Korean Job Discussion Forums

ersatzredux

My mother in law is visiting from Gwangju, and she has been telling me how much a lot of food items have gone up since I left in 2005, including meat especially. I'm just wondering about inflation in general. Is it getting harder to get by and save $ over there now than a few years ago?

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

It's more expensive, yes. Lots of little things add up. You can still save almost as before, but you must bei diligent about watching prices at restaurants and when you go out to do things. Don't just buy whatever without thinking.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Since 2005? Tuna and meat have gone way up, as have rice and ramen.

CrikeyKorea · Joined: 01 Jun 2007 Location: Heogi, Seoul

ice creams went up too, the 500W ice creams are now at 700W as of this summer

michael5799042 · Joined: 16 Jan 2008

$20 for a pound for cheese.
$5 for a few squid.
$3 for 1.5 Litres of very sweet orange juice (I think it is just Tang).
$2-2.50 for a Kilo of bananas.
$1 for a tomato.
$8 for a bunch of grapes.
$7 for a small cantelope.

Food is very pricey here.

sojusucks · Joined: 31 May 2008

Wow, I only pay about 2.5 USD for orange juice with some pulp in it.

Buying food in bulk at stores such as CostCo in Seoul will definitely help. I have saved quite a bit of money there.

Prices, I'm afraid, will only continue to increase. Korea is following Japan's model where you develop local goods to "conquer" the foreign market. This reduces internal competition and raises prices. Ouch. Talk about a lack of consumer protection.

Speaking of food. I read that Korean doesn't even test their beef. And we all know about the avian bird outbreak in which hundreds of thousands of birds were slaughtered: the World Health Organization (WHO) got involved in that decision.[/quote]

Pooty · Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Location: Ela stin agalia mou

WOW, always wondered what happened to you. What happened to the old user name? I liked the professor id...how are the kids?

Superfly loves ya Razz

ersatzredux · Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:56 pm Post subject:

Kids, wife and I are all fine. I'm mere weeks away from completing a masters in Education and raring to get the hell out of school! Nice to see you're still around.

And to those who answered my question, thanks. Hopefully salaries have gone up as well. Cheese was always expensive, but I remember buying that tang-like stuff for 2000 won before I left. That's quite a jump.

DCJames · Joined: 27 Jul 2006

airfare prices have risen ridiculously high..

marlow · Joined: 06 Feb 2005

Inflation is 6.1%.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Most gimbop places have raised the price to 1,500 per roll. That's a huge increase by percentage.