Hey,

There's a window open right now that most people living abroad aren't paying attention to.

The dollar is strong against almost every currency your life is priced in.

Peso. Baht. Rupiah. Colón. Sol. Lempira. Euro.

Every dollar you earn buys more of all of them than it did two years ago. And that gap, between what you earn and what everything costs, is wider right now than it's been in years.

Most expats just let this happen passively. They earn in dollars, spend in local currency, and assume the exchange rate is just whatever it is.

The ones winning right now are actively working the gap.

Here's exactly how.

◆ // THE PLAY

Currency Arbitrage, Working the Gap Actively

Most people think of currency arbitrage as something hedge funds do. It's not. It's something you do every time you decide when and how to convert your dollars.

THE CONVERSION TIMING PLAY
Exchange rates move on news, Fed decisions, and market sentiment. When the dollar is unusually strong, convert more than you need in that moment. Example: dollar spikes after a Fed announcement, you convert three months of expenses instead of one. You lock in the strong rate before it weakens again.

THE BANK ARBITRAGE PLAY
Most banks charge hidden fees on currency conversion, 2-4% worse than the real market rate. On $2,000 a month that's $40-80 disappearing every single month. The fix: use Wise (wise.com/invite/irhc/geraldl234) for all conversions. Real rates, transparent fees. The difference adds up to $500-1,000 a year.

THE INCOME CURRENCY PLAY
If you have any control over how you invoice, invoice in USD. Always. Let the client absorb the conversion cost, not you.

THE SAVINGS CURRENCY PLAY
Keep savings in USD, not local currency. Local currencies in expat destinations depreciate over time against the dollar. Keep floor spending money local. Keep everything above the floor in dollars.

◆ // THE NUMBER

$6,240

That's what the average American expat loses every year to bad currency conversion practices. Hidden bank fees, wrong invoice currency, savings depreciation, it adds up fast. None of it feels like a loss because it happens slowly and invisibly.

$6,240 a year is $520 a month. In the Philippines that's a full month of living expenses, gone to inefficiency instead of your life.

◆ // THE TOOL

Wise, wise.com/invite/irhc/geraldl234 This is the one tool in the currency stack that does the most work. Real exchange rates, transparent fees, and it's what I use for every conversion between what I earn and what I spend. Set it up once, use it forever. The difference versus a bank shows up in the first transfer

◆ // THE MOVE

This week, calculate your currency leak.

Pull your last 3 months of bank statements. Find every international transfer or currency conversion. Compare the rate you got to the real rate on XE.com that day.

The difference is your leak. Multiply it by 12. That's your annual currency tax.

If it's over $500, open a Wise account today (wise.com/invite/irhc/geraldl234) and route your next conversion through it.

Tag me on Instagram with your leak number → @ExpatBuildr. The most surprising one gets featured next issue.

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

Building from Cebu, working the gap, still figuring pieces of this out in real time same as you. Tag me @ExpatBuildr with your currency leak number, I'll feature the best one on my youtube channel.

My Youtube

— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🌏
Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. — Free forever → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe
P.P.S. — Move the dollars right → wise.com/invite/irhc/geraldl234

Hey,

The question I get more than any other: Philippines or Thailand?

I've lived both sides of it. Phuket in Thailand. Cebu in the Philippines. So here's the honest answer instead of the internet's usual take.

[WATCH: The walk in Phuket → youtu.be/jbsVpoeBKA8]

◆ // THE PLAY

It's Not Philippines vs Thailand. It's Cebu vs Phuket.

Phuket - beautiful, built for tourism, priced like it. Most people picture Phuket when they picture Thailand, then are surprised when the bill doesn't match what they researched.

Cebu - real city, real cost of living, not built around tourism the same way. This is where the math actually works for building something long term.

But here's what the cheaper city actually buys you: time. Not a solution. It slows the clock. It doesn't stop it.

The only thing that stops it is a business.

◆ // THE NUMBER

Cebu runs $800 to $1,800 a month for a single person living comfortably. Phuket runs $1,100 to $2,000. When I lived in Phuket, rent and bills were genuinely affordable, the food was so good I kept overspending anyway. The overlap is real at the low end. Where they actually diverge is rent, and one detail almost nobody accounts for: electricity in the Philippines runs roughly double Thailand's rates. Cebu is still the cheaper city overall, but that gap narrows more than people expect.

Full breakdown, real numbers → expatbuildr.com/blog/geo-arbitrage/cebu-vs-phuket-cost-of-living

◆ // THE TOOL

The Thing That Actually Stops the Clock

Cheaper rent buys you months. A business buys you years. Mine started with a website, not a course, not a mindset shift. A page that turned a stranger into a paying client. Before it existed, I had an idea and no way to prove it to anyone. After it existed, I had a business.

If your runway is the problem and you don't have a website that can actually convert a stranger into a client yet, that's the real starting point. I built the offer I wish I'd had back then → expatbuildr.com/website

◆ // THE MOVE

This week, pick your city, then ask the harder question.

Look at where you're actually thinking of landing, not the country's average. Check what that specific city costs, not what the country is known for.

Then ask it straight. Are you buying time, or are you building the business that means you never have to ask this question again.

DM me on Instagram @ExpatBuildr with which city you're weighing. I'll tell you straight if it fits your runway.

◆ // PROMPT OF THE WEEK

Paste this into any AI chat, swap in your real numbers:

"I have $[savings] saved. My monthly costs are $[amount] in [city]. Calculate my exact runway in months. Then tell me, if I need to build $500 in monthly income to double that runway, what's the fastest realistic way to do that with the skills I already have: [list 2-3 skills]."

Next issue, the currency math, how the dollar gap actually works in your favor right now.

— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🌏
Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. — Free forever → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe
P.P.S. — Run your own numbers → galaxyarbitrage.com/shop

Hey,

Last issue I said the only path to staying abroad long term is becoming a founder.

But founder means something different depending on who you are.

A real estate agent closing $550K deals between trips to Medellín is a founder. A developer running a SaaS from Cebu is a founder. A YouTuber earning $3K/month from Southeast Asia is a founder. Someone managing a construction company remotely from Portugal is a founder.

The stack, the tools , the country, the burn rate see it looks different for each of them.

Here is how to find yours.

◆ // THE PLAY

The Three Founder Types

TYPE 1 — THE REMOTE OPERATOR
You already have a business generating income in the states. Real estate, construction, franchise, rental cars like Turo. The business runs without you, or you run the business thru managers. Your move abroad is not about building income, it is about reducing what it costs you to live on the income you already have. You might also be a remote worker with a cool boss letting you work from anywhere.

Best base: Colombia if you have quarterly US meetings ($800 roundtrip to Miami). Philippines if you can operate fully remote ($1,200 roundtrip, lowest daily burn rate).

TYPE 2 — THE DIGITAL FOUNDER
SaaS Dev, Newsletter, YouTuber, affiliate income. Already location-independent. You are not changing how you earn, you are changing what the same income actually buys you.

A YouTuber earning $3,000/month in San Diego is surviving. The same $3,000/month in Cebu is a 73% savings rate. The income did not change. The outcome did.

Best base: Philippines for the highest savings rate. Colombia if you need US timezone overlap.

TYPE 3 — THE SKILL-BASED FOUNDER
High-value skill. Irregular income in large chunks. Real estate agents, consultants, developers, designers. You do not need to be in the US every day, just for closings, meetings, and deliverables.

The math: one $550K deal at 6% = $33,000. Round trip from Medellín to close: $800. Monthly savings living abroad vs a US city: $2,500-3,400. The business did not change. The burn rate did. Happy Real Estate Agent.

Between deals you build Layer 3. The gaps that used to be expensive waiting become the time you build the machine.

→ Full country comparison by founder type: HERE

THE PRE-EXPAT MOVE

You do not have to leave to start. A studio instead of a two-bedroom in San Diego or Scottsdale saves $1,200-1,500/month. That is 6 extra months of runway per year before you book a single flight.

Runway extension starts now. Not when you land.

◆ // THE NUMBER

$40,800

Annual runway a skill-based founder gains in Medellín vs the same income in a mid-tier US city.

$3,400/month in saved living expenses × 12.

That is not income. That is time, the most valuable thing a founder has.

→ Full burn rate breakdown by founder type: HERE

─────────────────────────────
The Expat Founder Stack checklist is free.

Which tools belong in your stack depends on which founder type you are. The checklist breaks it down, and links to the free Philippines playbook.

→ Get the free checklist → HERE
─────────────────────────────

◆ // THE TOOL

Every founder type needs four infrastructure layers:

Money — how you receive and convert income without losing it to bank fees
Protection — health coverage and security for operating remotely
Operations — the tools that keep the business running day to day
Scouting — how you research and test a new base before you commit

The complete stack, every tool, every link, broken down by founder type — is at:

→ Get the free checklist → HERE
→ Full tool breakdown: HERE

◆ // THE MOVE

This week identify which founder type you are.

Not which one sounds best. Which one actually describes how your income works right now.

Then tell me: what is the single biggest expense in your current life that disappears when you move abroad?

Tag me on X with your founder type and that expense.

→ @ExpatBuildr

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

Last issue I asked for your floor number.

The range came back wide $650/month in Chiang Mai to $2,100/month in Lisbon.

But the pattern was the same everywhere. The people who knew their exact number felt in control. The ones who did not had a number in their head that was 30-40% higher than reality.

Run the actual math. It is almost always smaller than you think.

Issue 6 — currency arbitrage. The dollar is doing something right now that most expats are not taking advantage of. The gap between what you earn and what everything costs is wider than it has been in years.

Next issue is the math on how to actively work that gap instead of just passively benefiting from it.

Do not miss it.

— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🌏

Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. Galaxy Arbitrage Weekly is free. Always will be. If someone forwarded this → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe

P.P.S. The Expat Founder Stack checklist is free. Already a subscriber? → Get the free checklist → HERE  or Visit our Shop → Galaxy Arbitrage Shop

Hey,

If you moved abroad to build something or you're planning to this issue is the one I wish someone had sent me before I left.

Most expats solve the cost side of the equation.

They move somewhere cheap. Rent drops. Food drops. The dollar stretches. The math improves dramatically.

Then they realize the income side is still running on a structure built for American prices. One bad client month. One slow quarter. One unexpected expense. Suddenly the buffer is gone and the flight home becomes a real conversation.

The location is right. The income structure is wrong.

Here's the framework that fixes it.

◆ // THE PLAY

The Three-Layer Income Stack

Every expat founder who stays long term, not the ones who come for six months and go back, the ones who genuinely build a life abroad, runs some version of this structure whether they named it or not.

LAYER 1 — THE FLOOR
Active income. Reliable. Shows up every month regardless of what the market does.

This is the non-negotiable layer. A remote job, a service business, a skill you sell directly. For a pre-expat still in the US this is what you build before you book the flight. For an active expat this is what you protect before you optimize anything else.

The floor has one job: cover your number. Not the survival number the operating number. The amount you need to live comfortably, work effectively, and not think about money every day.

In the Philippines that number is $1,200 - $1,600/month for a founder operating at a sustainable pace. Single with no family or girlfriend I was able to go as low as $600 and sustain until things picked back up. In Portugal it is closer to $2,200. In Colombia around $1,400. Know yours before you build anything on top of it.

→ Full cost breakdown for the Philippines: expatbuildr.com/blog/geo-arbitrage/complete-guide-living-working-cebu-city

LAYER 2 — THE UPSIDE
Asymmetric bets. Variable income that can add significantly in a good period and costs you nothing in a bad one, as long as it never threatens Layer 1.

This looks different for every founder. Crypto plays. Consulting retainers. Stock Options that appreciate out of nowhere, Affiliate income. Freelance overflow. The rule is simple: this money never pays rent. It funds growth, tools, ad spend, and savings. The moment upside money starts covering floor expenses you have a structural problem.

LAYER 3 — THE MACHINE
Income that does not require your direct time. Digital products, a newsletter, a SaaS app, a monetized YouTube channel, content that generates affiliate revenue, Airbnb arbitrage, a laundromat or rental property back in the states, equity in something you built.

This layer starts as a side project and becomes the main thing over time. It compounds slowly. Most expat founders who are 3 years in have a Layer 3 that now exceeds their Layer 1.

The mistake is trying to skip to Layer 3 before Layer 1 is solid. Every month you spend chasing passive income without a reliable floor is a month the clock is running on your runway.

Build the floor first. Place smart asymmetric bets. Let the machine grow.`

◆ // THE NUMBER

$720

That is how much the average expat loses every year to hidden currency conversion fees sending money through a US bank at a 3-4% spread instead of using real exchange rate tools.

$720 is three months of groceries in Cebu. A round trip flight to Japan. Four months of international health insurance.

It disappears invisibly because the fee is baked into the exchange rate, not shown as a line item.

Fix this before you optimize anything else.

◆ // THE TOOL

Wise — the one tool every expat founder needs before anything else.

Most US banks charge a 2-4% spread on every international transfer. On $2,000/month that is $40-80 disappearing every single month. $480-960 a year. Not in fees you can see. In the gap between the rate they show you and the real exchange rate.

Wise gives you the mid-market rate, the real rate, with a small transparent fee instead of a hidden markup.

Real numbers:

Sending $2,000 through a US bank at 3% spread: you lose $60
Sending $2,000 through Wise: you pay roughly $9-12

Same transfer. $48-51 saved. Every single month.

For a pre-expat: set this up before you land. Send your first month of living expenses through it before you leave the US so you arrive with local currency already in hand.

For an active expat: check your last 3 months of bank statements. Find every international transfer. Calculate the spread you paid versus the rate on xe.com that day. That gap multiplied by 12 is your annual currency leak.

→ Open a Wise account → go.expatbuildr.com/wise 

◆ // THE MOVE

This week — define your floor number.

Not your ideal income. Not your goal. The minimum amount you need every month to stay where you are or where you are going.

Go to Numbeo.com → search your target city → add up the real costs for your lifestyle.

Pre-expat: that number tells you what Layer 1 needs to cover before you book the flight.
Active expat: that number tells you what you protect before you invest in anything else.

Once you have your number tag me on X with it.

Just your number and your city. That is it.

The most interesting ones get featured in the next issue.

→ Research your city's real costs → numbeo.com
→ Tag me on X → @ExpatBuildr

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

Last issue I asked what the math doesn't tell you about moving here.

The replies came back with one theme I didn't expect:

The hardest part wasn't the money. It was the identity shift.

In America you are what you do. Here nobody cares what you do. They care whether you show up. Whether you are present. Whether you are actually here.

That adjustment takes longer than the banking setup.

Issue 5 is going to cover something I have not addressed yet in this newsletter.

Most expats assume they can get a local job and earn their way to freedom in an arbitrage country. The reality is more complicated — visa requirements, income floors, employer restrictions, and a hiring market that does not work the way you think it does.

The actual path to staying, the one that works is becoming a founder. Not because entrepreneurship is romantic. Because it is the only visa compatible, income-scalable structure that gives you full control over your floor, your upside, and your machine simultaneously.

Issue 5 is the Expat Founder Stack. The exact tools, systems, and infrastructure that make the founder life sustainable abroad.

Pre-expats use it to plan. Active expats use it to audit what they already have.

Don't miss it.

— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🌏

Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. — Galaxy Arbitrage Weekly is free. Always will be. If someone forwarded this → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe

P.P.S. — The Expat AI Prompt Pack is free. Already a subscriber? Skip the form → expatbuildr.com/downloads

[ GALAXY ARBITRAGE WEEKLY ]
─────────────────────────────
Earning in USD · Living in ₱
Building from Cebu 🇺🇸🇵🇭
─────────────────────────────

Hey,

I've left the Philippines twice.

First time I told myself the timing wasn't right. Second time I told myself I'd come back when things were more stable. The timing was never right. Things were never stable. It was just easier to leave than to figure out the hard thing.

This is my third time here.

I'm not leaving.

Not because I can't. Because I already know what going home costs — and it's not just the plane ticket.

This issue isn't about the math. It's about what the math doesn't tell you.

◆ // THE PLAY

The Poverty Trap Nobody Talks About

When you first get here you feel it immediately.

Dollar goes 56x in peso. Your $800 feels like $3,200. Four bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Brand new motorbike. Philippine number and US number both active my total phone bill under $30. I dropped the T-Mobile plan that was running me $120-$180 a month. That alone paid for groceries.

On paper you're winning.

But here's the trap nobody warned me about.

The poverty around you is real. And it's contagious, not in the way you think. It doesn't make you poor. It makes you slow.

You start moving at the pace of people who have nowhere to be. You start thinking in pesos when you should be thinking in dollars. You stop operating like a builder and start operating like someone just trying to get through the week.

I watched it happen to other guys here. I felt it starting to happen to me.

The Philippines is the cheapest island life launchpad on earth for building an international income. But if you let the noise get to you, the distractions, the relatives who think your dollar is their dollar, the social pressure to slow down you will not be able to afford to go home even if you wanted to.

I had to get ruthless about staying focused in a place designed to distract you.

That ruthlessness is the real arbitrage skill. Not the math. The discipline to keep operating at dollar speed in a peso environment.

◆ // THE NUMBER

56x

That's how far the dollar stretches against the peso right now.

But here's what that number actually means in real life:

In America I was stressing about money and watching my daughter grow up through a phone screen. Sending money back. Missing everything. Comforting myself with whatever made the distance feel smaller for a few hours.

Here I'm stressing about the same money problems — and my daughter is running across the room and I'm the one chasing her.

Same stress. Completely different life.

That's the real number. Not 56x. The fact that I'm in the same room as her.

No arbitrage calculator captures that.

◆ // THE TOOL

The thing I didn't expect, my body changed without trying.

I didn't come here to get healthy. I came here stressed and trying to figure out how to build something before I ran out of runway.

But my wife cooks kimchi, chicken, and vegetables. There's no Buffalo Wild Wings, no Cane’s Chicken, or Five Guys in Cebu. The meat isn't hormone-injected. The fruit actually tastes like fruit and has lots of nutrients. I'm hauling water every few days. Riding the motorbike for groceries. Chasing my daughter around the house.

I wasn't trying to lose weight. I just lost it.

The environment changed so the behavior changed automatically. No willpower required. No gym membership. No meal plan. The inputs were different so the outputs were different.

That's geographic arbitrage applied to your own body. Same principle. Different variable.

In America I was fighting my environment every single day just to stay even, going on 2 mile walks daily. Here the environment is doing the work for me even though there aren’t many sidewalks to go on walks.

If you're thinking about making the move to the Philippines specifically — I put together everything I wish I had when I landed.

The Philippines Arbitrage Playbook covers:

→ Banking setup that actually works for Americans here
→ Which neighborhoods in Cebu and Manila are worth it (and which ones aren't)
→ Visa options broken down simply tourist, SRRV, digital nomad
→ Real cost breakdowns rent, food, transport, healthcare, school
→ The 47 pitfalls that almost broke me in year one

It's free. I built it because I wish someone had handed me this before I landed here with no plan.

→ Grab the Philippines Arbitrage Playbook 

If you want the full system after that every tool, every template, the whole build that's the Expat Arbitrage Starter Kit, and it's $47. I only sell kits for places I've actually lived. I live here. I'm still here. This one I can stand behind completely.

If you're not ready for either that's fine. Keep reading every Tuesday. The free content never stops.

// TOGETHER WITH SAFETYWING

One thing I actually pay for without thinking twice is health insurance.

I'm healthier here than I've been in years. But I'm not stupid about it. Medical care in the Philippines is cheap. An ER visit won't bankrupt you. But if something serious happens and you need real care or need to get home you need coverage.

SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance covers you in 185+ countries starting around $56/month depending on your age. I pay less for international health coverage than I used to pay for my phone bill in America.

If you're living abroad without coverage right now fix that before you fix anything else.

→ Get covered with SafetyWing Insurance
(affiliate link — I use this, I believe in it)

◆ // THE MOVE

One honest question this week.

What's the real thing keeping you from making the move?

Not the visa. Not the money. Not the job situation. Those are solvable problems and you know it.

The real thing.

Reply and tell me. I read every one. No judgment I stayed away from my own daughter for four years because I kept waiting for the right moment too.

The right moment doesn't come. You make the moment right.

→ Hit reply and tell me what's actually holding you back.

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

Last issue I asked you a question.

Four options. You can never leave whichever you pick.

🇺🇸 USA — $4,000/month
🇵🇭 Southeast Asia — $2,500/month
🇵🇹 Portugal — $3,000/month
🇵🇦 Panama — $2,800/month

The math says Panama wins. Dollar economy. Same timezone as the US. Lowest cost of the four. No currency risk.

But I'm not in Panama.

I'm in the Philippines because my daughter is here.

Sometimes the best financial decision and the best life decision aren't the same thing. The people who actually stay long term aren't always the ones who ran the best numbers. They're the ones who found a reason bigger than the numbers.

That's the variable the calculator can't measure.

Issue 4 is about the financial systems that make staying sustainable. Not the dream version. The real version how to structure your income so you're never one bad month away from booking a flight home.

Don't miss it.

— Galaxy (Tony Long II) 🇺🇸🇵🇭

Building from Cebu. My daughter is asleep in the next room. This is why.

P.S. — Galaxy Arbitrage Weekly is free. Always will be. If someone forwarded this to you → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe

P.P.S. — If you're seriously considering the Philippines move, grab my free Philippines Arbitrage Playbook here → Link (it'll auto-download and take you straight to the Expat Arbitrage Starter Kit if you want the full system after)

Hey,

Issue 1 was about the 6 types of arbitrage.

This issue is about the one most expats are sleeping on.

Not geographic. Not currency. Not labor.

AI.

While your competitors are still doing things manually like writing emails one by one, researching by hand, building systems from scratch, a solo expat founder with the right AI stack is doing the work of a 5-person team.

That gap is arbitrage. And it's compounding every single month.

Here's what that looks like in practice.

◆ // THE PLAY

AI Arbitrage — The Unfair Advantage You're Already Paying For

Most expats optimized their location.
Most expats optimized their cost of living.
Almost nobody has optimized their time.

Here's the math nobody talks about:

If you're a freelancer or remote founder billing $45/hour every hour you spend on admin, research, writing, or repetitive tasks is $45 you didn't earn.

Save 10 hours a week with AI. That's $450/week. $23,400/year.

Not from a raise. Not from a new client. From using a tool you already have access to.

That's AI arbitrage.

And it stacks on top of your geographic arbitrage. You're already saving $2,000/month by being in Southeast Asia instead of Austin. Add $1,950/month in recovered time value and you've created a $3,950/month advantage over the person still sitting in that Austin office.

The people winning right now aren't working harder. They're running a smarter stack.

Here's what that stack looks like for expat founders specifically:

→ Client research that used to take 3 hours: 20 minutes
→ Cold outreach emails that used to take 2 hours: 15 minutes

→ Weekly content that used to take 4 hours: 45 minutes
→ Landing page briefs that used to take a full day: 2 hours

That's 9+ hours back every week. Recovered. Reinvested. Compounded.

The gap between those using AI and those ignoring it widens every month. The window to get ahead of it is still open,.. but not for long.

◆ // THE NUMBER

$47,000 and let me tell you why

That's the equivalent annual salary increase when you recover 20 hours a week using AI at a $45/hour freelance rate.

Not by earning more per hour.
Not by working more hours.
Just by spending fewer hours on things AI can do in minutes.

Most people spend years negotiating for a $5,000 raise.

You can get 9x that by learning to use a ai tool that's already free.

◆ // THE TOOL

The Expat AI Prompt Pack — 7 Prompts Built For Your Life Abroad

Most AI prompt lists are built for people sitting in US offices.

This one I built for you.

7 prompts covering every arbitrage type, income, time, health, relocation, information, content, and money. Copy any of them into ChatGPT or Claude, fill in the brackets, and it does the research in under 60 seconds.

→ Download the full prompt pack free here: expatbuildr.com/downloads

Here's how to use two of them right now:

PROMPT 2 — Time Arbitrage (my personal favorite)

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT:

"I am a [FREELANCER / REMOTE WORKER / SOLOPRENEUR] living abroad in [COUNTRY]. I currently spend roughly [X] hours a week on work and [X] hours on admin, errands, and household tasks. Identify which of my tasks could be outsourced locally at a fraction of US cost, what those tasks would realistically cost per month in [COUNTRY], and how many hours per week I would get back. Give me a prioritized outsourcing action list."

What comes back will surprise you. Most expat founders I know recovered 8-12 hours a week the first time they ran this.

PROMPT 7 — Financial Arbitrage

"I am an American expat living in [COUNTRY] earning income in USD from [REMOTE JOB / FREELANCE / BUSINESS]. Build me a complete expat money stack that covers: the best US bank account for international use with no foreign transaction fees, the best way to transfer money from USD to [LOCAL CURRENCY] with lowest fees, how to handle US taxes as an expat including FEIE basics, and 2 ways to grow savings in USD while living on local currency."

The right money stack saves most expats $1,000-$3,000 a year in fees alone.

All 7 prompts are in the free download:

→ expatbuildr.com/downloads

◆ // THE MOVE

This week — run one prompt.

Not all seven. Just one.

Pick the one that solves your biggest problem right now:

→ Trying to earn more? Run Prompt 4 — Remote Income
→ Feeling stretched thin on time? Run Prompt 2 — Time Arbitrage
→ Thinking about moving countries? Run Prompt 5 — Information Arbitrage
→ Paying too many bank fees? Run Prompt 7 — Financial Arbitrage

Open Claude or ChatGPT. Paste the prompt. Fill in your brackets.

Then reply and tell me what came out of it. I read all replies so don’t be shy.

The most useful reply becomes the opening of Issue 3.

→ expatbuildr.com/downloads

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

Before you go, I have a question.

No math required. Just honest instinct. Should be fun.

You have four options. You must pick one and you can never change it. We’re just pretending. You can earn these amounts but you must choose a country and this will be your salary for good.

🇺🇸 USA — $4,000/month. You can never leave.
🇵🇭 Southeast Asia — $2,500/month. You can never leave.
🇵🇹 Portugal — $3,000/month. You can never leave.
🇵🇦 Panama — $2,800/month. You can never leave.

Which do you pick and why?

Hit reply and tell me. No wrong answer.

The most interesting reply opens Issue 3. And next week I'll break down which option actually wins on the math the answer might surprise you.

— Galaxy 🇺🇸🇵🇭

Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. — If someone forwarded this to you and you want every issue free in your inbox → newsletter.galaxyarbitrage.com/subscribe

P.P.S. — The prompt pack is free. No email required. No upsell. Just 7 prompts that work → expatbuildr.com/downloads

Hey Fam,

First off welcome to the real thing.

Issue 0 was the origin story. This is where the strategies begin.

Before I get into it I want to say something that most newsletters won't.

You didn't end up abroad because things went perfectly. Neither did I.

Some of you left or want to leave, because rent in your city is a joke. Some of you got laid off and realized the safety net you thought existed wasn't there. Some of you looked at what it would take to buy a house back home and did the math and it just didn't add up. Some of you are rebuilding something, a business, a savings account, a sense of control over your own life.

I know because I'm doing the same thing.

I lost $300K in crypto. Ahem. Not in one trade in a series of increasingly confident bets on memes and digital assets I couldn't control. I had skill. My position was wrong. Skill in a bad position still loses.

That loss forced me to look at everything differently. Not just how I earn money but where I earn it, where I spend it, and what systems I build in between.

What I found changed everything.

◆ // THE PLAY

The 6 Types of Arbitrage — and the one to start with

Arbitrage means taking advantage of a gap or price difference between two markets. Most people think it's a finance term. It's actually a life strategy.

1. Geographic Arbitrage
   Earn in a strong currency. Spend in a weak one. Keep the difference. Austin rent is $3,200. Manila rent is $1,200. Same $4,000 income, but one version of you saves $24,000 a year the other version is barely scrapping by.

2. Currency Arbitrage
   The dollar buys more inn16 countries on our list than it did two years ago. That gap is a real financial advantage, and it expires when exchange rates shift. The window is open now.

3. Labor Arbitrage
   A skilled developer in the Philippines earns $800-1,200/month. Same skill set in California costs $8,000-12,000/month. The gap funds your entire operation.

4. Information Arbitrage
   As a founder / creator, you know things your home market doesn't. Which banks don't charge foreign fees. Which visas are easiest. Which cities have the best infrastructure. That knowledge has real value. Package it up sell it to your audience.

5. Health Arbitrage
   A doctor visit in Cebu costs $15. In the US it's $250. Dental work that costs $3,000 in California costs $200 here. International health insurance runs $100/month vs $600 in the US. Most people never factor this into the math.

6. Time Arbitrage
   While competitors do things manually which takes time to do, AI lets solo operators do the work of entire teams save more time on workflows that used to take a whole team to do. The gap between those using it and those ignoring it widens every week. That gap is arbitrage.

The one to start with: Geographic. Always. Everything else builds on top of it. If you're already abroad you're already doing it, you just may not be optimizing it yet.

◆ // THE NUMBER

$28,800

That's how much more per year the average American expat in Southeast Asia saves compared to their equivalent living in a mid-tier US city on the exact same income.

Not by earning more. Not by working harder. Just by living somewhere else.

Most people spend their entire career trying to get a $28,800 raise. You got it by moving.

◆ // THE TOOL

The free Arbitrage Calculator Lite is in your welcome email, but if you missed it grab it here:

→ Get your free Arbitrage Calculator → galaxyarbitrage.com/calculator-lite

Plug in your income and your current US city. Pick 2-3 expat destinations you've been curious about. The gap number that comes out is your real raise. Not taxed. Not negotiated. Just math.

Next issue I'm breaking down the Pro version, the one that factors in healthcare costs, tax advantages, currency spreads, and visa costs across the 10 cheapest high-quality countries for American expats right now.,

That's Issue 2. It's going to be the most useful tool I've ever shared with this list..

◆ // THE MOVE

This week — calculate your gap.

Take your monthly income. Subtract your current monthly expenses. That's your current gap.

Now go to Numbeo.com and look up the cost of living in one city you've been curious about. Recalculate.

What's the difference?

That number is what geographic arbitrage is worth to you specifically. Not in theory. In your actual life.

Reply and tell me what you found. I read every reply.

◆ // FROM THE COMMUNITY

This section grows as you do.

Reply to this email. Tell me which of the 6 arbitrage types you're already using or which one you want to understand better. The best reply becomes the opening of Issue 2.

I'm using all 6 right now to get my $300K back.

Some are working faster than others. I'll tell you which ones as we go.

That's the deal, I share what's actually working as it happens. Not theory. Not a course. The real thing in real time.

Issue 2 is the full arbitrage calculator. The one I wish existed when I first left.

Don't miss it. Make sure to Follow the build on X → @ExpatBuildr

— Galaxy 🇺🇸🇵🇭

Building from Cebu. Earning in USD. Sharing the math.

P.S. If someone forwarded this to you and you want every issue in your inbox, it's free → galaxyarbitrage.com