A few weeks back I tried out a little web service here called "Skribit".  It involved a little ‘widget’ in the side bar and gave readers a chance to tell me what they wanted me to write about.  frankly the tool looked a little ugly and did not seem to me to be too intuitive some I took it down during the on-going site redecorating.

But lo and behold, Skribit sent me a message to tell me a number of people had been voting for the topic of this post … so … your wish is my command.  Thanks Skribit.

Hmmm, things to do before the move.  How will I ever get a subject like that whittled down to size?  Well, no one blog post or series of blog posts will ever handle it all, but let’s see if we can get a start on it here.  Because of the way I am restructuring the site, there will be a dedicated pointer or index page to all the articles in any particular subject, so as posts about the moving process grow, they will always be easy to find. Just click on the "Contents" tab on the top menu bar and the complete guide to all content will open, broken down by subject, then you can click on any individual article to read more.

One way to cut this subject down to size is to divide an conquer.  I have always had good luck with chopping things up into "threes", so here’s a thought … three "M’s" … Money, Mail and Medical.

Money:

This one is kind of important because you are going to need some to live on.  I have heard one can live on love alone, but I haven’t tried it yet.  Probably isn’t in my near term plans, either.  There are two possibilities I will deal with here … those of you who will have a pensions, retirement benefit or other ‘doled out’ source and those who are planning to still be earning their living while here in the Philippines.  Several ‘foundation steps’ I think are essential to both:

Get you bank account(s) stable and make sure they will work while you are living in the Philippines.  Although I have Philippine bank accounts and tend to do business here as if I were planning to stay forever (I am, at this stage of the game), I do not believe in severing the ‘home country’ ties completely.  One very good reason, in my case, is that several of my income streams will not direct deposit in foreign bank accounts.  For another reason, I am still a US resident for a number of business/tax/voting reasons.  Thirdly, although I have no plans to leave at the moment, all my decisions are subject to change.  If something caused me to leave the Philippines permanently, I’d likely not go back to the US … I have other countries on my list that I ale\ready have enjoyed living in … but you can not beat having a ‘base of operations’ in the USA.

Will your bank or credit union accommodate this lifestyle?  The answer is a firm yes, no, or maybe.  That’s one of the reasons I put this step at the top of the list … you might need to find a different banking institution.  Better to be getting this out of the way now.

Plan to get rid of all paper.  If your bank insists on paper statements and lots of other mailing back and forth, ask yourself why you are dealing with them.  we’ll talk about mail later, but for sure you want to look at the calendar and realize that the process of killing trees for no real purpose is passe.  I do everything I need to with my bank, online or over the phone.  I recommend you do too.

If you have bills that you will be paying in the US while you live in the Philippines, the first question is, why?  Get rid of every one that you can before you move.  For those you just can’t get rid of, move them on line.  My bank has a free bill pay service that allows me to pay any person or company in the US, by check or direct deposit, at any time I chose.  All good banks do.  Virtually anyone I have paid over the past few years has also had a website where I could get my current billing information.  If you have people whom you owe who are not smart enough to be online and save everyone time and money, fire them, you do not need the complication.

Credit cards:  Ah, another whole big aspect of money that I currently think about very seldom.  I have some, but I almost never use them.  They need some thought an preparation though, whether you love them or hate them.  Some credit card companies will deal with you living overseas just fine … others don’t like it … may not even mail new cards and otherwise restrict you.  There is only one way to tell.  You can’t find out about it from any web site or from what your cousin experienced.  You need to call each one of your credit card carriers (the 1-800 number on the back) and level with them about your plans.  You don’t have to do this, but if you make the move and have been planning on keeping a certain card and then they dump you because they found out, you can have a hassle you don’t need.  I have no problem in finding credit cards who are happy with my living arrangement, you just have to ask.

This is already getting long, so I’ll wrap up and save the rest for later.  You want, in my view, at least two credit cards left in your possession.  One should bill to an address in the US … this is very important as some merchants will not ship to an address other than the card’s billing address, and one card which bills to your Philippine address … for obvious reasons.

A parting thought, which makes me happy, is that here in the Philippines all the insanity which grips the US regarding credit ratings, FICO scores and the rest of that artificial trivialities fomented by the big credit reporting companies does not exist.  There are no nation-wide credit reporting agencies in the Philippines.  The Philippines does not exchange information with the ‘US big three".  No one asks for nor even has a FICO score and life, to me, just feels a lot simpler.

Next post we’ll talk about mail and other communication issues.  If there is something I haven’t covered, feel free to leave me a note on my secure, no-spam contact page or call me on 719-966-4295

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