New Car + Construction + Dogs- Moving (Honolulu, Waimea: attorneys, house, wedding)

[Jane M]

About taking your dog outdoors. If you go to a beach where there is no lifeguard, you can usually bring your dog even if it is technically prohibited. There are some hiking spots that allow dogs, but you will have to take advice from locals. Touristy areas are where you will receive most resistance.

About transporting the dog: I would recommend Alaska as another poster did. Also, you may have to arrange your flight around the dog. Not all flights will have room for your dog. If you are trying to avoid quarantine, you must fly directly to KOA and not pass through HNL. So that is something else to consider.

About selling all your stuff: it depends. 5k is actually not bad to ship all your stuff. I was quoted 8k and that was excluding all furniture (which we did not have much). We made 12,000$ selling everything and bought used stuff through craigs list when we got here. Spent only like $600 total to replace our stuff.

Furniture: Very expensive here unless you go through Craigslist. Don't buy new stuff or a lot of stuff until you are absolutely sure this island is where you want to live.

If you live in temperate Waimea, your electricity bill will probably be $80/month, but could be much more if you are not careful. I think Hotzcatz mentioned that electricity is .44/kwh. Use LED lights and do not run a drier for your clothes and you can keep costs down. If you are home all day, you might have to run fans all day....but again, it depends on where you live on the island.

I'm curious, where on the island are you seeing houses for 200,000$? Puna, perhaps?

[Harpaint]

Please, for your little dog's sake, take seriously the problem finding a rental that will take her. It is very likely you won't find one, especially when you are new and don't have any locals to recommend you. As for the rain, remember most of it comes at night, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

[divagotstyle07]

Thanks to all who continue to respond and give such great advice.

The dog will be flying with me in the plane (not crated) because she is my emotional support animal and can be in plane. She has never flown yet (we will do a tester flight to be sure she can handle it without needing some medication or ear muffle things) so I couldn't dream of crating her. She is practically my child, so I want her to be next to me (mainly so I can emotionally support HER during the flight LOL)

We will definitely be budgeting to stay for a month in a vrbo/cheap hotel so we can land a place to rent on the island. We luckily do have several friends who may let us stay with them and we can bounce around to each uncle's house to save some money. A week there, a week there, etc.

I had a minor freak out thinking I wouldn't be able to take the dog anywhere, but my bf assured me that there are options. We love camping and being outside in secluded local places, so we think that should make it easier on us as well to have her able to hang with us. And once we buy a house, we will definitely be creating the most awesome "dog park" (ie. Open backyard!!) for her!! She has never even seen an open acre of land before that isn't just at the beach, so she's in for a surprise in the coming years

The cheaper houses I've seen, yes, are in the not so nice areas. Waimea of course is expensive. But, we are both very handy and we do want a fixer upper to start. Waimea seems to have fixer uppers at $350k+, so it may take some special looking or more time.

My bf came up with the fabulous idea of getting a superintendent or project management job in construction before we move in order to possibly get help with moving expenses!! I think that's a slim chance but hey, I've seen it happen to people! Wouldn't that be awesome?!!

[divagotstyle07]

Also.....can you tell my dog is spoiled?!!

[Jane M]

Originally Posted by divagotstyle07

Also.....can you tell my dog is spoiled?!!

Dog spoiling is the best.

Also, about construction jobs, I heard that the Waikoloa Hilton is expanding and they are hiring construction workers. I honestly don't know if your husband would be interested in that at all or if the application deadline has passed, but I thought I might let you know.

[divagotstyle07]

Thank you Jane!!

[divagotstyle07]

Update!!
As true minimalists, we are going to be getting rid of our household things and coming with very little. That should save us a solid $4k on moving expenses.

The plan is to ship what we want to keep but to sell the rest of our stuff, use the money for refurbishing when we are ready, and allowing us the flexibility to rent a furnished home which may be more understanding about the dog due to the higher cost (or so I've heard)!!

[divagotstyle07]

Refurnishing** not refurbishing. Although, we probably will have to refurbish some second hand furniture LOL

[jakdnda]

My husband and I are planning to move to Hilo in a couple of months with family there! I have to get my cat shipped out there and I know that is going to be a bit troublesome. I saw your post and was wondering if you made the move out there and did your husband get the job? (Before you moved out there)
Mahalo!

[davephan]

What kind of work on the Big Island pays $100K? I'm guessing a medical doctor. That's very low pay for an MD. It's fairly easy to make six figures working in IT in the right areas on the mainland. I'd make half to one-third what I make now, in Hawaii, if I could even find a place that would hire an outsider. Plus, the cost of living is drastically higher. Low pay is pretty much a fact of life in Hawaii, unless you find the right very rare high paying job. I just bought a dozen eggs for 58 cents yesterday, milk is about slightly over $1 a gallon, but I don't drink milk. I never bother with coupons or specials, too much hassle for me. There are tons of "Now Hiring" signs for $12 to $15 an hour jobs where I live. I could never afford to work that cheap though. Those are jobs for someone else, not me.

It sounds like you visited the Big Island at least one time. Moving to the Big Island without already having your jobs setup in advance is risky. But getting a job without already living there is harder too. Good luck with finding a place to rent with a dog. I didn't know that you can't walk dogs on county property. I can't remember seeing any dogs while visiting the Big Island, or the other islands, although there are a lot of people who have dogs that own their own property.

Coming from a fairly high cost of living place in California would make the transition easier. How much money do you have saved up for the venture? You might think about it this way. If you moved from elsewhere to San Diego, didn't have a job lined up or a place to live, how long could you last on your savings before you became homeless? Add to the mix, there is a lot of discrimination in Hawaii. Why should they hire you and your boy friend when they can hire a local relative or friend instead of you? Even if you are more qualified, that might not count for anything. You should probably have enough money saved up, so you can last 6 months to a year without jobs. That might be $50K or $100K, maybe less, or more. How much do you spend in six months, or a year where you live now? We spend about $60K a year, not including taxes, but make much more income than that. Taxes can be another $60K a year.

Are you saving anything for retirement now? I doubt if you'll be able to save anything when you move to Hawaii. Working on the other side of the island and driving an hour or more each way is going to get old quickly. I know people I work with that commute an hour or more each way, and they've been commuting like that for about 10 to 20 years, depending on the individual. That will take out 2 to 3 hours of your day, each day. When you get home, your shot from working and the commute, which is like working another job, without getting paid for it. Another factor to think about is many jobs are part time, no benefits. You might have to also commute from your first, to your second, and maybe your third part time job. The time between your part time, no benefits jobs is more time lost from your life.