Most expats land in the Philippines and spend their first week figuring out things they could have sorted before they left.

How do I pay for this? How do I get a ride? How do I pay my electricity bill? Where do I buy furniture without paying $700 in shipping?

Five apps. That is all it takes.

Watch the full breakdown here

GCash is the mobile payment app that runs daily life here. 7-Eleven. Coffee shops. Utility bills. Restaurants. Even on the remote island of Siargao most establishments accept it.

Setting it up as a foreigner requires your ACR card — the Alien Certificate of Registration issued to foreign nationals staying beyond 59 days. Once verified you load it from your Philippine bank account or any GCash ATM at a convenience store.

You can also link GCash directly to your Grab account so every ride is automatically charged without pulling out cash. In BGC where you are grabbing rides constantly this saves more friction than it sounds.

Never take a taxi in the Philippines if you can avoid it.

Grab shows you the exact price before you confirm. Transparent. Fixed. No negotiating. Taxis charge whatever they want and as a foreigner that rate is almost always higher than it should be. Grab cars are also cleaner and better air conditioned — important in a hot tropical city stuck in traffic.

Download it before you land. Use it from day one.

Without this app paying your electricity bill means going in person to your condo admin office. With it you pay in two minutes from your phone.

When you sign your lease your unit owner gives you a Meralco account number linked to your condo. Download the app, enter the number, done. The expats who do not know about it spend their first month making unnecessary trips for something that takes two minutes online.

When you arrive you are going to need things. A fan. Kitchen supplies. A desk. Your instinct is going to be Amazon.

Do not use Amazon for anything being shipped to the Philippines. A $200 desk will cost you $700 just in shipping fees.

Shopee is where you buy everything instead. Same desk. Five dollar shipping. The selection covers furniture, kitchen supplies, electronics, pet supplies — everything you need to set up your new home. Read the reviews and stick to highly rated sellers.

Before you sign a long-term lease you need somewhere to stay while viewing units and getting your bearings. A one to two week Airbnb in BGC lets you test the neighborhood and make your long-term decision from an informed position rather than a stressed one.

One warning — listings in the Philippines are not always what they appear in photos.

GCash for payments. Grab for transport. Meralco for utilities. Shopee for setting up your home. Airbnb for your soft landing.

Five apps. Download them before you board the plane. Your first week will thank you.

But apps are the easy part. The things that actually derail a Philippines move are the rental bait and switch, the bank account catch-22, the visa paperwork, and the dozen other things nobody warns you about until you are already stuck.

That is exactly what our team handles for you. Over 170 Americans have made this transition with us — from the rental negotiation to the visa to the bank account — so that they landed here set up and ready to live rather than scrambling to figure it out alone.

If you are serious about making this move in the next one to four months,

Click here to start your move to the Philippines the right way.

Travel Well,
Evan Lorezca
The Savvy Expat