Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sir John Hawkins]

I am trying to get a rough idea for how much I am going to save for the year (I have been here for a month) SO, I was wondering....what do other people spend a month?

[bogey666]

[UberJRI]

I spend about 400,000-500,000 a month, but I only really buy food, and I don't much like going out for drinks, nor do I drink a lot, so it saves me a lot of money. Most of that food is fruit and vegetables, so it's a bit more expensive, so if you buy cheaper or K-style food, it will be even cheaper.

You can get by on very little here, and I never feel like I'm living like a monk. If I want something, I go buy it. There's just not many things I need/want to buy in Korea, so it saves money.

[macaronique]

None

[macaronique]

None

[livinginkunsan]

2 million (wife and I)

[AussieGav]

[Gamecock]

It does depend on your location and lifestyle...

Bills (phone, apt maintenence fee, gas, electric, water, etc)= 100,000-200,000.
-If you are living in a nice officetel, your maintenece fee can be over 100,000 every month. In a regular apartment 20,000-40,000. Gas can be outrageous in the winter and electricity high in the summer because of air conditioning.

Transportation (bus, subway, taxi)= 50,000-100,000
-If you're lucky you will live close to work and can walk. But you will still need buses or taxis to go anywhere in your free time.

Food= ? Anywhere from 150,000-500,000
-Do you cook? Do you like Korean food? Do you like to eat out at western restaurants? Do you like NICE western restaurants?

Drinking= 0 to ?
-If you don't drink you can save alot of money. Drinking here CAN be inexpensive...but it depends on your habits. It also depends on where and what you drink, and how much misc. money you spend/lose drunk.

Other Misc. expenses= ?


Most foreigners I know spend about 1 million a month (or more). I know a few people who spend less who are REALLY focused on saving money. But they don't go out much, don't eat out much, and don't really drink. I think for any newbie, figuring on spending 1 million a month is good. If you spend less, good on you. Don't believe all these people here who will tell you that you can live on 400,000 a month. Remember, if your salary is 2.4, you will only be getting about 2.2 after taxes, etc.

[air76]

My girlfriend and I spend roughly 1 million each per month....but that affords us a nice lifestyle. We have a car (albeit an old one), XBOX, HD TV, make bi-monthly Costco runs, eat out fairly often, buy new clothes, etc.

If you want to enjoy yourself you won't get away with spending less than 600,000....anyone who says they enjoy themselves and spend less than that are fooling themselves in my opinion. Maybe they are sufficiently satisfied with their lifestyle, but they must be depriving themselves of quite a few things that they would like to have.

I think 800,000 is good number to shoot for if you're trying to save money without going insane in the process....but then again I shoot for 800,000 every month and always spend a million.

[danby_ll]

I spend about 800,000 - 900,000 every month including bills.

I only go out drinking about twice a month. I do a bit of clothes/shoe shopping. My bills come to almost 200,000 per month. That includes cell phone and internet. My officetel fees are quite high.

[PeteJB]

The highest I've spent in a month is about 800,000 - The lowest is 150,000.

[livinginkunsan]

[PeteJB]

Actually yes, I was studying most of that month.

[bacasper]

At a minimum, even if you spend all your money every month and assuming you do not go into debt, in your last month you will receive salary, severance, pension, and airfare. OK, you gotta buy a ticket home, but still, that you cannot go home with less than about $7,000.

At the other end, if you can do privates you can live on them and bank your entire salary, or about $30,000.

N.B. With today's exchange rates, those numbers are probably closer to $5,000-25,000.

[BS.Dos.]

My bills are about 120,000 per month at the moment. Half that during the summer when the heating's off.

My living costs are about 100,000 per week tops, and that's being generous. Itt's probably closer to about 70/80,000. I only usually have one night out per week and I can get pickled on around 10/15,000 won of Hite. That maybe goes upto around 40,000 if we decide to hit a singing room, but that's pretty rare these days. I'll put an order through EZshop once every 8-weeks or so and maybe spend 100,000.

Best estimate, about 500,000 per month all in.