Spending Expectations and Household Expenses

SUMMARY

The chapter analyses how the expenditures of the society will be shaped in the next one year and whether they will tend to save money in their expenditures depending on their expenditures. Analyses of the ratios of basic expenses consisting of bills and rent to monthly household income according to socio-demographic clusters are also evaluated in the section:

• How do you think your opportunities will change next year in the areas I am going to study now? Household expenditures, Food expenditures, Clothing expenditures, Education expenditures
• Do you think it will increase, stay the same or decrease?
• How much was the last electricity bill you paid?
• How much was the last water bill you paid?
• How much was the last natural gas bill you paid?
• How much is the rent / monthly loan of the house you live in?

Half of all individuals think their household income will increase next year, but they expect their household expenses to increase in parallel with this. The changing trend compared to previous years is the entrenchment of the view that household expenses will rise alongside household income. Residents of Istanbul expect a smaller increase in their expenses and household incomes compared to the general average of Turkey. Based on political preferences, ruling bloc voters are the ones expecting the highest increase in household income, whereas no such differentiation is observed in the upward trend regarding expense expectations. Even though the ratio of utility bills to income has dropped, the combined ratio of rent and utility bills stands at 80 percent for those in the lowest 25 percent income bracket.