Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

[JongnoGuru]

So, I was getting bored having to pawn my walkman or wristwatch every other month in order to continue eating, drinking and moving about the city...

(Not that that wasn't sort of fun in its own weird way -- Got to meet some really "interesting" people, learned which brokers pay the most/charge the least, and totally played symphonies on the heartstrings of girlfriends when they heard about it later .)

What finally cracked it for me was when I had to tell the cab driver to "let me out when the meter hits 5,000 won and I'll just run the rest of the way home." It was about 3 a.m., middle of winter, and I was half drunk. The guy just laughed and took me all the way to my apartment. Fare came to something like 5,600 won. But then he proceeded to kick the crap out of me for stiffing him 600 won. (kidding! )

I was working like an animal, but didn't have a regular income, couldn't establish one anytime soon, and didn't see any way out of what was becoming a hand-to-mouth existence.

When you've little or no control over what's coming in, then all you can do is count every penny & watch where it goes. Anyway, my brilliant plan was to keep a hawk-like eye on expenses. So I bought a bundle of these thin little shirt-pocket-sized notebooks (they're still around.. 200 won a pop, I think, emblazoned with the immortal words "Made of Paper"), and I labeled each one, "January, February, March..." for the whole year.

I mean, I wrote down EVERY purchase & price ... bus fare, cigs, ramyon, egg, tangerine, bus fare, two beers. NEXT DAY: bus fare, newspaper, gas bill, cigs, "free lunch", bus fare, kimbap... NEXT DAY:....

After a month, I started a monthly ledger: food, transportation, meals out, booze, utilities...

Sure, my friends all got a good chuckle watching me write every stinking item down, but it was really informative just seeing WTF is costing me so much, what only APPEARS to be costing so much, what areas fluctuate over the year, etc. And it was a great way to set spending targets, beat monthly expense records, etc.

When it's impossible to know how much you've got coming in, it's the only thing you can do -- you can't set savings targets, but at least you can try to beat your spending totals from previous months & years.

After I got a full-time job & regular salary, I kept it up. Many, many years later, I set up shop on my own, which was essentially going back to my first years here... no fixed income. Keep the expenses under control -- it's what keeps our business chugging along through boom & bust, yet the failure to do it has brought down some of the biggest corporations Korea has ever produced.

The Guru

[matthews_world]

[thegadfly]

Mindmetoo, calling BS on Inspector Gadget? I think you are prolly calling too quickly....

I go out to eat two meals a day (not fancy every time, but not eating at home either). I drink one night a week or so, and I usually pick up the bill for a few other folks (nice guy, me). I pay my utilities and whatnot, and I seldom spend more than 500,000 won a month.

So, 2.2 million minus 500,000 a month is 1.7 million...or $1962 Canadian (on XE dot com on July 13).

$1962 times 12 is $23,544 Canadian...plus 2.2 million severance whic is $2539 Canadian...grand total of...over $26k Canadian.

Go for a couple of cheap package deal tour flight thingies, save your pennies (I definitely am not watching my money when I spend 500,000 a month, but then, I don't want or need that much stuff), and $25K Canadian is not only possible, but not actually all that hard....

Oh, that 500,000 won is for normal monthly expenses...buying something major would definitely cut into that, but if one is trying to SAVE money, one does without the major purchases...I drink local beer and eat local food...even in Apkujeong, Korean restaurants were pretty inexpensive...it is the cheese and foreign food restaurants and imported beer that runs up the bill....

So I call double-back BS on your claim of BS. $25 k Canadian on 2.2 million is definitely possible with a little planning and willpower....

[Harin]

[Homer]

[chronicpride]

[JongnoGuru]

[marista99]

I'm trying to figure out a budget...how much are utilities usually? And in utilities I include things like cable, internet and a cell phone.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Cable W35,000
Internet W35,000
Cell Phone W13,000-the sky is the limit (most people spend between W30,000 and W100,000 per month) I usually spend between W30,000 and W60,000
Electricity- W8,000 per month so far
Gas for Heating, Cooking and Hot water-Goes up a lot in winter, the past three months cost me W120,000 in total

[Mosley]

Yes, to clarify for all, it was ME calling BS on Inspector Gadget. Still do. His GROSS salary, after the $25K he claims he saved, would leave him w/less than $6K to live on for a year. A year in which, he claims, he lived reasonably well and took two trips out of the country, as well as travelling around Korea. My BS detector was humming then and it's still humming....

[thegadfly]

Ok, I made a couple of mistakes....

First of all, I apparently forgot to put the "I am saying this with a grin" smiley after telling mindmetoo that I was pulling back double bs no calls back bs on his call...thought my wording was silly enough to be taken as wry, but hell, no one drinks that any more, so my bad.

Second of all, I apparently mis-attributed the BS call to Mindmetoo. My mistake again.

Third of all, I guess I didn't state what I was implying -- I HAVE and DO live on less than 500,000 won most months, without any special effort. That includes going out to the bar once a week or so, eating out practically every meal, and seeing whatever movies Pohang Cinema or Megaline might offer. And paying my phone bill, electric bill, gas bill, and apartment usage fee. Taxes and health coverage are prolly another 150,000-ish, so revise upward to 650,000 a month -- without even trying to save....

I wouldn't say $25k leaves no margin for error -- if there WERE an error, he would have had the money to cover it -- $25k sounds like having a good year where stuff went right for a change.

Honestly, I save significantly more than that a year (barring emergencies or lapses of judgment, both of which I HAVE had this year, unfortunately), but then, I DO work overtime (which also cuts down on my playtime expenses, since I have less free time and thus less time to spend the money I make).

So, to sum up...sorry Mindmetoo -- my mistake, and I was calling BS in a joking, bantering kind of way -- if I came across otherwise, I do apologize. Come to Pohang and I will buy you a beer, if you drink beer. If ya don't, I'll just buy myself two....

[mindmetoo]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Neil]

Find it pretty easy to save 1 million a month and live on the rest.

Won't see a penny of these savings alas, they are all being swallowed up by debts back home.