Happier Abroad Forum Community

Ghost wrote:Ok, so I have lots of ideas, but few concrete plans. This is one area where I tend to have trouble with: I'll come up with and gather dozens of ideas that are appealing, and then be overwhelmed by everything that I neglect to focus on one thing so I'll get relatively little accomplished.

However, by now, I have a more concrete idea of what I want to do in the near future. The country I want to go to is the Philippines. I had been interested in it being a place to go, but now I really want to. I'm reading and learning more and more about it. I'm also talking to a nice Filipina and want to meet her eventually.

Here's the thing: When it comes to going abroad, I am more interested in the long term and being able to stay abroad for as long as I would like instead of just taking trips. (I do also want to take a trip, or two, or three *ahem* for getting laid basically. More on that later.)

Obviously one of the best ways to live abroad is to work abroad also. Otherwise, I could just save up money for trips, and it would be short term things. I'm going to lay out my resources, and if anyone could give me advice on how I can go and stay abroad for the long-term, I would appreciate it! Here's what I've got:

1. A bachelor's degree - Education/English. One of my desires is to teach English in a foreign land. Obviously, that would be a great way to live abroad longer term. I know that it is possible that an American with a decent command of English could be a teacher of English abroad, but I hope my degree will help me that much more. What kind of additional certification or whatever do I need in addition to my degree to help me even more? Or do I even need anything additional with my degree. And does anyone know of good ways to go about teaching English in the Philippines? Because that is where I truly wish to go.

2. Money in the bank. Approximately $4500 so far. I make about $1000 a month at my job, give or take a little. Although I do not make much, I save the vast majority of what I do earn, and am trying to build a nest-egg. What is the best way to use my money?

3. No debt. I owe nothing to anyone. I have a paid for degree, vehicle, no rent or food expenses. This means I'm not a financial slave and have more freedom and options since I'm not making payments to someone every month.

Those are my main resources, and although I keep adding to them (mostly by saving money) progress is slow and I feel like I'm not going to get to where I need to be to make this dream happen.

As far as living longer term in the Philippines, I am willing to live frugally. I'm not looking to live like a rockstar there. The one thing I am willing to spend on is getting laid, which is something I want to do first, before having a girlfriend there. It's just a little issue I need to take care of...(Actually, I'll probably make another advice thread sometime about that so as to keep this one track.) Anyway, I know pretty much that I need an income there in order to live there. Besides teaching English there, are there "regular" jobs I could get hired to do, or are there decent business ideas for Americans in the Philippines. (I'm not really the entrepreneurial type, but where there's a will, there's a way I suppose.) Whatever it takes, I want to do it, eventually. I am patient, and am not trying to go tomorrow, but being happier abroad is a dream I am not willing to relinquish! If anyone who has experience with the Philippines has advice I would greatly appreciate it! (Or any good ideas at all, I'm all ears!)

And thanks again Winston for the site! It draws me back to it, and is one of the things that gives me hope for the future! Now I just have to work for that future.

Rock wrote:
3. Eventually, after you save enough money, you could invest in rentable condos in PI or other higher yielding products in order to generate passive investment income. Property and other such investments would probably require minimum capital of US$20,000 to US$30,000 but with a 10% return, you would take work pressure off yourself as you accumulated them.

Adama wrote:

Rock wrote:
3. Eventually, after you save enough money, you could invest in rentable condos in PI or other higher yielding products in order to generate passive investment income. Property and other such investments would probably require minimum capital of US$20,000 to US$30,000 but with a 10% return, you would take work pressure off yourself as you accumulated them.

Is $30,000 total investment or downpayment on a rentable condo?

E_Irizarry wrote:I feel that my boy Contrarian Expat is a little extreme on what is required to save up before moving abroad. 100, 000 is definitely a safety net due to the waning value of the greenback worldwide (although there are still a lot of countries in which you would get a favorable exchange rate)...but it's not the etched floor that must be met.

I feel 50, 000 is the absolute minimum. It took me 3 1/2 years to spend up 34.5 grand (i.e. $34,500 USD convertible), but I had spread that out in Thailand, the Philippines (where most of my money went down the drain - some of it lost over inflation/overpaying for shit (don't go there and accuse me of P4P..f**k you guys that want to hang me out to dry for that (that was bi-polar moment jajajaa lol!)); Chile (almost as expensive as Brasil, and slight more expensive than Colombia); Perú; Bolivia; Ecuador; and Brasil & Colombia killed my pockets with the finishing touch *sigh*. *Jumps back and kisses himself*

And since I know Spanish, I hardly was f***ed over in South America in contrast to Pinoys (Filipinos) that speak rudimentary English, Tagalog, Ilocano, and Chavacano (which is old-school, Castillian Spanish - which I got by fine) that got over on me way more times than I have realized.

But like a previous poster said on here, if you haven't mastered an idiom besides English, nor have an IT/Eng. degree/tech diploma, nor have strong related-familial ties in the foreign country you want to expatriate to, then you better have 50, 000 in order to allot yourself time to get up to speed meeting those aforementioned prerequisites.

However, however, it's like the guys whom haven't graduated from university (i.e. Puff Daddy/P. Diddy, Bill Gates, and the Korean-Am siblings in So. Cal. that are running a social site and only are 18 or something), ONE CAN MAKE IT AD-HOC-WISE (i.e. hitting the ground running) in a foreign country on the strength of beginning with savings of 10 to 15 grand or less.

That means one would have to become/be frugal (don't get it confused with being cheap), and pick up on the culture and the idiom fast enough if applicable.

So going to countries where the economy, the scene and how they were "feeling" me interpolates into how long one will make it in the abroad country.

I made the mistake of going to countries that weren't "feeling" me in combo with a lackluster economy.

In another words, I should have gone back to Brasil first and foremost upon when I first began to spend my savings.

Now I am back in the US of Gay trying to save up again. I'm not fretting; I have already sketched out a schematic blueprint of how I'm going to return to BR once and for all and become a citizen there.

I am not trying to scare people; I'm just telling it like it is.

Rock wrote:

E_Irizarry wrote:I feel that my boy Contrarian Expat is a little extreme on what is required to save up before moving abroad. 100, 000 is definitely a safety net due to the waning value of the greenback worldwide (although there are still a lot of countries in which you would get a favorable exchange rate)...but it's not the etched floor that must be met.

I feel 50, 000 is the absolute minimum. It took me 3 1/2 years to spend up 34.5 grand (i.e. $34,500 USD convertible), but I had spread that out in Thailand, the Philippines (where most of my money went down the drain - some of it lost over inflation/overpaying for shit (don't go there and accuse me of P4P..f**k you guys that want to hang me out to dry for that (that was bi-polar moment jajajaa lol!)); Chile (almost as expensive as Brasil, and slight more expensive than Colombia); Perú; Bolivia; Ecuador; and Brasil & Colombia killed my pockets with the finishing touch *sigh*. *Jumps back and kisses himself*

And since I know Spanish, I hardly was f***ed over in South America in contrast to Pinoys (Filipinos) that speak rudimentary English, Tagalog, Ilocano, and Chavacano (which is old-school, Castillian Spanish - which I got by fine) that got over on me way more times than I have realized.

But like a previous poster said on here, if you haven't mastered an idiom besides English, nor have an IT/Eng. degree/tech diploma, nor have strong related-familial ties in the foreign country you want to expatriate to, then you better have 50, 000 in order to allot yourself time to get up to speed meeting those aforementioned prerequisites.

However, however, it's like the guys whom haven't graduated from university (i.e. Puff Daddy/P. Diddy, Bill Gates, and the Korean-Am siblings in So. Cal. that are running a social site and only are 18 or something), ONE CAN MAKE IT AD-HOC-WISE (i.e. hitting the ground running) in a foreign country on the strength of beginning with savings of 10 to 15 grand or less.

That means one would have to become/be frugal (don't get it confused with being cheap), and pick up on the culture and the idiom fast enough if applicable.

So going to countries where the economy, the scene and how they were "feeling" me interpolates into how long one will make it in the abroad country.

I made the mistake of going to countries that weren't "feeling" me in combo with a lackluster economy.

In another words, I should have gone back to Brasil first and foremost upon when I first began to spend my savings.

Now I am back in the US of Gay trying to save up again. I'm not fretting; I have already sketched out a schematic blueprint of how I'm going to return to BR once and for all and become a citizen there.

I am not trying to scare people; I'm just telling it like it is.

If you gotta few grand US$ saved-up, have a bachelors degree, are white or black and speak native level English, Taiwan is a safe starting bet. You can pretty much fly over and walk into a teaching job within a month as long as you don't like like a total mess. Opportunities are especially abundant if you are willing to teach children.

E_Irizarry wrote:

Rock wrote:

E_Irizarry wrote:I feel that my boy Contrarian Expat is a little extreme on what is required to save up before moving abroad. 100, 000 is definitely a safety net due to the waning value of the greenback worldwide (although there are still a lot of countries in which you would get a favorable exchange rate)...but it's not the etched floor that must be met.

I feel 50, 000 is the absolute minimum. It took me 3 1/2 years to spend up 34.5 grand (i.e. $34,500 USD convertible), but I had spread that out in Thailand, the Philippines (where most of my money went down the drain - some of it lost over inflation/overpaying for shit (don't go there and accuse me of P4P..f**k you guys that want to hang me out to dry for that (that was bi-polar moment jajajaa lol!)); Chile (almost as expensive as Brasil, and slight more expensive than Colombia); Perú; Bolivia; Ecuador; and Brasil & Colombia killed my pockets with the finishing touch *sigh*. *Jumps back and kisses himself*

And since I know Spanish, I hardly was f***ed over in South America in contrast to Pinoys (Filipinos) that speak rudimentary English, Tagalog, Ilocano, and Chavacano (which is old-school, Castillian Spanish - which I got by fine) that got over on me way more times than I have realized.

But like a previous poster said on here, if you haven't mastered an idiom besides English, nor have an IT/Eng. degree/tech diploma, nor have strong related-familial ties in the foreign country you want to expatriate to, then you better have 50, 000 in order to allot yourself time to get up to speed meeting those aforementioned prerequisites.

However, however, it's like the guys whom haven't graduated from university (i.e. Puff Daddy/P. Diddy, Bill Gates, and the Korean-Am siblings in So. Cal. that are running a social site and only are 18 or something), ONE CAN MAKE IT AD-HOC-WISE (i.e. hitting the ground running) in a foreign country on the strength of beginning with savings of 10 to 15 grand or less.

That means one would have to become/be frugal (don't get it confused with being cheap), and pick up on the culture and the idiom fast enough if applicable.

So going to countries where the economy, the scene and how they were "feeling" me interpolates into how long one will make it in the abroad country.

I made the mistake of going to countries that weren't "feeling" me in combo with a lackluster economy.

In another words, I should have gone back to Brasil first and foremost upon when I first began to spend my savings.

Now I am back in the US of Gay trying to save up again. I'm not fretting; I have already sketched out a schematic blueprint of how I'm going to return to BR once and for all and become a citizen there.

I am not trying to scare people; I'm just telling it like it is.

If you gotta few grand US$ saved-up, have a bachelors degree, are white or black and speak native level English, Taiwan is a safe starting bet. You can pretty much fly over and walk into a teaching job within a month as long as you don't like like a total mess. Opportunities are especially abundant if you are willing to teach children.

See I don't have a Bachelor's, but are there ways around that by talking CELTA or TESOL and have them look for countries for you abroad?

Jackal wrote:Hmm...everyone is giving very complex answers and suggesting a very high amount of savings.

You could just do things the simple-minded, easy way like I did:
-Apply for jobs while you're still at home. Get hired while you're still at home (some countries may not do this and may require a demo lesson, but in that case, you should have contacted several schools which are good possibilities). Since you have a degree, I don't think you'll have such a hard time finding a job, but I don't know anything about the English teaching market in the Philippines.

-Pay for the plane ticket with your credit card. Use your savings for living expenses and fees during the first few months while you are getting your bank account and paperwork set up so you can get paid normally.

-Learn the local language, explore the country, and have fun!

Don't be too worried about finally taking the plunge! You can't wait and plan forever! You've got a bit of money and a degree (other people will have to tell you whether it would be advantageous for you to get a CELTA/TEFL certificate or not). Nothing more is needed besides an adventurous spirit!