Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PatrickGHBusan]

Captain makes a good point about things being relative to your situation.

Someone with a family will calculate things much differently.

For a single teacher it is a different ballgame.

Honestly, for a family with 2 kids, living in Korea confortably would require a net monthly income of roughly 5-6 million won. This is considering the cost of food, education and other expenses. On such a salary, depending on the housing situation, such a family could save a little bit but nothing to write home about I think.

[ibeattheborg]

The good times are definitely over here in the ROK. The pay for English teachers has not kept up with inflation. The average teacher wage has not changed in 10 years. I do wonder how people can save half their paychecks in 2013 without tight budgeting and frugal existences.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[misher]

[PatrickGHBusan]

my how you reduce Korean women to some form of wealth evaluation machines when it comes to choosing a partner.

While I am sure some do that, I would venture to say many do not. The whole "passport from a rich country" fantasy is pure crap in my opinion and basically shows very little understanding of how many Koreans think but hey it flatters the western ego so why not.

[PREEST]

[Weigookin74]

[Malislamusrex]

I agree with this. If you are single or just married you can save a lot because there is little tax and you could make twice the income of a family if you have got the right visa. If you have kids, all your extra income will go on kids because there are no public services.

[Weigookin74]

[braindrops]

It runs the gamut...depending on the variables you choose to play with. I think most are interested in what is standard, what is expected, and what is possible (extreme).

If you are only beholden to yourself, then your minimum costs are, well, minimal. The standard contract virtually ensures that your savings will be directly proportional to how much and how well you eat, drink, party, and travel.

i cant speak for married folk as i am a free radical, but obviously the variables increase, if not multiply.

if you make serious money as a teacher -- unusual but not impossible, as anecdotal evidence, both true and otherwise, will tell you -- then OPs intended purpose, which is to find out how people survive in korea on a pittance, is obviated. where i used to live, i was friends with a gentleman who, through teaching two decades, saved over 10 million us dollars. From teaching. Now 48 and retired, he just draws rent from the two buildings he purchased with his ungainly ransom. i hear the stories all the time yet i am never unfazed...

In my personal experience, i am bad at two things: budgeting and cooking. now that i live in seoul, i eat out maybe 50 times a month and spend about 10-15k on average. i live in a cubicle, clean and well kept as it may be, which runs me over 1 mil with utilities, whereas before i had always had my housing paid for. as i am still a reasonably young person, i also have student loans which, sadly, approach the near six figures. so with all the attendant expenses, i have only been able to save 15 million in my two plus years, and now most of that is tied up in my key money. so even though i have had decent work in korea, better than what is offered in the ubiquitous esl salt mines, i feel damn broke.

[ontheway]

[northway]

I spent like a drunken sailor when I was in Korea (often on getting drunk), went out to eat a lot (frequently to pricier Western places), and went on a few vacations in my two and a half years in Korea. I still came home with about 20K. It's not great money, particularly given the lack of upward mobility often inherent in the job, but it's very easy to live well and save. That said, I find it much easier to save in the States, by virtue of the fact that I have a kitchen that's big enough that I can actually cook a proper meal and that I don't have a bar down the street beckoning me.

[saram_]

Its the age old isn't it..

The biggest difference between living and saving here and most other places (such a dangerous comment I know) is that-
Korea- Well especially Seoul is always on the move.
Its a night place...
If you stay in 6 here nights a week you are considered anti social and the like.
There is so much to do and SPEND here during the week.
Most people are out a couple of days during the week eating out, having a few beers, going to a show etc.. And then the weekend comes!!!

In most western countries especially, people are not spending as much during the week.. They are cooking at home having a few beers there, watching some TV. Maybe they will go out to do some shopping and to social/sports clubs etc but thats it usually.

I would say saving here is easy if you can manage to live a more western type lifestyle during the week and not go too mad on the weekends.
I bet most people spend more on stuff here that they would never do back home..

[PREEST]

[PREEST]