Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Katie26]

Hi everyone,

I do realise that there have been countless posts about this but I can find no up to date info (2008/09)

What is the cost of living like currently in Korea? Do you think it would be feasible to send home half my salary (2.2 a month before tax)?

What I'd ideally like to know is how much people budget on a weekly/monthly basis for food/gas & electric/travel/nights & days out

Thanks for all your help, you've all been legends since I've joined this site

[Ya-ta Boy]

Yes, you should still be able to save about 50% of your salary. What that is worth when you send it home will depend on the current exchange rate.

[the ireland]

depends on how you want to live!!

[D.D.]

Living a rural area you can and in a city some people do. Remember that you have bills and medical and pension. Also if you save 1 million won it not that much whne you send it home unless you are an Aussie.

[Katie26]

Thanks, yeah I do appreciate that the won is weaker now but still sending 1 mil home a month will still equate to �6000 a year at the current exchange rate. I just wanted to try and see some costs from the ground running so to speak.

Just a note I'll be in Ulsan so not rural but not Seoul either.

[Typhoon]

100% depends on how you want to live. If you eat Korean, don't drink much, don't take taxis, don't make a lot of trips through Korean and don't do a lot of shopping saving 1 000 000 Won a month is possible.

The cost of living has really gone up the past 2-4 months. Food in the grocery stores is considerably more expensive and western restaurants have also gone up in cost. Taxi fares are up too.

[Beeyee]

[Ilsanman]

Food has always been overpriced here.

Anything service related is super cheap as compared to the west.

[Cerriowen]

I live in the countryside, and without much effort can save 500k a month. I'm sure if I worked on it, I could save 1m a month. Well... probably.

[Ilsanman]

In my experience, people in the countryside save less. That's because they spend every weekend coming up to Seoul or going to Pusan to save their sanity.

[SAN]

For us(me and my hus), the expenses come to around 800k Won per month!
We donot eat Korean food, but we do go out for burgers and pizzas. When considering our home currency, anything and everything is costlier here if I convert and look at it except that the affordability is good here for electronics items.
But I know it doesnt work out that way by converting to home currency and looking at expenses. We can do that only while counting the saved money!

[DavePuff]

Come on, saving half your wages here isn't that difficult. I spend for 2 of us here and we still manange to live a good life and safe at least half of what I earn.

What eats your money is the booze. Keep that in mind.

[Juregen]

[valkerie]

If you are in a public school u shouldn't have tax deducted.

I budget for 200.000 a week, which covers the bus into Seoul (80-90 mins away), food, odds and ends, some social stuff. I try to cut that to 100-150.000 in my hand to allow for things I order on the 'net like foreign food or books.

Utilities: I try to pay cable/Internet/electricity from my weekly budget but the gas here is crazy expensive. Dec bill was over 300.000 (for a 1 room). So try to get an idea of average for your apartment if u really want to budget well.

[red_devil]

I do a decent amount of partying, etc. I think 3M a month is fine for me. I survived on 2.5M but with 3.0M i think i'd have a bit more cushion.