How I Saved 100 Million Won in 3 Years on a 3 Million Won Monthly Salary
Many of you have asked about my wealth management tips, so here’s my experience. I started with a monthly salary of 3 million won three years ago and have now saved 100 million won. The key was three things: 1) Optimizing housing costs (from gosiwon to monthly rent to jeonse), 2) Automatic transfer savings + ETF installment buying, and 3) Home-cooked meals and packed lunches instead of eating out. Specifically, I put 1 million won each month into S&P 500 and KOSDAQ 150 ETFs. Of course, luck played a part, but consistency was the most important factor. If you have questions, please leave a comment.
8 answers
Could you share some home-cooked meal and lunchbox tips? I spend about 500,000 won a month on eating out—any advice on how to cut that down?
Wow, that's amazing! I'm also making 3 million won a month, but with so many fixed expenses, I never even dreamed of saving 100 million. It seems like optimizing housing costs is really the key. How did you manage to secure the jeonse deposit?
It seems like consistently buying ETFs in installments really pays off. I've been putting 500,000 won into the S&P 500 every month for two years now, and I've seen a return of about 15% so far. Just a heads up, the KOSDAQ 150 is quite volatile, so be careful.
If you're putting 1 million won per month into ETFs after living expenses on a monthly income of 3 million won, that's 36 million won in principal over 3 years. The remaining 64 million won would require a return of nearly 180%. Is that even possible? Could you provide a more detailed calculation?
I also saved up 8,000 in two and a half years using a similar method. But instead of ETFs, I put a little into dividend stocks, and it was nice to have some cash flow. You might want to consider it.
Congratulations! I started with 250 per month and it's been two years, but I'm still at around 4000. It really reminds me how important consistency is. How did you utilize the jeonse loan?
I've heard that some people make extra income through DIY home improvement or secondhand trading within three years. Did you happen to do any side hustles?
It's impressive that you started out in a goshiwon. I also lived in one at first while saving up, and looking back, I think that struggle helped me build good habits. Keep it up, everyone!