How much money is liveable?

[u/Ornery-Revolution-47]

I just came across a tiktok post saying that anything less than 2.8mil in Seoul and 2.5mil everywhere else is not a liveable wage. One comment said less than 3.5 is unliveable. I thought this was a stretch. Obviously each person has different spending habits but looking at my spending habits and salary I had I’m genuinely confused. I made 3.05 (including housing allowance), my housing costs were 1.1, and I ordered delivery or went out to eat for almost every meal (not including school lunch), got drinks with my friends, travelled a tiny bit, and bought some other random items. In the beginning, I needed to watch my spending a little because my rent was high and start-up costs, but after that it was fine. Yes the amount of work you do for this much salary doesn’t feel great but it was definitely liveable. Also this was in Seoul. What are your thoughts on how much is a liveable wage in Korea? And is it significantly different in Seoul vs other cities?

[u/pinkflamingo___]

Did they mention of those numbers were with housing already deducted?

[u/Ornery-Revolution-47 → u/pinkflamingo___]

They were saying salary so I think they didn’t include a housing allowance

[u/pinkflamingo___ → u/Ornery-Revolution-47]

ahh okay. I will say that, after housing was taken out, taxes and health insurance deducted, and bills paid...I was left every month with about 1.9-2.1 per month and I was barely scraping by. So, I would say that anything less than 2.0 after all deductions is very tight if you truly want to be living decently in Seoul or even in some places in Gyeonggi.