Living in Cebu

In early 2006 I will be moving to Cebu, Philippines with the entire family.

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Philippine
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Making A Living
in the Philippines

“MAKING A LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES!”

(What You Need To Know To Operate A Small Business, Get A Job Or Invest In The Philippines)

This book has been written with you in mind; the average, everyday guy who wants to escape to the Philippines and live every day with the Filipina of his dreams but still needs to make a living!

For many its the need to make a living that is stopping them from living in the Philippines but here is where You can find out how to work, start a business or invest in the Philippines and escape.

Using ATM's in the Philippines

Despite so many things being cheaper here it still relatively expensive to live. I just keep taking large amounts out of the bank and it just keeps disappearing. I am sure this is a universal experience for all but there really are so many hidden extras here. Everything costs. You pay for everything. The small things that they would not dream of charging you for back home are not free here.

I seem to go to the ATM every other day. Everyone puts out there hands for money and while I can account for all of it I am still amazed at how fast it disappears.

The last few days have not been good days to visit an ATM. The line of people waiting to use the ATM has been very long. This happens in the middle and at the end of each month when many workers are paid.

Anyone that have visited the Philippines knows what prolific text message users they are and how fast they are at composing and sending messages. Yet when it comes to pressing a few buttons at an ATM their skill on the cel phone keypad is not transferable. They are painfully slow to watch and seem to think about each button they are about to press and look at the screens for long periods of time.

They also like to get multiple account balances before they can make a decision to withdraw any money. They will get these balances and stare at them for long periods as if they are going through the allocation of funds for various expenditures (and that might be exactly what they are doing).

They are oblivious to the fact that there is a long line of people waiting behind them. This is a typical Filipino trait. No real consideration for others. I have talked about it on the roads but its apparent in almost every aspect of their lives.

They are also shocking line jumpers. The will blatantly step in front of you should you leave enough space at the ATM or any other line.

The concept of cooperating and taking turns is alien to them. If there are two ATM machines there will be two lines. Back home we would automatically make one line to feed both machines.

It is wise to plan ahead when you are approacing the middle, end of the month or some sort of public holiday as the long lines of people will often they exhaust the available cash from the machine, and if this happen close to or on a weekend the machine will not be restocked until the following Monday.

Many ATM’s have limits on the amount of cash you can withdraw in a single transaction. For many this is only 4000 pesos. The Equitable ATM’s allow me to take out 5000 pesos using my PLUS card. If you can use the BPI Express machines you can actually take out 20,000 pesos. Unfortunately my PLUS card does not work in the BPI Express ATM’s.

Posted: Sunday 20th August 2006, 2:10 AM

Learn To Speck Cebuano

If you are planning no living in Cebu then its a good idea to learn the language and I have found a great teacher here in Cebu. He can also assist you online and is available to translate any documents.

If you plan to live in Cebu then why not learn to speak the language and earn to Speak Cebuano - Translation service also available