Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS) About How To Travel, Retire, Work or Start a Business and Live in the Philippines
In a recent post here at PhilFAQS, where I try to answer everyone’s questions about Living in the Philippines, Customer Service — Getting Your Way , I used a headline I didn’t like very much, after I saw it in print. I said “Don’t Talk To Underlings”. My meaning (which I did explain) was to avoid the useless agitation and even hurt feelings involved in asking, for instance, a gasoline station pump attendant for help in fixing a problem with the station owner’s business rules … [Read more...]
Not too long ago I wrote a little article about how to protect yourself from a lot of hassles regarding taxi riding in the Philippines by using your cell phone creatively. Go read Using Taxis in the Philippines Without the Drama Take your time, I’ll wait. Other Things To Do With That Phone: One: Well my documenting your taxi with the phone id perhaps idea number one. It will save you untold amounts of time and trouble if something goes wrong, and it is cheap (as in free) and … [Read more...]
I just received this notice from the US Embassy Manila, and I always put them out on the Net, as requested, in order to help get the information out to US citizens and their relatives living abroad. I might as well take advantage of this time and web space to talk a little about overseas citizenship and children born overseas, living as a US citizen overseas and general items of interest regarding being a “US expat”. By necessity, this info almost always refers strictly to US citizens, … [Read more...]
"We are planning a move out of the United States, possibly to the Philippines. Our retirement will come from pension plans in the U.S. If we receive our checks in the Philippines, we understand that we still will have to pay federal taxes. However, there is no domicile state that can collect taxes. So doesn't that amount to a tax break? Or did I miss something?" --Joe Doakes, United States No, Joe, you've got it pretty much right there. Some states, California being one shining … [Read more...]
An astounding number of searches here at PhilFAQS, the site about really living in the Philippines, revolve around jobs … especially jobs for foreigners. In general, these are hard to find. There are some available all the time through multi-national corporations and the US government (strange how many people say they want a job but have never taken the first step of registering and finding out the requirements) … kind of a “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” routine. But … [Read more...]
This is a free announcement for ALL my readers. You certainly don’t need to be an American to participate, or too succeed online. Virtually every day someone calls me or emails me to ask … at times even beg … for information on making money in the Philippines, getting a job in the Philippines, earning a living in the Philippines and so on. The sad thing is, they are looking at the solution right in front of their face as they ask the question, ignoring the obvious … [Read more...]
Time to revisit another old favorite subject here at PhilFAQS, where we answer your questions about living in the Philippines. This has certainly been covered before, but people search for the subject continuously and I am here to try to give them what they need. Writing yourself a check and other Philippine Money and Philippine Banking Tips I last wrote at this on length in When You Need Money Just Write Yourself A Check | PhilFAQS a while back. I see a lot of searches … [Read more...]
One of the things that has troubled me for years about living in the Philippines, learning about living in the Philippines, helping people move to the Philippines, etc., has been the near complete lack of decent digital maps for the Philippines. It’s very hard to “point” someone to any kind of digital map online, and many of the ones that exists are inaccurate or out of date. For the past several years now, Google Earth and Google Maps (A tip, some folks have been confused over … [Read more...]
I received feedback from some readers that indicated these posts on making a living in the Philippines are not as popular as my simple, first-person accounts of just plain daily life here in Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines. So I certainly promise to focus in that direction in the coming year, but more than 70% of my readers come here from searches … and to sum up all the various searches in just one sentence, it would probably be ‘how to make a living in the Philippines?’. Many are … [Read more...]
It's about time for an update on this ongoing series, don't you think? I've been having a great discussion on the subject of solar and commercial electric service over on Randy's excellent blog, Journey to Samal. I'm certainly going to be writing more on the subject, but I thought that today I might cover something that will help practical people both here in the Philippines or back there at home, trying to get yourself financially ready to move to the Philippines. And, oh by the … [Read more...]
I wanted to start out today with an advertiser shout out for a couple of important sponsors here at www.philfaqs.com. I promote various products for two different reasons ... occasionally they make me a little money (Donald Trump is in no immediate danger from me). More importantly, they offer services and products that I think will be of direct use to my readers. Obviously I don't/can't know everyone who visits but since I have made the move to the Philippines and have been … [Read more...]
I haven living with ADD (or ADHD) isn't as easy as some people think ... nor is living with an Internet Service Provider who thinks that providing little or no service 12 or 14 hours a day is acceptable. (I'd be totally up to speed if I get up at three am every day, the service really "sings" about 0400 ... but then around 8 am or so it switches to Japanese and then says, "Sayonara". But hey, that's life in the Philippines and right now life is indeed good. … [Read more...]
