Irishboy30

So...I THOUGHT I'd end up in the Middle East, BUT as it turns out it seems I am destined for South Korea.

I've accepted a teaching position there and I'm being offered a renumeration package which includes accommodation, utilities etc.

So...I will receive US$48 500.00 a year (NET). Can anyone enlighten me on how much of that I can expect to save. Keeping in mind I receive accommodation as part of my contract, and I will probably lead an active, though not excessive, lifestyle there.

Would it be reasonable to think I could put away half that?

crap coffee

Just one thing I can tell you for sure. Don't buy/drink coffee at a coffee shop ex)Starbucks, Coffee beans, Pasccucci and many more. Because they rip you off. I AM SERIOUS. and coffee is worse than rubbish.

US$48500 is a lot of money. Just for teaching English? What an easy way to make money eh. You can save heaps and a lot of teachers there paying off their student loads within 2 -3 years so its pretty good.

Being a public sector in NZ - though with higher education, the salary IS CR@P. Making money is SO easy in Korea with just bachelors degree...What a joke.

TeachMe

I've been in Seoul 12 years and lots depends as it always does. Your base seems about 3.5 million a month which is not much here unless you are alone. Basically more details needed about you to say if you can save much. I average 6 million a month doing teacher training and it does not last long. The average wage for a company man is about 5 million a month.

Irishboy30

Thanks for the response crap coffee. Not big into starbucks etc anyway so no probs there.

I'm teaching Geography. With an international school.

TeachMe

Hi,

If you are making 3.5 plus housing then you should be able to save about 30% of your take home IF you live like a local and are single. What I mean by live like a local is eat at mom and pop kimbap houses and take public transit. It is not tough to live like a local, but if you want good beer and western food your savings suffer.

crap coffee

Thats what I wanted to point out.

Irish boy, its not easy but I suggest that take foods & personal hygiene stuff as much as you can to Seoul when you leave home. ex) Cereal, tea, dry foods etc. from my experience, its very hard to find decent tea to drink (British standard I mean), and you probably won't be able to get cereals/muslies/porridge/weet bix/dry nuts (ex- Brazile nuts, prune, pumpkin seeds etc), baked beanz etc at a local market. (yes you can buy Korean made sugary cereal... ) because Koreans don't eat such things - and funny thing is they treat them as dog foods... not for human. How rude are they. Unless you can eat rice and Kimchi 3 times a day?, but can you do? I can't. However, their (local bakery) bread isn't so bad which is surprising. (variety is limited) But must say they are pretty expensive. ex) loaf of bread.

and beer,,,, Korean beers - yes they are cheaper ... but they are so p*ss. If you want a pint of Guinness (on tap) somewhere in Seoul, you probably would have to pay 5 times /or more,,, than in Ireland. (and they aren't nice as real one) and yes, lacking of variety again.(imported bottled beers)

My friend (Kiwi) teaches music (she is a qualified high school music teacher in NZ) with an international school in Seoul - been there something 5 years and she is still there. because money is simply better than here.

If you can live as local (live at home with parents, eat Korean foods), then you can save money otherwise its hard.

personally I find hard to stay in Korea even for a short term, but it depends greatly on what you want and how much you are prepared to give up if you don't get it.

TeachMe

I rather disagree with Coffee above (and not only because my alter ego is Coffee Monster and my first job was at Starbucks .

You can get everything you need here, and there is no need to bring anything food or personal stuff from home. I do however bring a few things food wise from home as they are cheaper (such as small packs of sauce mixes and spices). TESCO and CostCo are are plentiful here and you can get good Museli, real Cheerios and such no problem. Yes, Korean beer makes the worst American mass produced lagers seem delicious, but there are also brew pubs here that make good stuff. For price, Korean beer is 2500 won and an order of BBQ chicken is 14, so a night out at a Korean style place for two people with three beers each is less than 15 pounds. Go to a brew pub with good beer and the price doubles to 30 pounds, go to a 'Western' bar and get watered down Guinness for 5 pounds a pint, but oyu do not need to order food.

OP, are you at KIS? If you make it here give me a PM.

TME

DigitalGhost

How did you manage to score nearly $50k a year for teaching in Seoul?

The cost of living in Seoul is minimal compared with most western countries and Japan and the taxes are amongst the lowest in the developed world.

I would say unless you are intending to live a life of luxury then you should have no issues with earning savings on a salary like that. Oh and TeachMe is wrong by the way, Korean beer is awesome, especially Hite.

DigitalGhost

I could, quite easily in fact. I'm in Canada at the moment but I've got my eyes on probably either Japan or Korea in a few years from now.

crap coffee

You must be Korean (No doubt).

DigitalGhost

I'm not but I just went there for the first time a couple of years ago and fell in love with the place. I'd aways been interested in Korean culture but the style, food and 24 hour culture there just spoke to me and because it can be quite financially beneficial to move there even under an E-2 visa at the moment, I'm considering doing it in a couple of years from now.

My only other serious choice of destination would be Japan but unfortunately it doesn't look like that would really be a wise economic decision anymore.

crimsonking26

Having spent some time in Korea, been there 5 times, 3 months for each visit. I can say that the Coffee is not that bad, I actually preferred the Dunkin Donuts coffee the best.
Also, Seoul will dent your budget quite vastly unless you only have local produce of course. But do you want to end up smelling of Kimchi all day everyday? not the most pleasant smell, Everyone young and old stink of it! I used to love it until it got too much for me.

Korean beer sucks! if you like it then you need to try more beers!

But, Irishboy, You will end up in the typical ESL teacher trap, end up spending your time in Itaewon (if you're based in Seoul), hanging out with fellow "teachers" (Most of which are very immature and it seems like they've just been let off the leash) complaining about Koreans, and Korea and how much they hate it there, and you can always tell Americans apart from Canadians as the yanks always say "Back home..."

I know it sounds like I hate Korea and Koreans but I loved my time there, I just spent too much time there.

I'm sure you'll have a great time, just try to avoid Itaewon. I beg you!

uk_vette

.
.
You have to be joking!!!!

Seoul is NOT cheap, I know, I was there in SK for 2 years.
Would I go back,

Not a chance, couldn't' wait for my time to be over.
I was on huge money, over £200k a year.
Actually, I found many of the SK people stuck up, and really didn't want foreigners there.
many of them, not all, but many resented the fact you as a foreigner were in their country.
The problem is though, it is some thing they couldn't do them selves.
So they needed foreigner assistance.

Sure the money is good, but it's a damn expensive place to live.

vette

canmethed

I'm sure you'll have a great time, just try to avoid Itaewon. I beg you! [/QUOTE]

I can't agree more. I've been here 8 years, almost straight & married one of the locals. Itaewon isn't really Korea anyway. The coffee is iffee, but I am a Dunkin fan, beer is "OK", but the food is amazing, so long as you like spice.

It's not the biggest country, but plenty to see and savings are incredible. I payed off a 25K pound student loan bill in about 4 years, still had time to travel to China, Phillipines & a few others.

Enjoy yourself once you arrive, if you try to get used to things, you'll have a blast.
I'm heading to the U.K. for grad school in a few months, but if there's no work to be found afterwards, be heading back here for more reasons than my wife's family(a big one for me)!

Mad Hatter

Seems like our experiences were similar. I was provided a luxurious apartment at about 4000 quid/mo, nice salary, nice per diem, transportation allowance, and working with a comany that is quite prominent in the smart phone market. I enjoyed some things but you could tell the Koreans resented us Westerners. I would go back for the right paycheck but not seeking to.