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<\/p>\nAs prices rise, more Koreans are turning extreme frugality into a way to both cut spending and earn small gains.<\/p>\n
\n Packages of microwavable instant rice are displayed at a supermarket in Seoul on July 20.
\n YONHAP\n <\/p>\n
As prices continue to climb, a new trend called “jjan-tech” is rapidly gaining popularity among Korea’s savings shoppers. The coined term combines “jjan,”\u00a0slang associated with extreme thrifting, with the English loan word used in another portmanteau referring to\u00a0personal financial management.<\/p>\n
It might not sound that different from the usual inflation-induced penny pinching, but it is \u2014consumers are no longer simply reducing how much they spend. Instead, they’re\u00a0trying to not only save money but also make money along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m currently taking time off work, so I sell coupons from my mobile carrier and coffee loyalty rewards,\u201d said a 41-year-old Gyeonggi resident surnamed Song on Wednesday. \u201cOnce, I bought a stamp for 200 won [14 cents] because I needed only one more to get a free coffee. You don\u2019t just find 500 won on the ground. Every little bit adds up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the jjan-tech boom, people are now\u00a0selling 1,000-won discount coupons for coffee chains for 500 won or buying promotional ready-to-cook food products for around 1,000 won.<\/p>\n
Last month, mobile carrier LG U+\u00a0issued coupons for a free serving of No Brand\u2019s spicy naengmyeon\u00a0(cold noodle) dish topped with sliced myeongtae hoe\u00a0(raw pollack). Posts reading \u201cSelling for 1,000 won\u201d and \u201cLooking to buy for 1,000 won\u201d soon flooded Naver online communities.<\/p>\n
A Naver community called \u201cJjandori Becoming Rich,\u201d where such transactions are common, has around 370,000 members. A\u00a0Jjandori is an extremely frugal person, but the term can also carry the less flattering meaning of cheapskate.<\/p>\n
Another service, called \u201cGeoji Map,\u201d has attracted more than 2 million visits since its launch in March. Geoji means beggar in Korean. The crowdsourced service lets users share and browse inexpensive restaurants on an interactive map.<\/p>\n
Online, a\u00a0real-life version of the hit variety show \u201cHappiness in 10,000 Won\u201d (2003-08) has also made a comeback among young people. The program challenged celebrities to survive for a week on just 10,000 won. Social media is now filled with content showing how to prepare a week\u2019s worth of banchan\u00a0(side dishes) with 10,000 won.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Customers line up at No Brand Burger\u2019s Seongsu Lab location in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, for a promotion offering a burger to the first 50 customers for 1,000 won (68 cents) on March 31.
\n NEWS1\n <\/p>\n
Retailers are also using the trend in their marketing.<\/p>\n
No Brand uploaded a video titled \u201cLooks Expensive, Right? Packing a Lunch That Costs Less Than Half the Price of Eating Out\u201d to its official YouTube channel\u00a0last December.\u00a0It has also shared recipes using affordable and readily available tofu, including spicy tofu stir-fry and mapo tofu (tofu braised in spicy sauce).<\/p>\n
The trend toward ultrafrugal spending is expected to continue as restaurant and food prices rise. Prices for kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew),\u00a0 jajangmeyon (black bean noodles), kalguksu\u00a0(knife-cut noodles) and gimbap\u00a0(seaweed rice roll) have increased every year, according to the Korea Consumer Agency.<\/p>\n
CJ CheilJedang said it will raise prices for 27 products, including microwavable instant rice, dumplings and grilled fish, by an average of 8 percent starting Thursday.<\/p>\n
Sajo Group will raise prices beginning Aug. 3. Canned tuna will increase by 10 percent, other canned seafood by 20 percent and products including\u00a0gochujang (red pepper paste), doenjang (soybean paste), deulgireum (perilla oil) and chamgireum (sesame oil) by 12 percent.<\/p>\n
Coffee chains Mega MGC Coffee and The Venti raised prices for major menu items by between 100 won and 500 won in May and June.<\/p>\n
BY\u00a0KANG BO-HYUN [kim.hayoon1@joongang.co.kr]<\/p>\n
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As prices rise, more Koreans are turning extreme frugality into a way to both cut spending and earn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46],"class_list":["post-561803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}