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My husband and I were laid off about half year ago. We tried hard but could not yet get a job, because of our age (?). It seems like we'll have to retire early - at the age 58. We're not old enough to collect our retirement and Medicare benefits .
We would like to move to Hawaii for the warm (water) beaches and the clean air . We're in Hawaii (Oahu) once, a long time ago and loved it very much. We're thinking of Kauai or Oahu - wherever less expensive.
We assume that to live in a clean, healthy environment will help us to maintain our good health (since we do not have any kind of health insurance until we are 65).
We would like to receive your ideas which will help us to find the best place to live a very simple life, to practice our Buddhism. We're Asians and vegans, prefer to live in a safe, friendly and quiet area.
1/ How to find a more affordable place to rent and to live within our budget of about two thousand dollars a month. We would like to rent an apartment or share a room in a single house which has an easy access to the public transportation.
2/ Is there any area that we should avoid?
3/ We heard of the discrimination, is it true?
4/ Which is the least expensive way to move from Orange County, South California to Hawaii?
Thank you very much in advance for your advice/assistance. Your time and kindness are greatly appreciated.
You posted a lot of questions, so I'll only address those that I "think" I can answer. We live on Oahu and while it has many benefits (more jobs, better public transit, variety of entertainment, more Dr's, higher edu oppty's, etc) the downside is a higher cost of living.
Having searched apartments & room rentals w/ my college student, I would say you could reasonably find a studio or 1 bd apt for around 800-1000 depending upon personal preferences in Honolulu/Makiki/Manoa/St. Louis Heights area. (Those are only the areas I have recently searched).
Food cost varies. I refuse to eat anything with whiskers, but other than that, we spend freely and drink wine regularly. Groceries run US around $600 per month. BUT, we aren't frugal nor vegans. We mostly buy at Costco, Safeway & Don Quiotes.
I suspect being a vegan will help in re: food costs. Since my food philosphy is vastly different, I can't quantify that.
A number of regular posters live on the outer islands and generally agree it is cheaper to live, yet harder to get around w/o a car and lack of Dr's make retirement difficult. (?) Not impossible.
Seems like there are plenty of lower paying, part time jobs on Oahu (8-10 per hour) and if you are semi-retired, those would be a nice supplement to your pension. Check out craigslist.org & indeed.com to see what's available.
As everyone constantly posts, I would plan a long term, look and see vacation to better judge if this is the right move for you. Buy RT tickets and don't ship you personal belongings right away. You may find you prefer one island over the next or neighborhood, so no sense in spending twice to move your stuff.
But, Hawaii is beautiful, weather is fabulous, people are decent, so why not give it a go? Just have a few $$ put away for exit velocity.
OP, please spend some time doing some searches on the C-D forum. All of these questions have been discussed at great length.
You state that you have been to Oahu once a long time ago. You need to realize that living in Hawaii is very, very different than what you experienced in one visit, and it is very very different than living anywhere on the mainland. Your memories of paradise are not the same as the realities of day to day living.
Living on $2,000 a month may be doable on the Big Island, where prices are cheaper, but public transportation is not very good. And the air is not so clean right now with the volcano spewing out vog.
Cheapest way to move? Bring only what you can carry in a suitcase while you settle in and decide if you really want to and can live here.
1/ How to find a more affordable place to rent and to live within our budget of about two thousand dollars a month. We would like to rent an apartment or share a room in a single house which has an easy access to the public transportation.
Ask the Buddhist folks where they would recommend. I'd think somewhere in Manoa or Nuuana might be nice, there is a large group of various temples, churches and hongwanji there.
2/ Is there any area that we should avoid?
Usually folks in Hawaii don't like to say bad things about specific places or people. It probably has something to do with all living together on a small rock in the middle of a really big puddle. How about asking where you should go instead? That will, by default, move you away from where you shouldn't be. In any case, don't rent an apartment or anything until you've seen it. Get a vacation rental or hotel room or hostel for a week or two while you search for a longer term rental.
3/ We heard of the discrimination, is it true?
Yes. But mostly they will discriminate against you because you are from the mainland. Also, a lot of what might be perceived as discrimination is just folks in Hawaii not being afraid to refer to someone by their race such as one auntie telling her nephew "Eh, Sonnyboy, we get choke banana, go give some to your new haole neighbor." That's not descrimination, that's identifying which new neighbor since the other ones could be Chinese, Samoan, Micronesian, Filipino, Tongan, Korean, etc. etc.
4/ Which is the least expensive way to move from Orange County, South California to Hawaii?
Only bring what the airlines will allow or shipping parcels via U.S. Parcel Post. Most houses in Hawaii are significantly smaller than their mainland counterparts so there won't be room for much stuff anyway. Is there some way to store your stuff on the mainland until you decide you want to stay in Hawaii? Then you'd be able to pick and choose what you'd want to bring over. There is a huge turnover on folks in Hawaii so the garage and yard sales are always pretty good. Usually by the time folks decide to go back to the mainland they can't afford to ship the stuff they brought over or have acquired here so they sell it cheap.
If the last time you visited Oahu was "long ago" be aware that it will have become a LOT more congested than you remember it.
Thank you very much for your kind and wise advices. Your ideas are so helpful to us.
We think we'll take about a month vacation to enjoy the beautiful Hawaii, meeting nice and friendly people - as you are - and to study more about a place where we would like to resettle.
Once again, thank you very much for your assistance. Your time and kindness are greatly appreciated.
A month vacation is a great idea! You can look around for apartments while you are visiting.
Is there anyway you could have someone pack up your mainland apartment if you found a place and decided to stay? That would save plane fare back over again if you did find a place.
Perhaps on your vacation you could check out several islands. The Big Island has a less expensive cost of living (less job opportunities, though) and has a Buddhist Bed & Breakfast up along the Hamakua coast if you want to sit zazen early in the morning. Akiko's B & B, I think it is. Here's a website for it: Akiko's B & B
Senior Citizens want to move to Hawaii. Please help. Thanks.
Dear Hotzcatz,
Thank you very much for your kind and wise advice.
My husband and I have thought about big island where it's not too busy and the housing is less expensive.
Our family was there for a few days, during our tour, about 20 years ago. We had met very kind people and had a great time there.
The only thing that we worry about is the air. My husband is very allergic to the sufur from the volcanoes. We don't know how is the air in the Big Island now? Could you give us any advice?
The website you gave is a very good source. We'll study more about it. Many thanks.
Once again, thank you very much for your assistance. Your time and thoughtfulness are greatly appreciated.
Namaste
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Senior Citizens want to move to Hawaii. Please help. Thanks.
