Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lolimahro]

My family (myself, husband, and baby) has a grocery budget of 60,000 per week (assuming 4 weeks in a month).

A lot of that is eaten up by diapers, milk (we drink a liter a day), eggs, bread, and the toddler's favorite food - peanut butter.

Our diet is not that varied; we eat a lot of soups but we usually buy fresh vegetables and eat very little packaged stuff. We serve rice at every meal because that's what my 2-year-old will eat. We also cook at home a lot. If we eat out we end up spending a lot of money but we are trying to be minimalists right now.

I think 50,000 is a reasonable grocery budget for a single person - but the key is a reasonable grocery budget. If you want to eat out, drink alcohol, buy fancy toiletries, or host dinner parties, then all that stuff is going to explode your budget. It's better to allocate one part of your budget to basic groceries and another part of it to "fun meals" - eating out, hosting parties, etc.

[Illysook]

Fifty dollars a week is very reasonable. A large box of Quaker Oats cost me 13,000 won and it lasts about a month. I eat school lunch and for dinner I cook most of the time, but if I don't want to cook or spend a lot, the kimbap nara place down the street will feed me for 5-7000. I'm still learning my way around the menu, but I've followed my brother's advice from his days in the army..."order the chicken, they can't mess it up too much." For starters, dok guk is basically a big steaming bowl of chicken soup. I enjoy more expensive meals a few times a month and I'm now working on using up things in my cupboards because 3/4th's of the way through my contract and I'm not sure what will happen next.

[Menino80]

50,000?! I spend 5 MILLION a week on food, which is actually only 1/10 of my post tax income. I am very wealthy.

[willteachforfood]

[alljokingaside]

One word.
Ramen Ramen Ramen.
Wait, that's three.
Ramen.

[Xylox]

Pizza school x7 = $35, 000!

[Stalin84]

[interestedinhanguk]

Pizza School, while delicious, is not nearly filling enough for the day.

[Stalin84]

[Radius]

buy those hamburgers from Family Mart. Buy 4 a day and eat them=4k/day

[willteachforfood]

A lot of people are clearly offering sarcastic answers to the original question....and I am not criticizing this action, as I often answer sarcastically myself....but there are no gimmicks required if you want to eat cheaply in Korea....go to HomePlus, buy the food that is reasonably priced, stock up when stuff is on sale, by marked-down meat, fruits, and vegetables, don't buy overpriced Western foods, cook a lot of Korean food.

No matter what anyone tells you, it is ALWAYS cheaper to eat at home than it is in a restaurant....even Gimbap Nara is more expensive than preparing the same foods at home...Gimbap costs 25 cents to make at home, and then you don't have to eat the bracken fern and can put double ham....any of the other dishes there can be prepared for about 1/2 of the cost of what you pay at the restaurant. Dongas? Easily half the price...have you ever seen how many frozen dongas patties you can get for 5 bucks?

Same goes for Pizza....you can make your own pizza at home in a toaster oven for maybe 3,000 tops that is going to be just as good, and probably better than the cheap-o pizza joints here.

Now, I am not saying it's worth the time and effort for everyone here to roll their own gimbap....but it is the greatest farce in Korea when folk say that eating out is cheaper than eating at home...IT IS NOT.

[naturegirl321]

Soups. Veggies are expensive-sih, but put them in soup and they last longer. Make enough soup for a week.

Fruit for breakfast with a bit of cereal
Snack in the afternoon
4pm meal
Snack

Portion sizes are MUCH smaller than you think you need. Typical pasta dinner at a US resturante is probably about 4 servings. Your palm is a good measure of a serving size

Good thing is to create a menu BEFORE you go shopping, stick to it. It'll be cheaper and healthier.

Side dishes are great as well. Healthy and add a bit of rice and you have a meal.

[interestedinhanguk]

[Capo]

I usually do a sunday roast and that will put me over 50k if i'm using lamb or beef but then it will subsidise my next week i guess. any 50k is pretty easy i don't try.

by seasonal fruit and veg ie. the things that are cheap now. Right now cabbage is cheap for example. By from your local market or supermarket but but not emart(only good for things which don't perish quickly)

You can make a good sized curry or kimchi jjigae etc. (kimchi need not cost anything i just ask co workers for their home made stuff which is better than what you get in the shop, or if you are eat some particularly good stuff at a resaurant just ask them for some to take home) for about 6k and that will last 4 to 5 servings. if you want really cheap make myuk guk you can make a large pot for about 1k.

I make loads of western food and don't have a problem with spending a lot except as i said for buying a joint of meat but then i can make stew, pie, stir fry etc. for the next few days.

[Menino80]

Get a couple of carrots--you got yourself a stew going baby!