Moving to the Philippines, things to remember to do before, during and after

[Lee2]

I decided to start this topic so our members who have experienced the move can help guide those who will be making the move.

Some things I have thought to do before moving.
Find a person or mail service to forward all mail to, that way you can keep a few bank accounts and a few credit cards

Get rid of extra credit cards and bank accounts, simplify life

Get a US phone number for those from the US, be it a Magic Jack or a Google Voice number or other, so you can give that number to banks and credit cards before the move, so they recognize the number when you call them.

Of course give the same number to friends and family, having a local phone number makes communications much easier, I have two Magic Jacks and they have saved me many times when having to deal with credit cards, ATM cards that expired and banks.

Get new ATM cards and credit cards with the latest possible expiration date, I was one time in Cebu and needed money only to find out that my ATM card had expired and without the new card which was sitting in my US mailbox, I could not wire myself money from that account but luckily had other accounts I could work with.

So my opinion is have many ways to get money to yourself.

Bring a lot of personal checks from more than one bank and set up onlline bank to bank transfers, so you can move money between two or three banks, so if one gets compromised, you would still have access to your money.

Many of us deposit our US checks into our Philippine bank dollar account, others use their ATM card and others transfer money via services, so in order to avoid fees, a Charles Schwab account  http://tinyurl.com/h8zcvjz has free ATM withdrawals is one way. Some people do not worry about fees, I have found that fees add up over time but that is just me, I have saved a lot of money by not paying any fees for the last 22 plus years yet what is important is to have a few ways to get money, fees or no fees.

Hope others can add and maybe I will think of other items to add.

[sacalait]

Thanks for the good advise Lee. That is something I have not done, is the banking thing? I would probably keep my one bank account here. I only have one bank, and one credit card. I have always been a "cash" kind of guy?

I will look into the magic jack. Should I keep my US cell phone number? Or the current service? Does anyone know if I can keep my US number if I get cell phone service over there?

Many thanks to all who have given me the tips and advise over the past months! I am sure this will be an adventure of a life time!

[Lee2]

Thanks for the good advise Lee. That is something I have not done, is the banking thing? I would probably keep my one bank account here. I only have one bank, and one credit card. I have always been a "cash" kind of guy?

I will look into the magic jack. Should I keep my US cell phone number? Or the current service? Does anyone know if I can keep my US number if I get cell phone service over there?

Many thanks to all who have given me the tips and advise over the past months! I am sure this will be an adventure of a life time!

Cash works perfect in the Philippines but having too much of it around may cause a break in and carrying too much of it can get a person killed or hurt.

On the phone, if you have T-Mobile then you can use your current service over there while on wifi to call back to the US using their wifi calling. If you have AT&T then you could pay extra for an international plan which would allow you to text and make calls but the problem with either is that locals will not be able to call you or text you back without it costing them at least p20 per, we use a local sim card when there..

My advice would be to possibly change over to the T-Mobile prepaid $100 for 1000 minute plan and get one of their phones so you can do wifi calling, or port your cell number to a Magic Jack, that will cost you I think it is $20 to do, or port your cell number over to Google Voice and then forward that to a Magic Jack or use their Magic Jack app on wifi to make and receive calls. Also if you can get 4G LTE where you will be living, I doubt it, but maybe it is possible, then you would be able to receive and make calls while on data.

I happen to like the Magic Jack application for calls, I use that on my android phone but I also have a Magic Jack that we use for a home phone while in the US and the Philippines, that way banks, credit cards, friends, doctors, drug stores, etc, all recognize my number.

The banking would be a good idea to do asap, Charles Schwab allows free ATM withdrawals and they will reimburse changes the local machines will charge but of course, any of that might change at anytime. From experience, it is my opinion to have credit cards with a high amount of credit in case of an emergency, ask your credit card for an increase in credit now if you do not already have a high limit, also many places do not take AMEX. Also have a way to get as much cash as possible, thus two US banks, you can get $500 times two, three will give you x3 and so on, and also if you arrange with your bank for a higher ATM withdrawal amount, then all the better for getting cash but that may subject you to a larger amount if your card gets hacked, something to keep in mind.

I have known guys who have had serious health issues and needed to be admitted to the hospital, hospitals in the Philippines usually will not admit a person without cash, one guy I heard of wife was bleeding badly from pregnancy issues and he had to run ATM to ATM late at night to get enough money for the hospital to admit her, another got hit by a motorcycle and was in bad shape, another got hit by a car, I almost got hit by a motorcycle that was on the sidewalk after I had crossed the street, so be prepared for the worst and hope for the best and always use extra caution.

Ask away if you have more questions.

[BudM]

Thanks for the good advise Lee. That is something I have not done, is the banking thing? I would probably keep my one bank account here. I only have one bank, and one credit card. I have always been a "cash" kind of guy?

I will look into the magic jack. Should I keep my US cell phone number? Or the current service? Does anyone know if I can keep my US number if I get cell phone service over there?

Many thanks to all who have given me the tips and advise over the past months! I am sure this will be an adventure of a life time!

If I was you, if you currently deal with more than one bank in the US, I would consider keeping  two, with funds in them, rather than dealing with only one.  You never know, with the constant changes going on with internet security as to when you might get locked out of your online banking whether caused by a new system or your error.  You might need to do some transactions prior to being able to get the problem solved and going again.