). We decided to have a breakfast at home so we called at the shop for some more breakfast essentials, prices in lira;
Şok Supermarket 1 plastic bag 1.00 Cherry jam 59.50 10 eggs 75.00 Honey 99.00 Total spent 234.50 lira (£3.97)
Back home, we tucked in to our breakfast with me knowing that Weigh day tomorrow was not going to have a good result. Both of us got on with work and I even squeezed in a Lisa Johnson Fabulous Foundation session to catch up with my friend who was flying through it. We had a late lunch of leek and potato soup then more working until after 7pm when I made us a mystery frozen meal. I’d not remembered what it was and even after tasting it, we weren’t sure but it was pretty spicy.
Gratitude List 1. A morning walk with Captain Caveman 2. Getting stuff done from my to do list 3. A random spicy meal which we were impressed with.
Our first day together on Sunday 22nd February was lovely. Captain Caveman and I had been due to go on a boat trip but, due to the water levels and it not being safe for getting on and off the boat, it had been postponed. This meant we had a free day and I needed to make sure that Captain Caveman didn’t regret not having arranged a Sunday Walk. We decided we would go for food at Kefal tea gardens then have our own short walk, and a leisurely Sunday. I took my new phone to try out the camera but I didn’t yet have a case for it so needed to be super careful. I took a selfie and the quality of the camera was good, you could see every wrinkle! Our first stop on the walk was to check out the river levels outside Tapa bar. This was the highest I’d seen it – Captain Caveman and I had to walk round the road way to the Kefal tea gardens as, even with wellies on, it was too deep. When we arrived at Kefal the sun was out and they had the windows open in the indoor area. Here’s what we had and the prices in lira;
The food was really nice but my Turkish breakfast was so big that Captain Caveman had to help me eat it.
After breakfast we had a meander, we called in to see Jamie and Norman and had quite a walk around Dalyan while the sun was out. As it was a Sunday, there was nowhere open to exchange currency so I paid £100 cash in to my Turkish bank and moved it across so we could draw out some cash to spend. By 3.30pm we were treating ourselves to an alcoholic beverage in the sun outside Public bar. Captain Caveman ordered an Efes for 190 lira (£3.22) and I went mad with a pint of shandy for 220 lira (£3.73). While Captain Caveman didn’t flinch at the costs, I thought it was a little more than I would usually pay for 2 beers but nevertheless, I enjoyed it – my first beer of 2026. It was the first time we had visited this bar and I liked the interior, there were quite a few Turkish visitors too which was good to see. Next we went to the Kaunos tea gardens where we met a friend for a bit of a chat. We paid the bill and here’s what we had with prices in lira:
Kaunos Tea Gardens 1 water 20.00 1 lemon soda 40.00 1 Tuborg beer 200.00 Total spent 260 lira (£4.41)
It was gone 6pm by the time we left the tea gardens and it was getting a little nippy so we decided to call in to Waterfall bar to say hello. We had a couple of drinks in there and had texted friends who we thought were calling in, but they didn’t arrive. The bill came to 600 lira (£10.17) for 2 wines and 2 beers then we walked towards home, shivering by this time as it had turned cold. We decided to eat dinner at Çağrı, an old favourite of ours. Here’s what we had with the prices in lira;
Çağrı 1 large water 50 1 Lahmacun 180 1 Mixed salad 200 1 Efes Malt 200 1 red wine 250 2 lentil soups 300 1 pide 320 Tıp 200 Total spent 1700 lira (£28.81)
The food was fantastic and the service super quick, the perfect end to a boozy and relaxing day together. We’d spent around £60 between the 2 of us in just one day and we did comment how good value that was compared to what we’d have spent in the UK on a Sunday, out and about.
Gratitude List 1. A day off with Captain Caveman in Dalyan 2. Having a super new phone that worked, even if I didn’t know how to use it yet 3. Great food and drinks.
It was my last full day and night on Friday 20th February before Captain Caveman’s arrival in Dalyan tomorrow. This meant that I had a to do list as long as my arm to try to get everything done today. I was aiming to take Sunday off so that I could spend the day with Captain Caveman and some friends on a boat trip. I finally finished for the day at gone 9pm and made myself some pesto pasta for a quick dinner. I didn’t leave the house so it was another zero spend day but tomorrow I would go to the market and get some shopping ready for Captain Caveman.
Gratitude List 1. Looking forward to seeing Captain Caveman 2. Working hard to get everything done 3. Pasta.
The day that Captain Caveman was flying to Dalyan was finally here on Saturday 21st February. This would be his first visit of the year and wasn’t quite the holiday we would’ve liked as he still needed to work as usual while he was here; Monday to Friday – 12 noon to 8pm, which was 9am to 5pm UK time. He’d stayed in the Tribe hotel at Manchester airport last night, so it meant he could have a good breakfast before his flight took off at 1.45pm. Before 9am I had spent an hour working, and could hear the builders at the apartment downstairs. The Aussies were replacing their balcony railings with metal ones and I was surprised to see them working in the rain.
I ventured over to see Jamie & Norman who were going to the market. Jamie gave me a lift there as it was raining again. I spent less than £3 this week as I had some fresh veg left at home. Here’s what I got with prices in lira;
After a quick mooch round the weekly market, Jamie dropped me off in town. I still had items on my shopping list that I’d not managed to get and I wanted to stock up, ready for Captain Caveman. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
I put the shopping away, had a tidy up and cleaned the house before deciding to tot up my total spending for February, up to today! I’d started February with £91 left from January and it had been a self imposed challenge to see if I could live off that for the first 3 weeks of February. If you’re an avid reader you will know that because of a planned night out with friends for Valentine’s, I’d almost spent it after 2 weeks in. So, I did a cheeky cheat and isolated that weekend’s splurge and carried on to see if I could still spend up to £91 plus the £37 extravagant weekend. It wasn’t easy, especially as each time I went to the shops, there were a few items I couldn’t get hold of. This meant that when I went again, it was tempting to buy extra treats that weren’t essential. Anyway, here’s the results with the night out in; Week 1 spent £25.97 Week 2 spent £57.72 Week 3 spent £38.63 Total £122.32, which meant I overspent by £31.32! If I took the night out from week 2 where I spent £37.29 extra, my total was only £20.34. which would mean a total of £85.03 and being under by £5.97. Of course, I had cheated and didn’t achieve it but I know I would’ve given up and spent more had I not isolated that blip. I think it’s still impressive to have spent less than £41 per week for 3 weeks running. It also showed me that it was possible to live in Dalyan cheaply. Lucky for me, Captain Caveman was bringing cash with him and we were going to be less frugal for the last week of February. After doing a bit of work on an itinerary for Vietnam, I had a curry for dinner and then decided to open a bottle of red wine while I waited for Captain Caveman to arrive.
Captain Caveman’s flight was due to land at Dalaman airport at 9pm, however, it took off 39 minutes late. We’d already agreed for me not to save or cook Captain Caveman any dinner but we would have some drinks with cheese and biscuits instead. At 10pm I got a message from Sonuç, our airport pick up driver, to say they were just leaving Dalaman now. Captain Caveman had only an underseat bag so he was through quickly once they had landed. He arrived bearing gifts of a brand new Oppo phone for me, 2 boxes of solid coconut, 2 vacuum bags with the stuff I left in London and new electric toothbrush heads. I was so excited to have a new phone as my old one was playing up more and more – I had hoped to get one the next time I was back in Vietnam. I cried with happiness and was so overwhelmed as it was better than my existing model. He’d also treated himself to a nice bottle of Rakı for £26 at Duty Free. We had a glass of wine and then, as it was Saturday night about 11pm, we decided to head to Sofra bar. I was surprised to find it was empty apart from a couple of people who left not long after we got there. Captain Caveman had his first Efes Malt and I had a red wine, they went down so well that we had a second. Our bill came to 660 lira (£11.19) and Captain Caveman was very happy with that price. I knew I would find spending money so freely this week a bit of a change, after my attempts to live off less than £5 per day! Back home, I prepared a cheese board and we had some wine with it. Captain Caveman seemed to react to the wine here in Turkey and I think it’s because it’s got sulphites in. We finally called it a night at 2.20am so it’s a good job the planned boat trip for tomorrow had been postponed due to unsafe water levels.
Gratitude List 1. Shopping 2. A new phone 3. Captain Caveman arriving in Dalyan.
It was a busier day on Wednesday 18th February and it was also weigh day. At home the scales said I had stayed the same as last week and my measurements showed no change to my bust, 2cm off my waist but 2cm on my hips. Carol’s scales this afternoon would be the official result. I added more items to the shopping list and went over to Ren Garden for the Fat Club meeting. I had a tea which was 60 lira (£1.02) and Carol’s scales showed I had lost 0.75kg (1.7lb) – I was happy with that! I called at the shop while we had a gap in the rain, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
Back home I had a late lunch/early dinner of chicken and veg fried rice which I added edamame beans to, one of my favourites. They say on the packet not to freeze edamame beans but they were fine. I went back to my laptop for the rest of the afternoon then I decided to have a wander.
The recent rains had been quite brutal so whenever it stopped it was good to get the wellies on and go out! A friend shared photos from the beach which had been hit hard with the storms, while the Dalyan river had flooded – Tapa was now advising patrons to use their back door! By the time I got back home, it was dark and I noticed a delivery of something weird for The Aussie’s apartment downstairs. I made an assumption that my noise cancelling headphones might be coming in handy over the following days!
Gratitude List 1. Losing Weight 2. Shopping (including some treats) 3. A rare early evening walk.
I was pretty much in my office all day and night on Thursday 19th February. At 9am I started the Lisa Johnson Fabulous Foundations course. My friend had already got started yesterday so I was playing catch up. It was very good and was a free course to help business owners get their businesses off the ground and growing in the right way. It was useful and then I had a chat with my mate, who had also got on well with it. We discussed and decided to help each other be accountable for getting things moving in the right direction. At 2pm we had the Resort Experts team meeting, and I eventually ate lunch of leftover fried rice, at 3.20pm. Next week, both Captain Caveman and I would be working from home and I was a bit concerned how we were going to fit in any free time as I simply didn’t seem to have any lately. I did some work in the afternoon and then had a video call with Vanessa who was due over to Dalyan later this month. My dinner ended up being a Slimming World wrap pizza at 9pm and then I was fit for nothing but had managed another zero spend day and had not left the house. I told myself it would all be worth it in the end and to just keep going.
Gratitude List 1. Starting the Fabulous Foundations course 2. Good food 3. Zero spend day.
On Monday 16th February I had a bit of a word with myself and decided I was sometimes doing things that weren’t essential for earning me money with Resort Experts or selling/writing my books. I’d been given a free course from Lisa Johnson ages ago and never got round to actually doing it. When I spoke to a friend who also works online, she was in the same boat. We decided to start the Fabulous Foundations course and actually do something about it this time. I logged in to it and found the password still worked and we set up time to do it later this week. It was cold, rainy and set to get even colder tomorrow so it would give me the perfect opportunity to crack on and do something useful. As I’d decided to say yes to more travel in 2026, I needed to do something to create more passive income. More places became flooded in Dalyan, we had a couple of power cuts and the Denizkızı ferry got suspended because the road to it, was flooded. We received weather warnings that tomorrow and Wednesday would be worse too. After working straight through until 3.30pm without a break, I decided to chance a walk to the shop to get the things I couldn’t get yesterday, plus a couple of cheap treats. Here’s what I bought, prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket Pasta 27.96 Peppers 32.89 Bananas 37.59 Haribo sour jellies 39.95 A 4 finger Dido bar 44.95 Mushrooms 84.95
Total spent 268.29 lira (£4.55)
It was very blustery out and when I got back I realised I was tired and had not had much water. I rehydrated, did more work then made a Slimming World style pizza made from a wrap for my dinner. It was really nice and I’d added leftover chicken to it which was a great idea.
Gratitude List 1. The Lisa Johnson Fabulous Foundations course was still accessible to me 2. Shopping before the storms came back 3. Slimming World dinner.
I almost forgot what day it was on Tuesday 17th February. I did know it was just 4 days until Captain Caveman arrived and, although it would only be a month since I last saw him, I’d missed him. I worked all day, it was rainy outside so I didn’t leave the apartment which meant it was also a zero spend day. It was after 8pm when I finally made dinner which was pancakes for Shrove Tuesday; 1 plain and 1 with cherry jam. Tomorrow was Fat Club so this didn’t bode well for my weigh in results.
Gratitude List 1. Counting down to seeing Captain Caveman after 35 days apart 2. Zero spend day 3. Pancake Day.
There was a bit of excitement on Sunday 15th February as the flights for Poland and Brussels were going to be booked today. Captain Caveman had already said he would book our two and our good friend, Louisa, was going to be booking hers as we had invited her to join our adventure. Captain Caveman was going to Poland for 5 days of Bridge so this meant Louisa and I could be off exploring without him during some of the trip and then in Belgium we planned to introduce her to the Brussels Beer Festival and our favourite kebab place. I was so excited that I went for a walk outside not realising how bad the floods had been, the Dalyan river was now starting to overflow. The worry among the Dalyan Dwellers, who like to drink in Tapa bar, was if they would still be able to get in the front door! I stopped to take some photos, my phone was still playing up and kept deleting stuff but today I managed to get quite a few that saved. I always say hello to the street dogs who I’ve called Bowie and Dexter, they are friendly and love a little stroke. I decided to go to the shops, despite already having almost blown the budget by spending £37 on food and drink out this weekend. So that I wouldn’t throw in the towel on Frugal February, I cheated a bit and isolated that particular expense to see if, without that, I would still be able to save money. Otherwise I knew I’d just admit I’d failed and not continue to be frugal. I took the day off while it had stopped raining and wanted to buy some things in readiness for Captain Caveman arriving next weekend. Here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
I’d not heard back from Captain Caveman about the flights so I set up a Facebook group with him, Louisa and I so that he could post any instructions on which flights to book. I’d already let him know that I would be meeting a friend at 2pm at the tea gardens and wouldn’t have WiFi. I spent less than 50 lira (85p) on tea and we had a good chat. My friend had organised a boat trip for next Sunday which we were going on and she was looking forward to seeing Captain Caveman. It was 5.30pm when I left and walked home to see a load of activity in the Poland/Belgium group chat, plus a missed call from Louisa. Nevertheless, it was all booked! As I scrolled through the updates and screenshots I still wasn’t convinced we were all on the same flights but Captain Caveman and Louisa seemed to have it all under control. I was really looking forward to it, especially as this would be my first visit to Poland. While I chatted to Louisa I prepared a Sunday dinner, she was also excited and had been to Poland before but not the Beer Festival. We laughed as I think Captain Caveman had been a bit vague on his plans for me to be a Bridge Widow, although it had all worked out well now that I had a friend to keep me from moaning at him for playing too much Bridge! My Sunday dinner was lovely and after that, I spoke to Captain Caveman who was also excited to have got our trip booked. This time next week he would be here in Dalyan with me.
Gratitude List 1. A morning walk 2. Catching up with a friend at the tea gardens 3. Finalising the Poland/Belgium plans.
joloyolo 