Household economy (household budget) refers to the status of your income and expenditures.Depending on how you budget, your household economy may show a loss or a surplus, even whenyour income is low.
In Korea, both coins (KRW 10, KRW 50, KRW 100 and KRW 500) and bills (KRW 1,000, KRW 5,000,KRW 10,000 and KRW 50,000) are used. Bank checks with a value of KRW 100,000 or higher are alsowidely used.
You should think about what you can do with 1,000 won, 5,000 won, 10,000 won and 50,000 wonwhen you consider buying something by comparing the monetary value in Korea with the monetaryvalue in your country.
A cup of coffee from a vending machine 300~500won
A bag of snacks or ice cream 1,000~2,000won
Meals such as rice with side dishes and naengmyeon 6,000~8,000won
Pork 500g 10,000won
A bag of rice (20kg) 55,000won
If you shop without a list, you may find yourself buying a lot of things you don’t need, which, overtime, can greatly impact your family budget. In order to curb excess spending, make a plan before youshop.
Make a list before you go shopping.
Decide where and how much you will spend.
Convenience stores are open 24 hours and sell a diverse range of goods, including food. Since conveniencestores are small, it is easy to find what you want. They can be useful when you need to buy one or twothings.
Conventional markets are full of vendors selling food, clothing, and commodities. Goods can be bought atcheap prices, and there is room for negotiation on price and quantity. Conventional markets are also a goodway to witness the lives of Korean people and experience Korean culture.
Supermarkets usually sell snacks, vegetables, meat and beverages. They are conveniently located around the neighborhood.
Department Stores sell diverse items including clothing, food, electronics, cosmetics, and jewelry. Thefacilities, services, and the quality of goods sold at department stores are excellent, driving up the prices. Theyfrequently hold sale events, so it is better to wait and use these event periods.
Like department stores, large discount stores offer diverse items including food, clothing, electronics andcommodities. The quality of products is excellent, and the facilities and the services are good.
It is possible to order products shown on TV via telephone or Internet. Home shopping items includeclothes, groceries, cosmetics, electronics, and even insurance. TV home shopping is very convenient, butit is easy to buy items you don’t really need.
Online shopping malls allow you to place orders and purchase a wide array of items. One of thedrawbacks though, is the items may look different on the screen than in real life. It is advised to look verycarefully or consult the sales agent.
Payments can be made in cash or by check, credit card, debit card or gift certificate.
Compare the price and quality of goods, and check the expiration date of food products.Before making a large purchase, do some research to make sure you are getting a fair price. Keep yourreceipt in case you need to make an exchange or get a refund.
Saving is necessary in order to be able to own property, prepare for unexpected disasters and future retirement, buy a house, pay for your child’s tuition, etc. To start saving money, open an account at your local bank.
Mobile banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers toconduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. It can be usedon the move, which is advantageous in that it is not restricted by location compared to Internet banking.
Using public banking agencies such as banks and post offices is the safest way to remit moneyoverseas. Many people use private service providers (or brokers) rather than banks to remit money. Eventhough these services are faster and simpler, you use these services at your own risk. Cases of brokersdisappearing with the remittance money are not rare. In these cases, there is no way to get your moneyback; as such, it is highly recommended that you use public institutions to send money overseas.
Voice phishing is a fraudulent act in which false information is sent to people via phone or SMS in order to get them to send cash or a make a deposit to a scammer.
In these cases, a criminal learns the online messenger ID and password of a third party, logs in usingthe information, and asks a family or friend registered on the person’s contact list to send money foran "emergency”. If the victim sends money, the criminal simply runs off with it.
In this type of case, a criminal sends a message that appears to be a notice sent by a financial firmor the Financial Supervisory Service. When the person visits the website sent by the scammer, he isprompted to enter his personal financial information. The scammer then uses this information tosecure a loan.
In this type of case, a criminal targets a senior citizen in their 50s to 70s that has subscribed toa telebanking service, or tries to get the senior citizen to subscribe to a telebanking service. Thecriminal acquires telebanking information (resident registration number, PIN code for remittance, PINcode of the bank account, serial number of the security card and the security codes on the securitycard) under the pretext of preventing or responding to a report of ID abuse, data leakage, or othercriminal activities. The scammer remits money from the victim's account to his or her account.
In this type of fraud, a criminal who knows the telephone number of a child and his/her parentsfalsifies the caller number to make it appear as though the child has had an accident or waskidnapped, in order to blackmail the parents. The criminals usually defraud the parents under thepretext that a child going to school has been kidnapped, a son performing his military service hashad an accident, or a child studying overseas has had an accident or has been kidnapped.
A criminal calls a victim, impersonates an employee of an investigating organization, sends thevictim to an ATM under the pretext of involvement in a crime (an accident), and gets the victim tosend money to the criminal's account.
A criminal acquires the credit card information of a victim (credit card number, PIN code and CVC)under the pretext of responding to ID abuse, data leakage or other criminal activities. The criminaluses the card to get a loan in the name of the victim using ARS, while calling the victim to reportthat the crime funds had been remitted to the account of the victim and making the victim remit themoney to the criminal's account.
The Police (☎112), KISA (☎118) or the Financial Supervisory Service (☎1332)