Korean Job Discussion Forums

[abedefduf]

just to get a feel for how much i could realistically save, how much did you guys take home after your first year?

[passport220]

From the time I stepped on the plane to go to Korea to the time I stepped off, my bank account grew by $29,800 US dollars (this accounts for EVERYTHING, pension refund, settlement allowance, etc.). I lived with a goal to save but nothing crazy. I took a four week vacation in Thailand; I bought soap, toilet paper, etc. (this makes sense if you have seen previous Dave�s posts on saving money).

My contract ended in Sep. �07 when the dollar was falling and this accounts for a significant amount of the total.

[KoreanAmbition]

I'm new to Seoul, and can tell you that I had estimates set up ahead of time. Unfortunately, I will fall a bit short of my goals because Seoul is more expensive than I anticipated. However, we have quickly adapted to these unexpected cost increases and we have now established an updated routine which will allow us to get closer to our original saving goals. For the record, we will not be living upscale lives on a daily basis. We will live decent and pick the occasional nights for better meals. We aren't big partiers and we don't smoke; we end up spending the majority of our money on food.

Posted edited and shortened to say:

I hope to bank $30,000 this year, but who knows if it will be more or less.

[I think you should edit your original question and ask respondents to include whether they are from within Seoul or not, and also if they will offer some info about their salary and spending habits.]

[abedefduf]

wow thats alot so far! i was thinking around 15ish. anyone else want to contribute?

[Hyeon Een]

KoreanAmbition has GOALS and a wife or a girlfriend or something to keep him tamed in. I don't disbelieve his figures, I've known people who've saved that much or more a year, but he is not the average.

You can basically earn and save as much as you like between the minimum: Last month's pay + severance. If you're a lucky N.American or AUssie you can add a month's extra wage from pension on top of that. So about just under 6k minimum.

And the maximum: $48,000 if you get lots of extra work and save well. (Most people can't get that much extra work because it's illegal, and most people aren't personable enough). You could save more in a second year if you were real charming and had an F4 (Korean of foreign extraction) visa, and had made some contacts.

It's all up to you.

In my first year I guess I 'saved' about $500.. ie I paid off about that much in credit card debt.

Second year.. I about broke even.. went on holiday and bought lots of toys though..

and so on.. it's all what you decide to do with your money. If you're a chronic drinker don't expect to save much. If you love electronics.. you'll finally have enough to pay (over the odds) for the toys you've always wanted.. if you love cheese, you'll be able to spend a fortune on it because it's REALLY EXPENSIVE because it's all imported.. it's up to you.

If you want to live like a hermit. Or even a 50% hermite; you can save a bundle.

[Roch]

[Hyeon Een]

[Roch]

[icicle]

A question for those people who live in Seoul.

What are the specific things in Seoul that you think cost more than outside of Seoul?

I was outside Seoul for 9 months last year and am now in Seoul. I am spending less each week now I am in Seoul than I was last year.

[TBirdMG]

I lived in the boondocks for a year and managed to save a bit under $20k. Considering that I took some lavish vacations (3 weeks Vietnam, 3 weeks Moscow/St. Petersburg) and went into Seoul once a month for overnight weekends, that's not too bad.

If you can avoid eating western foods, and focus on local delicacies, you'll save a bundle. I managed to survive on $50 at the outdoor market and $25 in the supermarket for a solid 2 weeks.

I'm not a technogeek, so a basic stereo and my laptop are all I really needed for entertainment. I do recall shelling out a fair amount to buy high quality English language lit. books, which were on average $15-20 a piece, and I went through 3-4 a month.

When I went out, I never put more than 50,000 won in my pocket. A bit for a decent restaurant, drinks, transpo, and entertainment. One night in a decent hotel in Seoul at 60,000 was my only splurge.

And then there was domestic travel. I saw a good portion of the NW and NE parts of the country. Went skiing. Visited the coasts. Up to the DMZ, etc.

I taught privates on average for 6 hours a week. A couple of local MS kids for 2 60 minute periods, a business class for 2 employees of a local bank for 90 minutes, and an army officer who wanted to get an interpreter position for 2 hours. I was taking in an average of 30k/hour for the privates, which added up to @650k/month. And it was more about community service, but profitable nonetheless.

[PRagic]

My first year here (Seoul) was 1993-1994, and I banked 11K on a 1 million/month salary. The exchange rate was a bit better and housing was free. I basically lopped of the max (66% at the time) I could ship back to the U.S., and then made the rest up on the side.

With free housing, there is no reason you can't save at least 80% of your paycheck while living fairly well.

[aarontendo]

[yoja]

I saved between $29,000 and $30,000 US my first year in Korea. I paid off about $20,000 in student loan debt and the rest went pretty quickly as I traveled on my way home and generously treated myself and close family/friends once I got there. So "saved" may not be the proper word to describe what happened to the money I earned.

I lived in Seoul, in the Gangnam area. I was fortunate to have a higher-than-average salary my first year, 2.4 mil per month. I was paranoid about getting caught so I rarely taught privates--only about once every two months or so when I would fill in for a friend who was going on vacation or as a special favor. I'm not much of a drinker no matter where I live, and my average spending habits are probably on the tamer side, although I don't go out of my way to scrimp and save--I splurge occasionally, I take nice vacations, etc.


EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also did a summer-camp-from-hell that added an additional 4 mil to my take-home pay. Oops! Forgot about that.

[Gamecock]

The numbers on this thread are bollocks. How exactly does one save $30,000 on a 2.4 salary and "rarely do privates" and still "take nice vacations?" The math simply doesn't work. Some of the other numbers are questionable as well...they may be true (like the guy who saved $30,000 AND had a 4 week vacation in Thailand), BUT THEY ARE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO TYPICAL, especially for a first year teacher.

The typical newbie won't be making great money, and unless he/she is SUPER charismatic won't jump into a boatload of privates from the get go. And they certainly won't land the type of corporate gigs or high price privates that certain posters like to boast about. It usually costs more than you think in the first month or two to get set up with miscellaneous expenses, and if you drink alot or travel at all that will minimize your savings. Aarontendo is right, an estimate of saving 60% of your salary is probably closer to reality. If you get privates or overtime you might be able to save more, but these may or may not fall into your lap.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

realistically you should be able to save between 2/3 and 3/4 of your paycheck quite comfortably.
This allows for bills, food, going out from time to time. Doing what you want with nothing to stupid. I mean if ur at work then home 5 days a week, all your costs are really food. If you cook at home its always cheaper, then it leaves weekends for a bit of going out and what ever.....as long as your not throwing down 6,000 shit import beers itll be easy as shit to save.

Ill have 30,000 when i go home. That doesn't include pension cos I don't get it back :@