|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
|
 Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 12:02 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| fustiancorduroy wrote: |
| madoka wrote: |
| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
In one month, I can spend 1.2-1.5 million alone...mostly in gas.
That's a big month though...usually around 300-500 thousand. |
Holy crap you must drive a lot! I drive way more than average and my latest car only gets 13 MPG, yet my fuel costs are considerably lower than yours. |
Yeah, how much do you drive? I drive to work four days a week, and the round trip is about 34 kilometers. I also drive another 30 to 50 kilometers each week. This requires me to spend about 60,000 won a week on gas, for a total of 240,000 won a month. I guess you commute from, like, Ilsan to Bundang each weekday and go for weekend trips from Seoul to Busan or something. That, or your car is extremely fuel inefficient. In any case, how do you spend so much on gas? |
The problem is with the hobbies.
With just work and the ordinary driving...gas bills would be around 200-300 a month.
But during snowboarding season...just a one round trip drive to snowboarding is 450km.
My car can go about 500km on one tank of gas which costs 100,000.
Actually pretty fuel efficient little car.
But, if I go three times a week...well...you get the picture...it adds up.
Then I have another closer snowboarding place which I go to the other 3-4 days a week...another tank a week.
Spring/Summer/Fall it's golfing...back and forth to the driving range and the courses takes about a tank a week.
Driving to school and the gym everyday is only a tank or two a month...shopping at Costco takes up more tank time.
I know I have expensive hobbies...but as I have said...it's worth it for me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
FMPJ
Joined: 03 Jun 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Steelrails wrote: |
| I understand not driving because you don't have the discretionary income to and would rather spend it on a vacation to wherever or some new clothes or a high-end home entertainment system or whatever. That's fine, driving a car is impractical in Korea in many circumstances. |
I'd take cabs. Oh, wait, that's what I already do.
Zooming around in a car is fun, but far more pleasurable for me when someone else is doing the driving part.
Money isn't remotely the issue--I spend a grand a month or so on cabs. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
Steelrails would deny me the right to not own a car. My being firm in my decision not to, in his words, makes me a "liar" and a "coward."
I'm thinking thats pretty arrogant.
Last edited by schwa on Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:16 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| schwa wrote: |
Steelrails would deny me the right to not own a car. My being firm in my decision not to, in his words, makes me a "liar" and a "coward."
Thats pretty arrogant, isnt it? |
arrogant isn't the word that I would have used, but yeah that works |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
| madoka wrote: |
| Swampfox10mm wrote: |
| realized that I was spending about 1.2 to 1.5 million per year just to have the car. That cost did not include maintenance, and the car was purchased outright with cash (no loan). Taxes, fees, fuel, and insurance were the main costs. |
But you have to factor in that taxis, buses, and the subway are not free either. I think I spend 200,000-250,000 won per month on public transportation when I'm in Korea. In addition, you have a wife and child. Personally I would not feel comfortable transporting a baby or toddler in Korean taxis that aren't equipped with car seats for small children. |
Yeap, I did, and we save money. Most of that has to do with me being within walking distance (or Ma-eul bus) of work. We live right outside of a subway station, and that is our preferred mode of transportation for shopping. My wife got a large carry-cart like the ajumma/halmony have. That has worked very well for groceries.
I've been watching my fares, and I'm paying about 10,000 more per month for transportation on the credit card (but saving far more in gas/insurance/car tax). I spend around 60,000 per month on that (not including taxis). Still calculating what I'm spending in that -- too early to tell. Plus, my wife often pays the taxi fare. I bet we spend 10,000 per week on taxis. I can walk to work in 20 mins, and walk a lot more now. She has work split between two locations across town, and takes the subway.
Not at all a fan of transporting the toddler in a Korean taxi either, but that does happen rarely. It's something my wife and I have discussed. We generally use the subway.
As mentioned, if we move to another area, I might be getting a car. I'll probably opt for a small car again. The thought this time is that we might get something new or near-new. The first car I had only depreciated about 1.4 mill in 4 years (Matiz), and maintenance/repairs weren't bad. That was awesome. This last car was becoming a money-pit (Rezzo), and depreciated almost 2 million in 2 years. I also dumped about a million in repairs and never did get it fixed just right.
To add insult to injury, the city decided to build a bus lane through our intersection (cutting-out a lane), which is already heavily burdened by construction of a subway edition. This means traffic is a rats nest nearly all hours of the day/night.
I had to drive back alleys (which others also did) in order to avoid being tied-up for 30 minutes just coming/going from my house. This meant dodging people and trying to avoid delivery trucks parking to unload in the middle of a 1-lane road.
By the way, NEVER get an LPG car. Bad, bad idea! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
Oh, and one more important point.... now that I have no car, I am no longer expected to pick the mother-in-law up at Seoul Station when she visits.
Yee-Haw! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 4:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Swampfox10mm wrote: |
Oh, and one more important point.... now that I have no car, I am no longer expected to pick the mother-in-law up at Seoul Station when she visits.
Yee-Haw! |
Well you will just have to cab it there and meet her at the station and cab it back  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| schwa wrote: |
Steelrails would deny me the right to not own a car. My being firm in my decision not to, in his words, makes me a "liar" and a "coward."
I'm thinking thats pretty arrogant. |
Dude, I'll agree that for any "normal" person, especially living in Seoul, you can make a case where it makes zero sense to own a car.
But if you made 50,000 dollars a month, you're telling me you wouldn't own a car or get a license?
In that case, is it really you "refusing" to own a car, is it because you aren't rich enough to afford a car of your choice to the point where you don't have to care about price. Think about that- you can own any car you choose and you don't have to worry about it affecting your budget. Are you seriously saying you wouldn't buy a car?
| Quote: |
Zooming around in a car is fun, but far more pleasurable for me when someone else is doing the driving part.
Money isn't remotely the issue--I spend a grand a month or so on cabs. |
If you are saying "I spend a grand a month on cabs so money isn't an issue" then you don't really get it. I'm talking about being rich enough to buy a brand new car of your choice every year. That's 90,000 dollars a year- about 7,000 dollars a month. You aren't at that level, so money is an issue.
| Quote: |
| arrogant isn't the word that I would have used, but yeah that works |
Oh please- how many people out there earning 250-500,000 a year say "I refuse to drive"?
Which is more likely- that if all these people who say "I refuse to drive" were making that kind of bank that they would refuse to drive or B) That these people are saying that to make themselves feel better and find some way to "rise above it".
Like I said, you might as well be saying "I refuse to own a house rather than an apartment" or "I refuse to buy a swimming pool". You aren't refusing crap. You're too broke to afford your dream house. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Steelrails wrote: |
Oh please- how many people out there earning 250-500,000 a year say "I refuse to drive"? |
Not many. At that income range, your time becomes more valuable than the cost of a car (assuming the money isn't coming from a passive income source). So it probably makes financial sense to have a car.
As a private tutor, I find that I have enough students that my time is nearly completely fungible with cash. So I definitely have to have a car.
Now if you're on a fixed income, then you would have to weigh the pros and cons of having a car and decide what's right for you.
| Steelrails wrote: |
| Like I said, you might as well be saying "I refuse to own a house rather than an apartment" or "I refuse to buy a swimming pool". You aren't refusing crap. You're too broke to afford your dream house. |
I think you are pretty right. I do have a counterexample in my life though. I have a friend who is a surgeon and is married to another doctor. Last he told me, he pays some $3500 per month in rent. I know he can afford a house, but due to a belief that a house is not a "good investment," he refuses to buy one. He is an oddball in that way, so it is possible to have a guy who refuses to buy his dream house. But even he is coming around to the idea that home ownership is not so bad given how cheap homes are right now. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
NYC_Gal 2.0
Joined: 10 Dec 2010
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I've rethought it some. If I had enough money that an Audi cost chump change, I'd hire a full-time driver to drive me around, so yeah, I'd still refuse to drive. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Steelrails wrote: |
Oh please- how many people out there earning 250-500,000 a year say "I refuse to drive"?
. |
Most people earning that kind of bank would be able to hire a full/part time chauffeur anyway.
So it is a probability. But yes I think you are closer to the target then not. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 12:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
Oh please- how many people out there earning 250-500,000 a year say "I refuse to drive"?
. |
Most people earning that kind of bank would be able to hire a full/part time chauffeur anyway.
So it is a probability. But yes I think you are closer to the target then not. |
Okay, let's put in the 100-250,000 dollars a year range.
Not really enough to get a driver, but certainly enough to get a pretty good set of wheels.
And as someone mentioned, if you made that much money, your hobbies would change and your lifestyle as well. Again, how many people earning 100-250,000 dollars a year don't own a car? Only a few hyper-environmentalists probably. I just really don't see it. Are these people serious that if they earned that much money they'd take the bus out to the beach, smell the old people and squid, take 2 transfers, spend an hour waiting between each transfer and have to make sure they leave at 7 to catch the last bus outta town? Oh yeah, and you can only take what you can carry. Or load up everything in the car and head out to the beach? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
Am I not free to be eccentric, in ways that do no harm to others, without being condemned by the likes of Steelrails? Why does he take such offence?
I do lots of things my own way. I'm not especially interested in maximizing every moment in terms of mobility. My life has been quite satisfying without owning a car, including raising kids & extensive travel. I actually like buses, with their lack of pretense. I find joy daily in simple activities. I'm not a "hyper-environmentalist," but I like the notion of going lightly on the earth. Offer me a ride, I'll take it, but I'd never impose on you for one.
I dont eat meat, because that feels right to me.
I dont do facebook, because I value my privacy.
I dont drive, because I dont care to.
So I'm out of step with Steelrails' & others' view of reality in various ways. I dont care. I'm living my life for me, not them.
My whole life has been a progressive winnowing away of material wants, by choice. Winning some super-lottery wouldnt change that.
But back to me earlier question, I wonder why Steelrails feels compelled to put me down? Insecurity issues? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Again, how many people earning 100-250,000 dollars a year don't own a car? |
Me for one (at the risk of getting flamed by various people) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
|
| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Steelrails wrote: |
Okay, let's put in the 100-250,000 dollars a year range.
Not really enough to get a driver, but certainly enough to get a pretty good set of wheels.
And as someone mentioned, if you made that much money, your hobbies would change and your lifestyle as well. Again, how many people earning 100-250,000 dollars a year don't own a car? Only a few hyper-environmentalists probably. I just really don't see it. Are these people serious that if they earned that much money they'd take the bus out to the beach, smell the old people and squid, take 2 transfers, spend an hour waiting between each transfer and have to make sure they leave at 7 to catch the last bus outta town? Oh yeah, and you can only take what you can carry. Or load up everything in the car and head out to the beach? |
Walk to work and work six days a week. 60 to 90 hours a week. No need for a car nor time to use it.
Our summer break was four days this year and we wanted to get out for a bit, so we rented. Rentals are cheap and convenient as well. If you are only using your car to head out to the beach or what not, much more economical than paying to have something sit in a garage for the majoity of the time.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
