While many idols promote their luxuriously gorgeous images with flashy fashion and
pricy meals, some have been said to lead a frugal life and save every penny they can.
So, in this video, we are going to list some of the most penny-pinching idols,
as said by their own fellow group’s members. Just on the note, though we’re all serious
in the job of compiling this list, you’d better take it with some humour!
1. DK (SEVENTEEN)
` In one of the
countless funny interviews that SEVENTEEN had over their idol-slash-clown career,
the members have picked DK as the most frugal one among the 13 boys. According to their
“accusations”, DK often “accidentally” leaves his wallet at home when the group eats out.
As a result, dinner is always on other members. However, DK doesn’t seem so stingy when it comes
to his own interests. In an episode of SEVENTEEN CLUB, DK was exposed for his shopping addiction.
His particular online shopping interest lies in shirts - he even bought several
patterns of the same shirts.
In DK’s room, there are also many unopened delivery boxes that he forgot having purchased.
Apparently, DK’s rigorous saving from group dinners has all gone to these
“occasional” shopping sprees.
2. SeungHoon (WINNER) Quite similar to DK’s strategy,
Seung Hoon from WINNER is also “well-known” for his forgetful habit of leaving money at home
In TV shows that WINNER participates in, other members often call SeungHoon
out for his frugal lifestyle. For example, when the group went out for a meat grill,
SeungHoon only focused on the grilling part, and let leader SeungYoon take care of all the payment.
However, SeungHoon’s stingy behaviour seems to apply only to other members in WINNER.
Towards his fans, on the contrary, SeungHoon is very generous. Once, before his fansign,
knowing that most of the fans haven’t eaten anything, SeungHoon ordered pizza for everyone.
On another occasion, as he came across his fans during dinner, SeungHoon did not hesitate to pay
for all customers in the restaurant back then. Seeing such “unfair” treatment,
no wonder other WINNER members want to expose SeungHoon’s thrifty life everywhere they go.
3. JR (NU’EST) Another member of
the eating-without-paying squad is Jonghyun, or JR, from NU’EST. Other members said that
JR always “goes with the wind” when others suggest paying for the meal. On the contrary,
JR himself never offers to pay for dinner for the group, or likes the idea of splitting the bill.
While JR seems so cold towards his fellow group members, he was hailed as the “national leader”
during his participation in the idol survival show “Produce 101” for always treating the younger with
great care and compassion. He was also praised for secretly donating to schools in his hometown.
Fans and non-fans would say JR seems tight-fisted to his buddies,
but is indeed a very generous person.
4. Yang Yoseob (HIGHLIGHT) The member who HIGHLIGHT once
picked as the most frugal is, of course, Yang Yoseob. According to other members,
Yoseob never buys anything when the whole group goes shopping for high-tech gadgets together.
Instead, he waited for others to get fed up with the products and pass them on to him!
So thrifty as he is, Yoseob surprised his fans by buying his own albums
and… tried to collect the photocards.
He said he wanted to know the feelings of his fans, like how addictive collecting photocards is.
He indeed gained a lot of experiences after the album shopping adventure. After buying 10
albums yet getting many identical cards, Yoseob shared that he would not want to do this again.
5. Key (SHINEE)
Key is known as a leading fashionista among K-pop idols. However, in contrast to his fancy outfits,
Key leads an admirably frugal life with a lot of saving tricks. Once, he shared
that he started dying his own hair because the costs in hair salons seemed too high!!!
Not stopping at that, Key went so far as having his own garden and growing green onions when the
price of this vegetable rose in Korea in April 2021 For this idea, Key even appeared on the
news about the rising costs of green onions. According to the news reporter, “even a famous
celebrity grows green onions at home.” - and this celebrity is no one other than Key.
Of course, his fans were all excited over his unexpected appearance on the news.
Key surely can share not only saving tips, but also excellent gardening skills.
6&7. Eun Hyuk and Lee Teuk (SUPER JUNIOR) During their long hard-working years active
as one of the most successful male groups of all time and also as solo artists,
SUPER JUNIOR’s members have surely earned themselves some wealth that many are jealous of.
However, some of the members have also been exposed for their thrifty habits
by the others in the group. The so-called frugal duo includes Eun Hyuk and Lee Teuk.
Ever since his trainee days, Eun Hyuk has earned the nickname “Stingy” boy,
because he never paid anything for others. Once, Eun Hyuk asked Sung Min out to grab
hamburgers, but he only bought one for himself Eun Hyuk also shared that when they were trainees,
because the company pays for trainees’ meals, he and other members often chose the most expensive
foods they found. Since then, SM Entertainment has limited the costs of trainees’ meals.
Leeteuk comes second in the frugal ranking of SUPER JUNIOR. In 2014, the idol shared that
his monthly spending was just around 100,000 won. In his early days after debut with SUPER JUNIOR,
Leeteuk brought out amenities from hotel rooms where he stayed during tours, and used paid room
services in other members’ rooms, making other members even beg him to spend money.
In one episode of Real Life Men and Women season 2, Leeteuk shared one of his “precious” saving
tips to fans. He said that if there is any item he wants to buy, he would wait for 1
or 2 days before actually buying, because the waiting time may kill the interest in the item.
Leeteuk does seem proud of his own saving tips. No
wonders he is often listed as one of the most successful self-made idols.
The two so-called stingy boys of SUPER JUNIOR have grown to their affluent lives,
but their thrifty legends will always be recited in the love of their fan-tis.
So, those are a few idols that we think can impress you with their frugal lifestyle.
Also accused by other members in their groups of being stingy,
they sure are generous to fans and have donated a lot to the society.
Is there any idol or artist that you think we should have listed?
Please let us know in the comment section.