What foreign English teachers in Korea actually spend in the first month
Between your flight landing and your first paycheque, expect to spend ₩800,000–₩1,200,000 on deposits, groceries, transport cards, and the small things hagwons never mention. Here's where it goes and how to shrink it.
Park English · Published 2026-08-22 · Updated 2026-08-22 · 4 min read
What foreign English teachers in Korea actually spend in the first month
Your hagwon covers your flight and your rent. That sounds like everything until you land at Incheon with ₩200,000 in cash and realise you need bedding, a T-money card, dinner, and a foreign transaction fee is eating your debit card.
We've tracked what teachers actually spend between arrival and that first direct deposit thirty days later. The short answer: ₩800,000 if you are careful, ₩1,200,000 if you are not. Here is where it goes.
The five costs you cannot avoid
| Item | Amount (₩) | When |
|---|---|---|
| Alien registration card fee | 30,000 | Week one |
| Bedding, towels, kitchen basics | 80,000–150,000 | First weekend |
| Groceries until first pay | 200,000–300,000 | Monthly |
| T-money card + initial balance | 5,000 + 20,000 | Day one |
| Phone plan (if prepaid) | 30,000–55,000 | Week one |
Alien registration card: You pay ₩30,000 at the immigration office when you apply. Cash or card. Non-negotiable.
Bedding: Your apartment has a bed frame. It does not have a duvet. Daiso sells a thin comforter for ₩15,000; E-Mart has a passable set for ₩60,000; if you go to Kakao Shopping and search 이불세트 you will spend ₩120,000 and actually sleep well. Teachers who arrive in January spend more, because ondol floor heating does not warm a drafty window.
Groceries: Homeplus and E-Mart are cheaper than the GS25 under your building, but not by as much as you think. Budget ₩70,000 a week if you cook most meals, ₩100,000 if you eat toast for breakfast and gimbap four times a week. Coupang Eats will double this number if you let it.
What shows up in week two
Most teachers forget something. A frying pan. Coat hangers. Bin bags that fit the yellow food-waste bins your district requires. We have seen teachers spend ₩8,000 on a single adapter plug at Incheon Airport, then find a four-pack at Daiso for ₩5,000.
Your hagwon may provide a care package — rice, ramen, toilet paper — but half do not. Ask before you assume.
The optional costs that eat your margin
Going-out money: If you meet the other foreign teachers in your district for galbi and soju on Saturday, that is ₩40,000. Twice a week and you have spent ₩320,000 before your first pay. Hongdae bar nights run ₩60,000–₩80,000 once transport is in.
Appliances your flat does not have: No microwave, no toaster, no rice cooker. A cheap rice cooker is ₩25,000 at E-Mart. A decent one is ₩80,000. Teachers coming from the UK buy a kettle for ₩15,000 within two days.
Clothes you did not pack: If you arrive in summer with one pair of jeans and Seoul hits 34°C with 80% humidity, you will buy loose cotton trousers. If you arrive in February without thermals, you will buy thermals. Budget ₩100,000 if the season surprises you.
How to carry less cash
Exchange ₩500,000 before you leave and keep the rest on a card with no foreign transaction fee. Revolut, Wise, and Starling (UK) work at every GS25 ATM. Your home-country debit card will charge you ₩5,000 in fees to withdraw ₩200,000.
Once your Korean bank account is open — usually day three or four — load it with ₩300,000 and connect it to Kakao Pay. Then you can pay at taxis, cafés, and small restaurants that do not take foreign cards.
What your hagwon actually pays for
They cover: your flight (reimbursed, usually), your rent, and sometimes your ARC fee. A few include a welcome grocery box.
They do not cover: bedding, your phone plan, subway rides, or the ₩6,000 Americano you bought at Incheon because you landed at 6am and did not sleep.
One teacher bought a ₩900,000 laptop in week two because their hagwon had no staff computer and expected lesson planning at home. The contract did not mention it. Read what the tech expectations are before you spend.
The number that matters
Bring ₩1,000,000 in accessible money. You will spend ₩800,000 of it if nothing goes wrong, and ₩1,200,000 if you need a winter coat, replace a broken phone, or your director takes the whole staff to a seafood place in Busan and you pay your share.
Your first paycheque is large — ₩1,800,000 to ₩2,400,000 depending on your contract — but it comes thirty days after you arrive. The month in between is longer than you think.