A Week In Seoul, South Korea On A $400 Monthly Stipend

Occupation: Master’s student
Industry: Humanities studies
Age: 22
Location: Seoul, South Korea (but I’m from Europe).
Salary: After my scholarship arrives, I will have around $400 per month of my stay in Korea, but I don’t consider that a regular income since I will receive four months all at once.
Assets: Bank account: $4,350; HYS account: $15,250.
Debt: $0
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing costs: $495 rent. I live in an apartment with two flatmates. We each have a private room and then the other areas are in common.
Loan payments: $0
Transportation card: $45
Netflix: On family account.
Korean SIM: It’s a prepaid plan.

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
In my family almost everyone has at least a bachelor’s degree, whether they are using it or not. The idea is that once you have one, even if everything goes horribly wrong, you will be able to get back on your feet because a degree is the only thing no one can take away from you. So far it has worked. At the same time, I’ve never been pressured to pick a “useful” degree that would guarantee me a job at the end. I’m currently pursuing my master’s and spending a semester abroad in Korea. University is less expensive back home than in other countries so my parents were able to pay the tuition fees out of pocket (around €2,000 per year).

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My parents never sat me down for a deep conversation about finances but they would drop advice or recommendations from time to time, for example: Don’t buy things you can’t afford and don’t get into debt (unless it’s a mortgage). They mostly led by example and helped me set up my first bank account once I turned 18. Lately they’ve started talking to me about retirement and pension, which I guess means I’ve become an adult in their eyes.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got a student job at my university, as some kind of administrative assistant. It didn’t pay much, but they knew I was a student first and foremost so it was easy to work and attend classes at the same time. My contract was renewed two times and I’ll go back after my semester in Korea, too. I applied for this job because I’ve always wanted to travel and live abroad so I knew I needed to start earning and saving as soon as possible.

Did you worry about money growing up?
No. I don’t think we ever had financial problems but if we did, our parents did an excellent job of hiding them from us. It was never a problem if I needed new clothes or wanted to buy a book (especially if I wanted a book, actually). But perhaps this left me a little too sheltered because I was shocked when I went to live alone for the first time and I realized how much money one needs to simply keep existing.

Do you worry about money now?
Not right now, but I am spending almost all of my savings on this semester in Korea (my parents aren’t paying a dime), with really no way to replenish them until I graduate and find a job. I’m quite worried about job hunting.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I am not yet financially responsible for myself. I’m in Korea now but I’ll move back in with my parents at the end of the semester and I’ll stay there for at least another couple of years. More, if I get a job in the same city. Even after I move out (or if I needed help now), I know that my parents would be there to help me. That takes away a big part of worrying about job hunting.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I’ve never had an allowance but while I was growing up, family members would sometimes give me money instead of gifts at birthdays, Christmas, etc. My parents took the money at the time, but we kept track of it and they deposited it all in my first bank account as soon as I opened it. I also received $5,500 from my grandparents after I graduated with my bachelor’s. It went straight into my HYS. I think they are doing it for all their grandchildren.

8 a.m. — I wake up to my alarm but don’t have class until 11 a.m. so I wait for my roommate M. to leave before starting to get ready. My other roommate, F., is away on a weekend trip and will be back in the evening. I’m almost out of cereal so I add breakfast food to my mental grocery list.

10 a.m. — I leave the house a little early to withdraw money from my bank account. I need to activate my new Climate Card (monthly transportation card in Seoul) and I can only pay with cash since I don’t have a Korean bank account. One month is ₩62,000 ($45) but I will get a youth discount once I get my residence card. I struggle with the machine for a bit (thankfully there is an English option) and then try the card for the first time on my bus to campus. It works! $45

1 p.m. — My first class (film) of the day is over and some other exchange students and I are getting lunch at a small food festival organized by one of the faculties. We end up getting tteokbokki and a glass of ade (kind of a fruity soda) for ₩3,000 ($2.20). The tteokbokki is delicious but I always forget how spicy everything is in this country and suffer. I introduce myself to another exchange student, B. We are in the same orientation group but have never met before for some reason. She is so nice and we have a lot in common; she even lived in my hometown for a while. I think we’ll become good friends. $2.20

4 p.m. — I go to my second lecture and then decide to ditch my third and last class, Korean language. We are learning the alphabet (Hangul) this week and I already know it since I’ve been studying Korean for almost one year. They didn’t have intermediate level classes, which sucks, but I need the credits. I’ll rejoin the class next week, when it will start getting interesting (kinda). Instead, I go with E. to the library to get a book I need for a class tomorrow and then go to Olive Young by myself. I choose a moisturizer and finally (!) find the Fino hair mask my friend back home asked for. It’s always been sold out before. I’m going to the register when I remember that I can get everything tax-free if I show them my passport (which is at home). It wouldn’t be much of a discount, probably as much as a milkshake, but I do love a milkshake… I decide to run home, get my passport, and come back.

4:30 p.m. — I end up getting lost in the underground, getting off at the wrong station and spending 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get back. I’m so frustrated that I just call it a day and go home. Everything will still be there next week (probably).

6:30 p.m. — I do my reading for tomorrow and then I decide to clean the kitchen. We haven’t cleaned the stovetop yet and we have lived here for three weeks now, so I blast the Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham soundtrack and start scrubbing.

7:30 p.m. — It took me one hour to clean the stovetop, yikes. It was super grimy. M. decides to contribute by cleaning all the dirty dishes in the sink (they are 90% his anyway).

10 p.m. — After everything is dry, I make instant ramen with my last soft-boiled egg and have dinner while watching some YouTube. F. comes back home. I want to ask about her trip but I’m too tired to say much more than hello. She looks exhausted, too. I text my parents about my day and go to sleep soon after.

8 a.m. — Today I have class at 1:30 p.m. I eat cereal for breakfast and study Korean a bit. Then I go wash my hair.

11:30 p.m. — B. texts me to have lunch together on campus but I’m already microwaving freezer mandu (a type of Korean dumpling). We make plans for tomorrow. While I eat I wonder about how I’m going to fit a grocery store visit in my schedule. I’m super busy this week but I’m almost completely out of food so I need to find a way.

4 p.m. — The literature lecture was very interesting but it lasted three hours so my brain is fried. There is another festival going on (a music one this time) so D., E. and I decide to go check it out. Since I’ll be staying on campus until 9 p.m. (when my last lecture ends), I need to eat something to keep me going until then. We stop at a cafe and I order tea and a sweet toast (₩6,000). The tea is delicious but the toast is not. Soggy bread and a layer of cream cheese and blueberry jam so thin it might as well not exist. I keep half the sandwich for right before the Korean class (I forget about it immediately). $4.50

6 p.m. — At the festival there are some booths that are giving out free stuff. I win cookies and candy (free food, am ecstatic) while D. gets the hand fan she wanted. We sit down on the grass to enjoy some student band playing but I need to leave soon because of my Korean class.

7 p.m. — The class was great! This is a different course from the one I ditched on Monday. It won’t give me university credits but I got into the lower intermediate level like I wanted. Today I pay the enrollment fee, which is a super cheap ₩10.000. While leaving, I see B. and some other international students I know. They were also at the Korean class but we were in different groups. We walk together to the bus stop and then go in different directions. I can’t wait to eat dinner. $7.35

9 p.m. — Never go to the convenience store hungry. I only wanted to buy milk for breakfast but I see a whole aisle of chips and figure I’ll want to snack on something while cooking (I forget that I still have the half toast). I end up with three bags of chips (a pay one, get three offer) (₩7.500). I try one and realize I don’t even like them! I’ll distribute the chips among my friends. $5.50

10 p.m. — For dinner I have what is essentially instant ramen but fancier, because you store this kind in the freezer, and some tangerines. I ask F. about her trip and she shows me some beautiful photographs of mountains and rivers. She had fun hiking but it rained the whole time. I update her on what happened over the weekend and mention wanting to go grocery shopping tomorrow evening. M. joins in and we make some plans to get dinner together next week. Then we all remember that we still have to prepare for tomorrow’s lectures and run to our rooms for some last-minute reading.

8 a.m. — I wake up at 8 a.m. once again, and once again my class is at 11 a.m. I read webtoons, complete a Sudoku and watch some YouTube. For breakfast I have Coca-Cola-flavoured Oreos and milk (it doesn’t taste half bad actually) and the half sandwich from yesterday. Then I run to get ready because I’m late.

12 p.m. — Film class was okay, a bit less interesting than the previous ones. I usually go to the cafeteria now but today I’ll have lunch with B. after my last class, so I just chill in the humanities building until 2 p.m. While waiting, I start journaling. I check if my scholarship has arrived in my bank account at home. Not yet.

3 p.m. — Class is over and I go to meet B. The cafeteria is closed so we end up at Gong Cha, which apparently doesn’t limit itself to bubble tea but also deals in chicken burritos. We were out of options (₩4.000). If you are wondering what they tasted like, it’s the personification of the white people food meme. L. and Y. pass by. They are going to the music festival. We join them and somehow end up getting free bottles of a milk tea that Y. loves and I have been wanting to try. Thank you for all this free food, universe — what about the deeds to a house? $3

5 p.m. — After lunch, B. and I go to visit this company I’m considering interning at next semester. But once we get there, we find out it’s closed. Their business hours weren’t written on the website, so we were aware of the possibility but it’s still frustrating. According to what’s written on the door they are open on Friday mornings so I guess that’s what I’ll do on Friday. I’m sorry that I made B. take this trip for nothing but she says that she is happy to have any reason to procrastinate on her reading. That’s very relatable.

6 p.m. — We want to stop at a cafe but this road only has office buildings so we need to walk to a trendier area. We become so engrossed in the conversation that we walk until the Han River, which is equally desolate. Rather than going back, we decide to cross it. It takes us 15 minutes and I can now say I have crossed the Han River on foot.

7 p.m. — We stop at a random cafe. The place is nice but “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees keeps playing on repeat the whole hour we are there, John Mulaney “What’s New Pussycat?”-style. I get an iced chocolate latte for ₩5,600 and B. gets a smoothie. We talk about the struggles of moving somewhere we don’t speak the language and her time in my hometown. I find out that she also likes Shah Rukh Khan, so I grill her on her favourite movies. $4.10

8 p.m. — I’m finally back home and really don’t want to go to the grocery store. I steam the last few mandu I have left in the microwave. I only have some terrible chicken nuggets in the freezer now so it is imperative that I go shopping tomorrow.

9 p.m. — I watch budgeting videos and remember that I wanted to downgrade my “international” card plan to the free one so I won’t have to pay €3.99 a month anymore (I don’t use the perks anyway). The thing that has stopped me so far is that you need to pay €7.99 to downgrade (what a scam), but reading up on it I notice that I will need to pay for it anyway once I close my account at the end of the semester so I might as well bite the bullet now and save on a couple of months. I realize I haven’t heard from J. in a couple of days so I text her to see what she is up to and we chat for a while. $8.70

10:30 p.m. — Surprise! I thought the day was over but F. came home and remembered we had half a plan to go grocery shopping together. The mart closes at midnight so we get our stuff and go shopping! I end up spending ₩43,050 on eight plum cakes for breakfast, a bag of frozen mandu (a different flavour from the ones I already tried and a 1+1 deal!), a bottle of bone broth, some mushrooms I’ve never seen in Europe, thick glass noodles, a lot of chicken meat (that I freeze in different containers), tangerines and grapes. F. also buys two packages of handmade songpyeon (Korean rice cakes) as there is a promotion, and gives me one. I purposely do not get any instant ramen as I want to try to cook more. I only have one package left at home, to be used for emergencies. $31.60

11 p.m. — F. knows a 24-hour unmanned ice cream shop down the road so of course we need to go there on our way back and get the wackiest ice creams ever. I buy five for ₩4,200, which is not bad at all. I’m sure I’ll be going back a lot. Back at home, we chat with M. while trying the corn-flavoured one. It’s fine, but if you are interested in trying a Korean ice cream, Samanco, the fish-shaped one, is the BEST. I end the day feeling quite satisfied with myself. Getting grocery shopping done is a huge weight off my shoulders. $3

10 a.m. — No classes today; an assignment due in the evening. I need to read an article and think up some clever comments. I have a plum cake and milk for breakfast. I’m tired from my walk with B. yesterday. My phone says it was 18km, which doesn’t seem that accurate, but my legs are feeling it.

12 p.m. — I transfer my living expenses for next month from my home bank account to my international card. I really want my scholarship to arrive. I have enough money saved to make it until the end of the semester and a bit after, but more padding would be nice. I watch the new episodes of the K-drama No Gain No Love while knitting some gloves (only four fingers left!). I also text a friend back in Europe and we end up talking about Marvel ships. Before I realise, it’s 3.30 p.m. and I haven’t had lunch yet.

4 p.m. — I cook chicken noodle soup with my groceries from yesterday. To me, chicken noodle soup is broth, chicken, noodles and whatever vegetables are in the fridge. Stew until everything is ready. Unfortunately the thick glass noodles I got didn’t cook completely, but they keep cooking in the soup as I’m eating. I did double-check the chicken so no worries about that. The grapes I bought yesterday are really, really delicious.

5 p.m. — I have a lot I want to do this weekend (fun stuff) so I need to do my reading and homework today. Instead, I end up procrastinating productively: I wash the dishes, vacuum all over the place, etc. I also remember that I still haven’t booked the DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone) tour I want to go on with B. this Sunday so I run online and drop €50 on the purchase. The tour leaves at 6.40 a.m. from Myeong-dong — I really hope we both wake up on time. $54

7 p.m. — I start doing my reading but then my sister says that she is free, so we have a call that lasts an hour and a half. It’s difficult to coordinate phone calls because of the time difference. It’s evening here and late morning there. I suddenly realise that this is my one-month anniversary of living in Korea.

9 p.m. — I put the laundry out to dry and decide to also call my mom. I’m feeling homesick tonight. I’ve lived alone abroad before, but it was still Europe. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I’m doing in a country 11 flight hours away from home but I’m also aware that if I was home right now, I would probably be wishing I was here. I journal about this so I can read up on it next time I move abroad and remember that feeling this way from time to time is perfectly normal. I also call my dad for good measure.

9 a.m. — No classes today, but I need to get ready quickly to go back to the internship place, which closes in two hours. I’m nervous about how it will go. But if it goes badly, at least I’ll know I don’t want to work with them and can find another place. Better now than after I’m here for four months. Trying to summon a confident aura.

12 p.m. — Well, that was quick. I did get to speak to the current interns and ask them for some tips about the application, which was my main goal. Maybe this could have been an email. I need to start updating my resume.

1 p.m. — I’m back at uni and spontaneously queuing to get a ticket for the last night of the music festival. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go until I was back from the internship place and thought, Heck yeah, why not! There will be students performing and then actual idols. It’s completely free and considering how crazy the market for K-pop concert tickets is here, this might be my only chance to go to one. My friends get here late and can’t join me so they have to go all the way to the back of the queue. I hope we all get tickets.

3 p.m. — I get my ticket and run to get nice spots for all of us, hoping we will all get tickets. I manage to get three and L., B. and J. all make it through! The concert starts at 6 p.m. so J. goes home to freshen up. B. and I stay on campus to eat lunch. The cafeteria is closed and the food trucks have disappeared so we get two doughnuts each at a doughnut shop (₩3,900). They are amazing. $2.85

4 p.m. — We go back to the arena and see that the food trucks are setting up in the grass there. I’m still hungry and the concert is going to end at around 11 p.m., so I decide to get some fried chicken for dinner. It’s more expensive than I would pay at other places (₩10,000) but I can’t leave once we re-enter the arena and don’t have time to look for something else. $7.30

11 p.m. — Amazing concert, had lots of fun even if I didn’t know any of the singers (I barely stan twice). I even discovered a new band I like. I was afraid we would have to wade through crowds to get out of the stadium but everything goes smoothly and I get home pretty quickly. I’m not hungry so I just have some grapes. I send my family some videos from the concert and go to sleep.

6 a.m. — I wake up at this ungodly hour because I set my alarms for the DMZ for today instead of for tomorrow. I correct the mistake and go back to sleep. The next time I wake up it’s 9.30 a.m. and I need to be in the underground by 10 a.m.! J. and I made plans to go to a webtoon event together. She is also a bit late so it works out.

11 a.m. — I’m so excited about this event! I really hope they have merch for my favourite webtoons. I’m ready to give them all my money but settle for a more modest $30 (₩40,800) budget.

12 p.m. — What a disappointment, they barely have one webtoon I like and no merch for it. Not even a sticker! This means I don’t spend a cent, but still. I’m sad all the way to lunch. We choose a tacos restaurant (God Eat) because J. has never had them. It’s more expensive than our usual (₩21,000) but the portions are huge and we barely finish our order. It’s one of the most delicious meals I’ve had since coming to Korea. $15.40

12.30 p.m. — While at lunch I get a text message from the DMZ touring company. They’ve changed the meeting time to 6:10 a.m. I read online that this could happen so I’m not that surprised. I really hope I will wake up on time. B. received the same message but with a different time and location, so we figure we will get on the bus at different stops.

2 p.m. — J. and I wander around Seoungsu and browse the shops. I really like the area. On the street there are a lot of parfumeries. We try to get into Diptyque but the waiting time is four or five hours. I really like the perfumes at Kinfolk Notes but they are ₩110,000 ($81) for 30ml, which is completely out of my budget. There are so many things I could do with that money! I decide to sleep on it for at least a month. I bring home two blotting strips sprayed with the two scents I like.

3 p.m. — I say goodbye to J. and take the underground again to go meet D. We are going to a building that got featured on What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?, one of my favourite dramas (where the female lead lives!). I’m giddy, I’ve been waiting for this since 2018. I keep sniffing the blotting strips while I’m waiting for D., knowing I look like a weirdo and not caring.

4 p.m. — We are here! The cafe on the ground floor is still open despite what Naver Map said so we get a milkshake (₩6,800) and take lots of pictures. D. says out of nowhere that I look very extroverted and I’m easy to talk with. I feel like she has just handed me an Oscar for Best Acting. $5

5 p.m. — We stop at a random Olive Young and I get everything I couldn’t get last time (₩37,740) because I brought my passport! (Except for the Fino hair mask, because it’s sold out again. I’ll try at my local shop on Monday.) $27.75

7 p.m. — The last bit on our itinerary is to go to a drone show on the Han River. We stop at a Paris Baguette to get some food (I only get a bottle of water, ₩1,200) and then go to the park. It’s absolutely packed with people but we manage to find a good spot on the grass. $0.80

9 p.m. — The show was great! Definitely recommended if you are visiting Korea this time of year. We manage to get ahead of the crowds and get home relatively quickly. Along the way we stop at another Olive Young and get the Fino hair mask! It’s around ₩12,000 but my friend pays me back immediately through PayPal so I won’t count it towards today’s total.

10 p.m. — I’m home. I prepare my backpack for tomorrow and go to sleep.

4:30 a.m. — I woke up on time! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thousands of alarms. Now I just need to get ready on time. I wanted to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. since the underground opens at that time but wait; Naver tells me that the only way I can get to Myeong-dong by 6:10 a.m. is if I get on a bus NOW, no underground. What am I still doing here???

5 a.m. — This tour seemed like a fun idea yesterday. Why am I running in a dark alley in the middle of the night?

5:10 a.m. — I’m on the first bus. I dream of a world in which the underground stays open 24/7. Then I realise that the night is probably the only time they get to make repairs and clean the place so it’s better this way. I dream of teleportation.

6:05 a.m. — I make it to Myeong-dong and my bus! I could cry. I got down at the wrong bus station at one point and had to take the underground instead but it worked! We leave at 6:10 a.m. on the dot.

6:30 a.m. — Tragedy. Apparently B. is on another bus! We thought they had just assigned us to different pickup stops but we’ll spend the whole day apart. Now I need to make friends or something. At least the tour guide seems great.

8:30 a.m. — After touring Imjingak Park, our guide gives us two hours of free time. B. is also here but only has five minutes of free time so we barely say hello to each other before she has to leave. I take some time to take all the pictures I couldn’t take during the tour and then go down to the Reunification Pond, which is very peaceful and has fancy carps. I also buy two North Korean banknotes that defectors brought out of the country. ₩17,000 is a bit outrageous but I collect foreign coins and banknotes so it will be my one souvenir from the DMZ. $12.50

10 a.m. — I’m afraid there won’t be a place to eat after this so I get a corndog before getting back on the bus to continue the tour (turns out I’m wrong and there is food every step of the way). $1.85

11:30 a.m. — We visit an underground tunnel that North Korea dug to try and invade Seoul. It’s very humid and it takes a considerable effort to walk to the surface again (no elevators, 300+ meters underground). It’s fun but not recommended to claustrophobic (or very tall) people.

12:30 p.m. — We arrive at the Seungri Observatory. There are big windows from which you can see the DMZ and North Korea. Here I am, sitting on a comfortable chair, looking at North Korea. It all feels quite surreal.

1:15 p.m. — Our last stop for the day is a marketplace and I go a bit crazy. I get a soybean ice cream to eat now (apparently a local delicacy? Not impressed) and two local snacks that I regretted not buying at a previous stop. Rationally, I know that one of them will for sure melt before I get home but I’ve been awake since 4.30 a.m. and am tired and incapable of rational thought. $6

3 p.m. — I finally get to Myeong-dong again and wait for B.’s bus. We wander around while comparing notes on our tours and realize she visited places I didn’t and vice versa. I signed up using the link she sent me so what’s up with that? We both had fun and met interesting people but I wish we could have had this experience together. We finally admit to ourselves that we are super exhausted and decide to just go home.

6 p.m. — I’ve spent the past hour lying in bed trying to sleep but instead browsing Reddit. I’ll go put on another chicken noodle soup now. I should look up one-pot dishes that involve rice.

8 p.m. — I put on a sheet face mask. I’ve been trying a new one every Sunday since I’ve arrived (they are so inexpensive here) but so far the only one I like is Dr. Mask Cica Blemish Sheet Mask. The others made me break out. I’m not sure how to end this diary. The truth is, I don’t want it to end. It’s been fun. I wish I could keep monologuing in my head about my purchases for the rest of my life. But alas, all things must come to an end and it’s been 20 minutes since I put on my sheet mask. I’ll go to sleep now. Goodnight.