An acquaintance was recently in Istanbul, once again, this time with her child, to show the city to her too. I think she is also under enchantment's spell there, maybe this country has this ability really. Last week there were holidays in Bulgaria and I saw that many of my acquaintances went to Turkey, it is a very desirable destination, we are neighbors and have quite a complicated relationship too, lol. Unfortunately, I haven't been there yet, I hope to go one day, at least to one of their many visited places like Cappadocia or Pamukkale...
Regarding the tight budget, I think it is not necessary to spend a lot of money explicitly when you are on a trip, one can just walk around, explore, visit places without entrance, I personally focus on taking pictures, it is also easy to make sandwiches to avoid restaurants if you have to. Perhaps with children it is a little more complicated, but not impossible.
Enjoy every minute of your visit, take it out on the streets, soak up the atmosphere completely, time is not that much. It will fly away in seconds. Have a nice one!😊