내돈내산 (naedonnaesan) — Bought with my own money.
Lesson 79 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang. This expression appears in the book’s shortened expressions section.
What 내돈내산 means
Reviewers add 내돈내산 to emphasize that they paid for a product themselves, rather than receiving it from a brand. It abbreviates 내 돈으로 내가 산. The situation and tone help determine how natural the expression sounds.
A short conversation
A: 이 크림 협찬받았어?
B: 아니, 내돈내산 후기야.
A: Was that cream sponsored?
B: No, I bought it myself.
Use it with care
A self-funded purchase does not automatically make a review objective. Check any sponsorship disclosure and weigh the reviewer’s experience for your own needs.
A neutral or polite alternative: 제 돈으로 직접 샀어요. — I bought it with my own money.
Try it yourself
Does 내돈내산 prove a review is unbiased?
Answer: No. It only claims the item was personally bought. Read the Korean exchange aloud, then replace one detail with something from your own life.
Learn the rest of the series in Basic Korean Grammar. Find more expressions in the Korean slang book on Amazon.
