Korean Job Discussion Forums

[goodfella]

i get a kick at some of these posts saying how some people live so cheap!
like if you can live on 4000 won a day! people nuts or what! i didnt come to korea to damn starve! sure some things are cheap and some expensive just like anywhere like back home in canada. back home you can buy expensive or go to dollarama or buy bulk. a few things here though like cigs and taxis are damn cheap though i have to admit.
anyway, peple with 20,000 phone bills and spending 5000 a day cant be
enjoying themselves very well. im assuming they have no social life or gf/bf ? i mean if you have a gf/bf or date a lot, youre lookin' at 40 000 won TGIF's and drinkin and whatever else includes a good time. i came here to save money too, but that doesnt mean i have to suffer.. i want to actually see someone with a 20,000 phone bill or eating on 5000 a day, REGULARLY! not just typing it. i know some people may not agree , but
while im here im livin well.

adios.

[buddy bradley]

On average, I spend about 30 000 won a day during the week.

Then again, I'm a drunkard. Don't even ask me about weekends...

[intergalactic]

TGIF? Maybe once every few months.
You could live on 5,000 a day if you ate boiled rice with fried vegies for each meal, or ramyon. But then the constant diet of ramyon would have you spending money to have your digestive system repaired in the future.

I probably spend around 80,000 a week on food, that is my half of shopping for two, plus a couple of times a week eating in a cheap restaurant, and once a fortnight going to a more upmarket korean restaurant. I don't live in Seoul so I don't go to western places as they are no good here. Anyway the last time I ate in a restaurant in Seoul like TGIF or Outback, I think I payed waaaaay too much for a crappy iceberg lettuce salad with ranch dressing. I can do better making my own salads from the lettuce bar at EMart.

You can still 'have a life' and live cheaply, especially if your social life involves a lot of house parties where you invite people round for home cooking and wine. If you play sports or go hiking on the weekend and then go to a friend's house for a huge potluck dinner and several home brews, you don't have to drop 40,000 a night on chain restaurant meals and another however much on bars. You have spent all weekend in the company of friends, and maybe met some new good people, eaten some tasty food and gone home as comfortably drunk as you want to be. No suffering involved.
Now that I've typed all that it does sound a bit 'couple-like', but still, if you have to impress your date every time with an expensive outing, is it worth it?

"If I'd known the flowers and romantic dinners every night were going to stop, I never would have married him!" - Kim Craig, Fountain Lakes.

[mindmetoo]

Maybe people make this claim but I haven't seen it. For a city of 10 million, in a tiny nation with zero resources, and little arable land, Seoul has a remarkably good cost of living... especially for an esl teacher with free rent and a low tax rate.

Yeah, if you want to live a western life style in Korea, it will cost you. Eating at TGIF and drinking Guinness ever night in pursuit of "a life" might prove costly. No surprise there.

I haven noticed it is as cheap to eat out as it is to cook your own food at times. Movies are cheap. Transportation is cheap. Most subway systems start about 2 bucks a pop. Seoul is about 80 cents. Heck, the local beer can be pretty cheap. $3 for a bottle of Cass/Hite at a hof?

[Joe Thanks]

Joe laughs at the people who have that "well if you eat at TGI Fridays every day you won't save money," mantra.

Has anyone EVER met an expat teacher who did this?

NO?

Thought so.


All of this talk does make Joe yearn for TGI though. He hasn't had it in - well, three years! Tomorrow is payday for Joe. Joe will go and treat himself to a TGIFriday's lunch.

As for local beer at $3 at the pub, how about a "pitcher" of 1.5 liters at the convenience store for $3.

Drunks know their cheap liquor and how qunaitity sometimes comes over quality.


Joe

wants to drink but is tired.
so tired
he can't sleep
though he tries

[Dawn]

W20,000 phone bills are quite realistic if you make your international calls over the Internet. I average W18,000 a month for cellular and home service combined, and that's with an hour or more a week of international talk time.

As for groceries, that's a different story. If I get out for under W50,000, I consider it a good week. But for that price, I've got seven types of fruit on the counter right now and more than a dozen varieties of fresh veggies in the fridge. Definitely don't plan to spend months of my life living on ramyen and white rice.

[mindmetoo]

I spread sheet everything. Based on two months of being here, I spend roughly 920,00 won a month and save roughly 920,000 won a month. The 900K I spend goes to food, transportation, entertainment, restaurant food, buying stuff for the apartment, etc. Not sure if that's an accurate portrait as last month I bought a knock off LV bag in Itaewon for 150K and an inkjet printer for 100K (ugg i should have ponied up the extra 150K and bought a laser printer, these stupid injket carts are expensive and don't last long). The month before I had to buy a lot of crap for my new apartment... from soap to a toaster oven.

My daily expenses tend to be starbucks coffee (2800 won), subway (1800 round trip), newspaper (700 won... Korea Times... I like Herald better but Times carries Doonesbury). I figure I buy a gallon of milk a week, so that's about 800 won a day for beverages. I figure I spend 35000 won a week on groceries so that's 5000 a day for food.

I rarely drink, maybe once or twice a month I don't mind going out for a couple beers with coworkers.

So my basic living expenses break down to 10,000 won a day.

[Thunndarr]

I stick under 10,000 won a day during weekdays, then a bit more on the weekend. Big expenses for me tend to be drinking, eating out too often, and of course, the woman.

Monday-Friday is like this for me.
Cigarettes 1600 won
Diet Coke 1000 won
Chicken Kimbap 2500 won
Misc crap 4,900 won

I've found it easier to send money home right after payday, and then I budget my month after that. Invariably, I find myself eating ramyun the last week or so due to overindulgence of booze. (Dragged kicking and screaming to the bar, obviously, since my monetary problems couldn't possibly be MY fault.)

But then, every once in a while, you've just got to have those months where you save absolute jack, and actually spend some money. I'm thinking about picking up a modded x-box or ps-2, or maybe a GBA special edition.

[weatherman]

Does anybody live large around here? I guess on our saleries, one really can't.

My day breaks down as

Lunch, 2,000 won~ school's cafeteria

Dinner, 3,000 won~ school's front gate area.

Various heath type drinks~ 1,900 won.

PC room 1,500

Bottled water 2,000

snack food stuff 1,500

so that is about 12,000 a day....

On the other hand I blew loads of cash when my girl visited and then I flew back to party in Incheon with her and her friend....Something like 400,000 between an expensive dinner in gwangju, flight up to Gimpo and back, Motel room, drinks for 3, taking a taxi everywhere, lunch for 3... One of the most fun 24 hours I have had in long long time....

[fidel]

What! I can't believe the tight budgets some of you are reporting to be on. I spend outrageous sums every month on living expenses. Note the following are approximations only, and may or may not be widely inaccurate.
Groceries- At least 500,000 just for grocery shopping, not counting restaurants.
Phones- Two mobiles and a landline run in at over 120,000
Utility Bills- 200,000
Car-160,00
The rest, whatever that may be 900,000.

Fortunately I earn stacks so it doesn't bother me too much.
Also I have a wife and baby son, and those little blighters can be expensive.

[lush72]

[Joe Thanks]

[lush72]

[danyuk]

can seem to live on less than 250,000 a week - MINIMUM. Why would u wanna come here and live on rice? This place is full of nuts. You need to spend money on going out wiv ya g/f (she pays her own way and im still skint) and clothes and going out wiv da boys. If they are happy, let them be. Sounds odd though. Maybe they just need the money big time. Sometimes i wish i were somewhere in the middle and was at least able to save a little bit

[goodfella]

whats this UTO card? pay as you go card?
doesnt matter. even you get the discounts, youll pay it back with
outragious costs per minute probably.

and intergalactic!! sure you do have to impress the ladies a little, instead of a pot lock supper. look like a cheap ass and there no extra fun for you my friend! i didnt say everynight. but if youre on a date, its kinda hard to go hiking with a chick at 11 pm and going to friends home eating pot luck,
dont you think? sure, i can eat cheap too if im by myself. emart and stuff like that, soju and beer at the corner store. but im talkin about night life dude. if you can prove me wrong do it, but i know every date you go out on, youre gonna spend more than a 3$ beer.