How to Spend Less and Save Money in Korea.
The main problem that foreigners face when moving to Korea – high prices. Korea is an expensive country and if you do not work here, you will have difficulties is managing your money because the price levels in Korea are a lot higher than in many other countries. Financial problem is a problem especially among international students studying in Korea. This is mainly due to restrictions that prevent them from working in Korea. These restrictions can be related to the lack of time, balancing education with work, visa limitations, language barriers and general background issues (not meeting Korean requirements). However, there are several ways of saving money. Sometimes we pay too much for items and products that we can buy for cheap. Therefore, if you implement the advice recommended in this article, you will save quite a lot of money!
1. Buy grocery in 시장s (Shijang).
The prices of products, especially fruits and vegetables are extremely expensive in Korea. Usually, when we do our grocery, we go to the nearest markets and buy from there, which costs us a great deal of money. However, if you go to shijang which is street markets located in certain places you can save a lot of money. Usually there are large open street markets where people sell fruits, vegetables, meat, street food and other products. You can find almost anything you need for a lot lower prices compared to the nearest markets.
2. Replace coffee with water.
Life in Korea makes us consume coffee in excessive amounts. Studying and working for many consecutive hours is difficult without drinking coffee, because we get tired, we get exhausted and we want to sleep. In order to increase our energy to work/study, we drink coffee almost every day. Coffee is not that expensive in Korea, but if we drink it every day, can you imagine how much money it makes? How about replacing coffee with water? You could probably ask how is water supposed to give the same effect as coffee. First of all, let’s not forget that too much coffee is bad for our health, while drinking water in large amounts is, on the contrary, good for health. Secondly, we get easily tired and sleepy when we have dehydration. Hydrating constantly is not only essential for health, but also reduces drowsiness. My personal experience is talking here. I used to drink at least 1 cup of coffee a day in order to have the energy to do my studying and working during the day, and I couldn’t even imagine how I would do everything if I hadn’t had coffee. But for 3 months already I drink coffee only once or twice a month when I meet my friends in a coffee shop. This is because I drink about 4-8 cups of water a day, and I that keeps me active and hydrated during the whole day. So, I do not spend lots of money on coffee anymore.
3. Avoid using public transport to get to places that will take up to 30 minutes on walk.
As in the previous recommendation about coffee, I suggest a double benefit: save money + healthy lifestyle. Public transport is really expensive in Korea. The cheapest one is taking a subway and for the shortest distance it costs 1,400 KRW, which makes a little more than a dollar, and that’s just oe way. If you take bus, or subway for longer distance, it will cost you even more, and I do not talk about crazy taxi prices. If you need to go somewhere, where you can reach on foot for 30 minutes or less, why not do that? Physical activity and at least 10,000 steps a day is essential for our life, thus, let’s get them while saving money on public transport. If you replace public transport to short distances with walking, it will constitute a lot of saving during one month. You should be considering that.
4. Underground shopping.
Did you know that you can find really beautiful clothing for very cheap prices in Korea? If you don’t, then go for underground shopping. Big subway stations such as Goseok Terminal station, Myeongdong station and etc. have many inexpensive clothing and other items to offer. You can find similar items in city center shopping streets like Hongdae or Gangnam and in underground shopping centers with huge price differences. Therefore, try to buy clothing in underground places if you need to save money.
5. Set monthly cafe limits.
Setting personal limits is indeed a helpful thing to do. I decided to name this one “monthly café limits” because I personally adore visiting cafes often, be it alone or with my friends. In your case, it can be something different that you like to do such as going to karaoke clubs, or meeting your friends every weekend, and etc. You just need to realize what you spend money most often and put a limit on it. I, myself, visit cafes quite often, so I set a limit to not spend more than 100,000 KRW a month in cafes. This really helps to manage your money and control yourself to not spend more.
If you also struggle with financial problems in Korea, or you believe that you cannot manage your money rationally, consider the five recommendations highlighted in this article. If you do follow all these 5 suggestions, just imagine how much money you will save just in one month. Every person should be able to spend less money that he/she makes, so make your best to control your money properly.
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