Money Matters: Starting Costs

So, I still haven’t quite accepted that I will be leaving the country again next week—10 days left. At the same time, I’m pretty freaked out about my current money situation…

The company I will be working for recommends that you bring between 250,000¥ and 300,000¥ (which is a little more than $2,500-$3,000). I will be going with approximately 100,000¥ in pocket. Mainly because (as most graduates) I have loan payments I need to make and a minimum balance of $500 in my checking without getting fined. I’m planning to leave enough money in my account to keep my minimum and pay for the first three months of payments on my school loans.

An important thing to remember if you’ve never lived/moved abroad is money! As I said above most people would recommend you take a minimum of $2,000-$3,000 with you. Now, this is something that can obviously be played around with. Some people may “need” the full $3,000 or more, while some people may be able to get by with $500. 

If you are planning to move abroad for teaching there are several things you need to keep in mind when it comes to money and finances. First, make sure you remember to leave enough money at home to pay for any bills/payments you may have for the first 3 months. I say for 3 months because it may take some time before you have money to send. This can happen for several reasons: you may not get paid until the second month (in Korea it’s normal to wait 1-2 full months before getting paid), you may not be able to open a bank account until the second month (normally you can’t open an account until you receive your ARC, which can take up to 3-4 weeks), you have to consider the unforeseen (you may find that you have a lot of unexpected fees at the beginning of your stay).

Obviously I am not in Japan yet, but I have already had experience with moving to Korea. The best thing about both jobs is that my company has prepared my housing. This can be both a plus and a minus, but I prefer to just consider the plus side. ;)

I will use my experience, and what I know about my upcoming experience, to lay out some information that can help you to understand the monetary concerns listed above.

*South Korea: When I went to Korea I prepared approximately $1,500 to take with me (besides what I was leaving for loan payments and such). Unfortunately, my school couldn’t find a ticket as cheap as I could. When I found a cheaper ticket they asked me to buy it and promised to reimburse me. I went ahead and bought the ticket, but that left me with about $500 to take with me. (I actually don’t recommend agreeing to purchase the ticket, for Korea, unless you will be teaching in a public school—since they are regulated by the government you should have no trouble.)

After arriving in Korea, it took my company about a week to take me in for the mandatory health check (I know several people who were sent alone—which can be scary and stressful in your first week—so ask the person before you how they did theirs). Once your results are sent in, it can take about 1-2 weeks to get your ARC. After that, you can create a bank account, but when do you get paid? I arrived at the end of May, so I got paid around mid-July. Meanwhile, I had to fight with my boss to get refunded for my plane ticket. At first they were going to give it to me in small increments (about $100/week). They also used the exchange rate for the day they were paying me (which had dropped significantly since I bought the ticket 2 months before). In the end, I lost about $200 because of the exchange rate used, and it took me over a month to get the money back. (If you will be in an urban area, it’s easy to find a SK or KB Bank—both are great—ATM and you will be able to withdraw cash if/when needed from a foreign account.) 

Mind you, I had about $500 and my only foreseen expenses were groceries. However, I ended up moving in to a bachelor pad. The guy before me had not only skipped out on cleaning (and the company did NO cleaning/repairs) but I’m pretty sure he had never cleaned. I moved into an apartment full of dust, dirt, and MOLD, half the lights were out and there was grease all over the kitchen and surrounding areas. There was a broken mop collecting dust along with a small (and dingy) broom. Needless to say, I spent a ton of money/time on cleaning supplies and necessities within the first week. Add to, the closest mart was a nice taxi ride away so that didn’t help on cost.

Now, as you may have guessed, the cleaning supplies wouldn’t be $500 right? No. That was just an unforeseen cost. The biggest mistake I made was that I wanted to feel at home. In order to do that, I not only bought too many groceries, but I went ahead and bought little things to make the apartment seem homier (shoe rack, baskets/drawers for organizing, etc.). I recommend you hold off on this until you get paid. However, these are ways that your money can get a little… lost.*

*Japan: Again, I have not arrived in Japan yet. However, this is what the situation looks like right now:

I have saved about $1,000 to take with me (this is after purchasing my own ticket as this company does not pay for, or refund, the flight cost). Meanwhile, I’m leaving enough money to make the first 3 months payments on my bills. Also, the company charged a $200 processing fee which will be returned upon arrival at the training. There is a fee for sending the extra luggage to the school (you are only allowed two small bags—carry-on bags—for the training week); however, I already know that this will be around $60. The human transportation, however, is paid for by the school. ;)

I will be arriving at the beginning of December, and getting paid on the 25^th (of the first month). The paycheck will be approximately half a normal check with all the fees and deduction pro-rated. So while I may not be getting a full check, I should still be able to take home approximately $500 before the end of the month. (Not sure about this, but from what I've heard, using debit/credit in Japan is not an easy thing. So finding an ATM to take out money can also be hard. So I recommend taking money with you. If you will be working it's okay to take some in traveler's checks, as these can be directly deposited in a bank account.)*

As I have some experience living abroad, and already know several of the “Do’s and Dont's” of the game, I am pretty confident that I can live cheaply and even save some money in the first month. However, if you aren’t sure, I recommend taking more money.

The thing about money transfer is that you will need to make sure you have enough money in your account that you can afford to send money home and still cover any sudden fees (within reason, of course). I like to make sure that I have approximately $1,000 in my account at all times. This gives me enough money to cover food, travel, and fun for a month, along with a little extra.

My suggestion is to live cheap and safe for a month. This doesn’t mean “stay home and be boring”. On the contrary: Go out! This is a great time to get to know your new home. Find out what’s nearby, search for cheap restaurants (but try to eat in if/when possible), meet people nearby who can help you out, and just get comfortable in a new place! This way, you can save money and meet people who can help you plan out some great vacations once you’ve saved up enough to send home and still play.

This may seem sensible once you read it, but some people will never figure this out. My fellow Native English Teachers (NETs = foreign ESL teachers) never did. I watched as one after the other made the same mistake. They came and immediately saw it as vacation time. They wasted no time in finding the nearest bars, stuck to the foreigner crowd nearby, and took every chance they had to spend money and go on vacation—leaving little or no money to be sent home. Instead, they lived paycheck to paycheck. While this may sound awesome to some of you, there is a huge downside to this style of living.

My fellow NETs often spent all their money weeks before payday. Every month, sometimes weeks before the next payday, these co-teachers would be completely poor! One girl would frequently complain 2 weeks before/after getting paid that she only had $50 left for the month and no groceries. She would try to limit herself to a $5 pizza, planning to take some home and eat it over time. Then she would proceed to eat the whole thing at once, and have that much less money. Near the end of her contract, she went to the doctor because of some issues and learned that she was suffering from malnutrition.

This is your life. So, if you managed to read through this short novel, please consider yourself. Teaching abroad isn’t a game or vacation, it’s you JOB. The money you earn isn’t just for playing around (unless you have a rich family, in which case just go on vacation…), this money is for your livelihood. I’m not saying be boring, just be smart.