Korean Job Discussion Forums

[charliebrown84]

It's been my intention to move up to Seoul since my first trip up there back in January. However, whenever I tell this to one of my Korean friends, they tell me is too expensive. Currently I'm living in Daegu and while I'm not hurting for money, it doesn't seem like things here are all that cheap either. So what's the word? Is Seoul the most expensive place on earth or are they just over-reacting?

[Welsh Canadian]

[jvalmer]

I'd say prices for items are about 10% higher.

[pkang0202]

Depends where you are in Seoul. If you are in Gangnam, things will be REALLY expensive.

For example, if I want to get food delivered, a 김치찌개 from Tomato Food is like 6,500w delivered. Most other places are like 5,000w.

Samgyupsal in Gangnam is around 8,000-9,000 a serving whereas places like Gangseo-gu and Wangshimni you can get Samgyupsal at like 6,000w a serving.

Tangsooyook + 2 Jjajangmyun set delivered is like 17,000w whereas its like 15,000w most other places outside Gangnam.

If you look at things item by item it doesn't seem that expensive. Just an extra 1,000-2,000w here and there. You add everything up at the end of the month and you take a big hit out.

Outside of Gangnam, I don't see the prices of everyday things in Seoul to be much different than in Suwon and Daejon. Housing is another matter entirely.

[mt01ap]

what? expensive?
It can be expensive if you wanna live it up and go dine & drink every night. But you can still save money. If your coming from Daegu you shouldn't worry about how expensive Seoul is (unless you have to pay for housing)

[air76]

Seoul is not expensive because the basic goods cost more, it is expensive because there are more things to do and more foreign restaurants and goods to buy (although compared to Daegu this won't be as much of an issue as compared to living in small town Korea) and therefore you find more things to spend money on.

I find that I spend more money when I go into the city (I live in Gyeonggi) not because Korean restaurants are more expensive in Seoul, but because I go to Kraze Burger instead of Gimbap Nara or a cheap galbi place like I do where I live....I can also find clothes that fit me and go to Starbucks and ride the subway instead of walking.

If you buy the same bundle of goods in Seoul that you do in Daegu you will barely notice the difference in price.

[itaewonguy]

all depends on what you are buying.. there are more luxury stores in seoul, expensive bars, clubs, cafes, so if you want you can spend 10bucks on a coffee.. you dont have too! up to you..

rent is also cheap.. everything is the same as anywhere in korea.. it all depends on what you want to buy and where you want to go, live etc..

in seoul you dont need a car, so you can save money that way too..

[charliebrown84]

Thanks for the advice. To add more details, a part of my budget usually goes towards eating out, so its not like I would be surprised to see so much money go out the window. I'm not a big drinker, so I don't think bars will be too much problem. How much does one usually spend a month on filling their subway cards?

[reactionary]

[Weigookin74]

The real reason Seoul is said by Koreans to be expensive is that the cost of housing is through the stratosphere. Since most of you weigookins don't pay for your housing, it's not that bad for you. The higher prices for some things are only slight.

[jomiro]

there are a few things that are super expensive and some are rather cheap compared to other korean cities.

i went to the east coast a few weeks ago with the impression that id be getting some nice, fresh seafood there for little money. sadly, that wasnt the case. seafood is cheaper here.

however, i do believe that key moneys and rents are lower outside of seoul. and since that is a big part of our monthly costs, id say living here is more expensive.
everything else might be within comparable range. taxi, bus, subway.. those prices are the same more or less. at least from what ive seen so far.
food.. eh, food is rather cheap here. you can get your lunch for 5.000 krw.. if you go to kimbab cheonkuk its even less than that.

partying is expensive here.. even a whole like janes groove or gogos charges an entrance fee now (what the hell has gotten into them?! who would pay to get in there?????)
but theres also the korean way of partying. you go to a bbq place, order a huge amount of soju until you are drunk and fall off the chair and your buddies have to carry you home.

anyways. if you want to move here, make sure you know which part of the city you want to move to, as the rent also highly depends on that. in the far east the rents are much lower. south of the river they are the highest...

do your research and then dont count on what your friends are saying. always remember.... to koreans everything here is expensive, as they are still comparing everything to the prices 10 years ago ^^

[atwood]

It's more expensive--food, apartment, everything. And it doesn't really matter what part of Seoul--it's all expenisve, it's just that some areas are really expensive and then some are in the stratosphere.

[young_clinton]

I was looking at a business magazine a little over a year ago and it was saying Seoul was the most expensive city. I think they might have been talking about real estate, I don't remember or know. I think judging from the cost of the guest houses and the cost of Starbucks, Seoul is mucho expensive. A two and one half dollar cup of Starbucks coffee in Bangkok is 3 and one half dollars in Seoul. Also the cost of shoes like Nike, Converse, Adidas etc. in Seoul is twice the cost of what they are in Indonesia. Other things like the cost of McDonald's also indicates Seoul is not in anyway a cheap city. It would be interesting to compare Seoul to Tokyo which is a notoriously expensive place.

[blackjack]

[aweitzm1]

How expensive is Seoul when living in the Mokdong area? Will I be able to live comfortably on 2.5 million won and also send money back home for my debt?