Realistic Pricing for those of us considering moving to Hawaii (renters, health insurance)

[cats307]

We also are getting our ducks in a row wanting to move to Maui next year. I think it would be helpful for all of us wanting to make a move if we can get some pricing on things like car insurance, renters ins. ect. so we can budget what our monthly costs are going to be...
1. How much is car insurance on a newer car, driver are older w/perfect driving records?
2. When they talk about health insurance provided by employer, is there typically a cost to the employee per month?? Is it "good" ins. We have BCBS now. And is there a waiting period for it to start or do they have to have it start right away
3. Pet care..how much is a visit to the vets for a checkup and shots?
4. How much is a oil change??
5. With renters insurance, how much does it cost a month for $x amt of household goods?
6. I know electricity is high, how about monthly water bills? What's included with that (ours has sewer, garbage, water & forestry)
7. How much does your prescriptions cost you??? I take synthroid and it cost me after insurance $50 for 3 month supply
8. How much is dog grooming, bath and haircut?? We pay $40 per dog w/tip
9. ok for us too..hair cut, not cost cutters pricing. Here at JcPenneys I pay $40 w/tip (just realized I pay as much for the dog as my haircut!!!)
10. Monthly phone & internet costs?
11. Can you get internet everywhere on the island? (work for a telephone company and know how internet works and its distance based here)
Trying to remember what we pay for in a typical month in expenses. I know how much food costs(few trips to maui living in a condo), I see online what jobs will pay in our field, about what we make now if not more(lot of yrs experience but little college)
I know we will ship over our cars(too new and will pay them off before moving) so these I think are the hidden costs we might not think of. Any pricing help will be greatly appreciated but with our summer getting only up to 70 degrees and our winter coming fast(will have 4 months of freezing temps) there isn't much you can throw at me to discourage this move.
Thanks for any help you can give us

[hotzcatz]

Most of these questions can be answered with a phone book.

1. Get a Hawaii phone book and call an insurance agency. Many mainland agencies don't write policies for Hawaii, so using a local insurance agency to get quotes from would be best.
2. Yes, there is usually a portion of your paycheck taken out for healthcare, it varies with the employer, the health care policy and the number of people in your family which will be using the healthcare. It can come to several hundred a month. Ask your employer, they will know the specific details.
3. Call a local vet and ask. On our island the feed stores sell most dog and cat shots so for $5 or less you can give the animal the shot yourself.
4. Call the folks who change oil and ask, we do our own so it is the cost of oil and a filter.
5. Nobody I know has renters insurance, but the insurance company would know.
6. Our water bill runs about $30 a month, however, it doesn't have anything else added to it. I'm not sure how Maui works, but there are very few places on the Big Island were you would have to pay for sewer, garbage or forestry since those services aren't available. (What's forestry?)
7. We don't have any prescriptions so no clue on these, again, get a phone book, call the pharmacy and inquire.
8. Our dogs get washed with a hose and a bucket so we haven't a clue what dog groomers charge. We couldn't afford it anyway.
9. I don't get my hair cut, but my DH pays about $12 for his. Not a high end shop, though, and add in a $4 tip.
10. Phone runs approx. $25 per month, internet runs approx. $65 per month. That will probably be higher on Maui, I'm not sure why but it generally is.
11. I doubt it, most islands don't even have complete cell phone coverage.

Can you get jobs in your field? Not all jobs available on the mainland have a counterpart on the islands. Are there job openings in your field?

[Pretzel Logic]

Originally Posted by cats307

We also are getting our ducks in a row wanting to move to Maui next year. I think it would be helpful for all of us wanting to make a move if we can get some pricing on things like car insurance, renters ins. ect. so we can budget what our monthly costs are going to be...
1. How much is car insurance on a newer car, driver are older w/perfect driving records?

My wife and I stayed with the exact same coverage we had in Washington through State Farm, and we're paying about 40% less on Maui.

Can't answer most of the rest of the questions, but this one:

"10. Monthly phone & internet costs?"

Cheap. Less than I was paying in Washington. I don't have a land-line, but 7 meg DSL is like $38 -- IF you push the person on the phone to give you a price you saw online. She started off asking around $50. Go figure.