I often see a lot of people asking others how much to bring
to Korea for X days. Some said RM2.5k is more than enough, some RM4k is not
enough, some said RM7k is not even enough. I be like WHATTTTTT. WHICH ONE???
How much money to bring for a trip is personal and differs
between individual. Some people do not fancy shopping, they focus more on
sightseeing and the food. Some fancy shopping, food, sightseeing and everything
(just like me).
Some skip shopping (eh how can that be possible) and splurge
on food, good food every single meal. I will still go for good food once in a
while, mostly simple and comfort food to fill my tummy.
Skip the crap, here’s how I budget my trip. I am a
calculative person, just started recently. I find it difficult to follow advice
of others and time consuming to read on how much money you need, so I created
mine.
Things you need:
- Know yourself well. Ask yourself what you will
spend on and how much are you willing to spend.
- Know the average price of the items you will
spend on.
- Budget it according to the category and price,
create a list.
- Pen & paper/Excel.
Let me show you an example:
- I will be in Korea for 8 days 6 nights.
- Flight and hotel booked and paid before
departure.
- Day tour, tickets for sightseeing, T money card,
SIM card are booked and paid.
Exclusions: food, shopping,
souvenirs, transport
|
Category
|
Price
|
Pax
|
Days/Times
|
Total
|
|
T-money reload
|
5,000won
|
2
|
5
|
50,000won
|
|
Breakfast
|
10,000won
|
2
|
7
|
140,000won
|
|
Lunch
|
10,000won
|
2
|
8
|
160,000won
|
|
Dinner
|
15,000won
|
2
|
7
|
210,000won
|
|
Hotel deposit
|
20,000won
|
1
|
1
|
20,000won
|
|
Total
|
580,000won
|
|||
I did not include my shopping
budget here since I normally got crazy and will use credit card instead. The
exchange rate can be good, and I can get cash rebates. Do control yourself not
to overspend and remember to monitor the usage as I frequently heard storied
about credit card fraud when they use it overseas.
I will normally round it up to
600k won or just top up additional to 700k won, knowing that I will go crazy
and it is better to have some extra money with you while traveling aboard.
Use the exchange rate and multiple
the currency and you will get the figure in RM. Always monitor the exchange
rate and know which rate to buy. I prefer to buy batch by batch whenever the
exchange rate is around 1000won=RM3.70.
Do not leave your credit card at
home. You might want to bring at least 1 card and some RM with you just in case
anything happened.
Additional tips:
- Plan your route and trip of the day to save time
and of course money. Download the subway app, it shows the stations and the
price as well.
- Budget a little more so you can have some extra
to splurge on.
- It is not necessary to stick to 10,000won per
meal. Some days you can settle your breakfast for 5,000won in the mart, or you
slept extra and start your day with brunch.
- Survey the items you wanted to buy and their
prices. Make a shopping list so you do not spend on unnecessities.
Following these steps, you will now know how much to bring
for a trip for X days. Do some homework and create your own budget is faster
than browsing those results on Google. This is what I think since my spending
habit is not same with others. Same goes to your spending habit is not same as
mine.
Download this Korea Subway app before departing to Korea! It is really useful and helpful. It listed down the fares and the attractions nearby the station, along with some reviews of places by the users.
Hanchao is another useful app. You may also logon to their website. From buying various travel packages to reviews, subway maps and attractions. You name it they have it. However, it is in Chinese. If you do not know the language this will be an issue.
