Korean Job Discussion Forums

[travelingfool]

This place is not cheap at all. Between things like water, food, etc, I am easily spending 10 to 15K won per day. I only eat at little ma and pop places and eat street food. Sometimes taking a bus is not practical and cab fares can add up quickly. Even the fruits and vegetables on the streets are not cheap. It seems like eating at home can be more costly than eating out when factoring in all the things you need.

Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to keep my daily expenses below 10k? Thank you in advance for your help.

[cruisemonkey]

No. What are you trying to do... save W2,000,000/month?

[bacasper]

Get a generous girlfriend.

[itaewonguy]

[crsandus]

If you work at a public school, take the leftover lunch food home. Food problem solved.

[wylies99]

Eat at home as much as you can.
Eggs are your friend.
Don't drink every night of the week.
Go to the movies (cheap fun).
Shop at Costco.

[plynx]

i load up on the water at school from the filter. sometimes i take some of the lunch home if it's good. if you're really looking to save money, shop like it. i buy ramen in bulk (6 for about 3,000 won), bread, eggs, and cheap ham and cheese. i save a lot on groceries and eat out every once in a while.

i second itaewonguy's suggestion: i also have side jobs (minimal hours) that allow me to save basically my entire base salary from the full-time position. it goes a long way.

[nolegirl]

Roam up hooker hill looking desperate!!! Nothing like a litte extra cash

Or just eat one meal a day, thats what I did. I lost a ton of weight too. Actually I have alot groceries but don't like cooking, I'd rather starve laying in my bed then cook.

But I guess on a serious note you should get some privates.

[sirfro]

[earthbound14]

eat at cheap restaurants when you go out - eat So-gum-goo-i (less fat then sam-gyup-sal) or restaurants like Don-dwae-ji (tasty and cheap food).
Avoid Kim-bab-chan-guk in my opinion...why pay money for crap you can make at home, but when in a bind, it'll do the trick.

Drink Seng-maek-ju (draft beer)...hell stick with Korean booze. Soju, Dong-dong-ju, for a treat - Baek-sae-ju. I like Baek-sae-ju.

Live in a villa. Rent is lower and bills are lower. Offitels have shit rates for utilities and Appartments cost lots in monthly maintenance.

Ride a 125cc motorcycle. Cheaper than a taxi, some times even cheaper than the subway and once you know the city much faster. I cut my travel time in half, plus my weekly transport cost is about 7,000 won instead of 10,000 (not including the times i need to use a taxi when destinations are far from the station).

Shop at the markets and be a wise shopper. Sometimes you can find stuff dirt cheap. Found some nock off Levis jeans for 20,000, once got a pair of jeans for 7,000 won (nice lookin too). Markets can suck though as they suck up your time and often only old people would be happy wearing whatever is sold.

Itaewon is pretty good for shoes and boots, and suits. i have some nice suits, dress shirts from there. I always by my shoes there, 30,000 won for some Adios or Quicksilver skate shoes. 40,000 for some respectable Doc Marten rip off leather shoes.

You won't be the most stylin guy, but who cares.

Don't buy name brand things and avoid any product that has aquired some sort of a status symbol here. Calvin Klein - bad, Rocky Mountain Bikes - Bad, Black Yak hiking gear - bad. Giordano - better, Trek - better, many lesser known names of hiking gear that are still OK, and much cheaper.

Avoid high end Korean products. Samsung and LG.....crap, get a Toshiba, or Compaq laptop instead... if you must buy one here.

Avoid department stores, buy on line.

Wait for end of season sales. Some nice stuff can be found at some of the departments stores and in many bargain bins around town.

Study...yep, spend money on studying, you'll spend more time at home studying and less time prowling the streets wondering what the hell happened to your money. Or just work more.

[KYC]

life is too short to live that frugally. I eat whatever I want and buy most of the thigns i want.

How can you spend 15k a day?

bus/subway-probably 2,000 w a day
dinner- if you eat in who knows; out-10k for a big meal 5k for smaller yet filling meal

That's 7k or 12k a day...basically what I spend per day if I eat out. I eat out probably 3x a week. I dont drink so that saves me some money. But I'm a shopaholic so...

[jlb]

My uni has a "professors" cafeteria with a healthy meal for 3000 won. I go 2-3 times a week and make it my biggest meal of the day, just eating a snack for breakfast and dinner.

Water: I fill up at school.

Don't buy books: exchange or borrow from friends.

Clothes: Don't buy more than you need. I have to wear dress clothes to work, so I have about 4 pants and 4 shirts that I recycle every week. I add a sweater or jacket to it in wintertime. And I really only need 2 casual outfits for the weekend.

Take up a cheap hobby: studying Korean online/ cooking/ running or hiking.

Take full advantage of internet at your house. I use it for a phone/ movies and TV.

[blaseblasphemener]

For the love of god, stop taking water from work filters, can you imagine how pathetic the koreans teachers must think you are!!!

Go to Costco, buy a Kenwood water filter (28,000 won or so) and buy a 6 pack of filters (6,000 won a filter).

Each filter is good for 1 month.

That's 6,000 won a month for clean, tasty, non-school water.


Tip: Have you ever considered what is on the tap of a public water dispenser? People drink from water bottles, then put the mouth straight onto the tap. That's all of what's in their mouth, now onto the tap. NOw try that a couple thousand times a month or so.

I'd say that's worth spending 6 bucks a month to avoid. Not to mention saving your dignity.

[KYC]

hahha seriously..how much can water cost?? 1k per bottle?? That usually lasts me 3-4 days...come on...it costs more back home!

[Draz]