Penny Pinchers 2011

Chun Ji-woong Song Joong-ki is an unemployed college graduate who continually fails job interviews and lives off an allowance from his mother, who runs a small restaurant in the countryside. Ji-woong is an eternal optimist, but having no money is cramping his dating life when he can’t even afford to buy a pack of condoms. Yet despite living in a tiny, dingy apartment in a low-income neighborhood, he’s about to face eviction when his mother abruptly cuts him off and he can’t pay the rent.

Across the hall lives Hong-sil Han Ye-seul. She is extremely frugal; she collects, then sells recyclables, rummages through abandoned homes, steals sugar from coffee shops, and will walk anywhere within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to save on bus fare. She denounces all activities that involve wasting money, such as going to church and the hospital, and even dating. Romance is the last thing on Hong-sil’s mind, she considers it a luxury and an unnecessary frivolity.

Hong-sil’s favorite hobby is depositing her savings at the bank, but her plans are brought to a screeching halt when she learns that she needs a separate bank account under someone else’s name to reach her goal of ₩200 million (US$200 000). So she tells Ji-woong that she’ll teach him the art of penny-pinching and include him in a short-term money-making scheme if he follows whatever she tells him to do for the next two months.

The pair’s unusual alliance grows within the building, where the landlady watches over the tenants with a mix of humor and sharp eyes. Their unlikely partnership is built on a shared distrust of waste and a stubborn belief that smart money moves can reshape their lives, even as they navigate the small, everyday dramas of neighbors and street-level economics. As they embark on this two-month plan, each decision tests their limits and nudges them toward reevaluating what they truly want—beyond money and beyond pride.