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Aloha n こんにちは、 下記について何かいいアドバイスがあれば是非教えてくれると嬉しい。。。。
I hope to move to Hawaii (O'ahu) in the next half-year or so and need to inquire about Cost(s) of Living in Hawaii (O'ahu).[I have spent more than two hours trying to track down previous threads but I fear that at most times posts slip-off topic just as it gets interesting, also the (few useful) information were too old(before 2008), I hope for the latest updates preferable since The Recession (allegedly) receded, i.e. post-Lehman Shock.]
Currently I live in the concrete jungles of Tokyo and space(accommodations) and food prices are beyond imaginable.
I am a male, so location wise (safety) I have no problem but I am very strict with being prompt/attendance.
Possible locations: suburb (15-30mins drive or 40mins commute) from downtown Honolulu.
Below I hope for an estimate for a small to medium accommodation (renting) for 1 or 2 adults with the normal utilities (1 fridge 1TV 「air-con=if needed」 washing-machine etc)
①Renting/Flatting costs:
①-1A. 1LDK (1Room Living Dining Kitchen) : $/per month (size : ?? eg 30 sq meters.)
①-1B. 2LDK (2Room Living Dining Kitchen) : $/per month (size : ?? eg 60 sq meters.)
①-2. Gas (cooking/hot water) : $/per month
①-3. Electricity : $/per month
①-4. 1 week of grocery (i can cook) : $/per week
②Having a car (small/efficient) 【In Japan didn't have a car as transportation/subway systems were more than efficient to get to virtually anywhere, before moving/living in Japan was in High School i.e. don't have much clue about owning/having a car.】
②-1. Gas(fuel) : $/per week 【30-40min (1way) to then from commute per day.】
②-2.Parking space : $/per month
②-3. Additional costs : $/per month/year 【including taxes/municipal AA charges etc】
③Social life:
【Am mid-20s】 a few drinks on a friday/saturday easy-going bar (not the Charlie Harper/Sheen life but maybe 1-5% of it)
③-1. just a few drinks at a local pub : $/per nite.
③-2. Nite-out (club/bar-hopping) : $/per nite. 【Any suggestion where the nightlife of Hawaii is at?】 ※Just for reference not really fond of too much partyin', got bills to pay n crap to do, just in-case my younger cousins visit. lol
④Insurance (Health/Social) : Any comments about this? for one i know its tricky so one option is to stay healthy...... forever.
Any other additional information would be much appreciated.
First things first... are you aware that you will need a resident visa and work permit? If you have not yet started on that process you may not be able to be here in 6 months.
It's not clear whether you want a furnished or unfurnished apartment. Both kinds normally come with refrigerator, but typically not a washing machine. Some have a shared laundry room, some do not, and you will have to use a laundromat. Older units often do not have air-conditioner. Only furnished apartments come with tv and furniture. There are a lot of variables, so assume nothing. Well, ok, bathroom must have a toilet, shower, and sink by law )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuihamo
①Renting/Flatting costs:
We don't use the terms "flat" or "flatting" here. Flat = apartment. Flatting = Rent or renting.
U.S. measurements are given in feet. Apartments are listed by the number of bedrooms, because we don't roll the bedding up during the day. Room divisions are a bit different from Japanese norms.
0 bedrooms, 325 sq ft could be called an efficiency, or studio, or efficiency studio. I believe the minimum legal size is 220 sq ft, which can be used by 1 or 2 people.
0 bedrooms, 650 sq ft in 2 rooms would usually be called a studio, with division into kitchen and combined living and bedroom. But this size would more typically be called a 1 bedroom, and divided into kitchen/living and bedroom. Or it could be divided into 3 rooms - bedroom, kitchen, living. Or it could be 2 bedrooms. Lots of variations possible. Combined kitchen and dining area is common.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuihamo
①-2. Gas (cooking/hot water) : $/per month
①-3. Electricity : $/per month
①-4. 1 week of grocery (i can cook) : $/per week
These are highly variable, depending on your use. Some places are all electric. At the moment they are more expensive for utilities, because electricity is very high, but gas prices are rising too. Two different people, two different lifestyles can easily spend 1:3.
Groceries are highly variable in cost depending on your lifestyle. If you shop at Farmers Market, buy and prepare mostly local produce there, costs will be much, much lower than if you buy a lot of packaged food from supermarkets, imported condiments, etc. Fresh local fish is much cheaper than beef, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuihamo
④Insurance (Health/Social) : Any comments about this? for one i know its tricky so one option is to stay healthy...... forever.
In the US most health insurance is tied to employment. In Hawai'i if your job is over 20 hours per week your employer must offer you health insurance. As employee you pay part of the cost if you wish the coverage.
Insurance is all about managing risk, so young, healthy people often don't get it... BUT... it also covers you against accidental injury (never drove a car before? ) and the illness and disease that can come out of nowhere, like the dengue fever from a mosquito bite that just killed a 32 year old top surfer. One way to help lower the expense if you are healthy and don't go to a doctor often is to choose a high deductible.
Cheers for the above information, does help heaps. I hope that the actual budget ($$/per month) part be shared by anyone who has any idea about the costs of living there in the island of Oahu.
That Hawaii is expensive is one of the biggest myths out there. (we could do a whole thread on that alone)
The real estate is cheaper than New York, Coastal California or Chicago.
That food is expensive is a myth. Eat local and you will do fine. If I tried to eat fruit and fish in Columbus Ohio, I would be paying three times as much as I do here. Water is also cheaper.
Electricity is expensive. But with days of 80 and nights of 68 you wont be using that much of it.
As said before medical care is based on the deal your employer provides. At the same time, if you are unable to get medical coverage due to hardship, a certain base medical care is available for free. Preventive care requires insurance. Care for a serious accident or injury is provided at any Emergency room regardless of insurance.
Not exactly an answer to your question, I know.
But one to one comparisons are difficult
That Hawaii is expensive is one of the biggest myths out there. (we could do a whole thread on that alone)
Can a person live relatively inexpensively here? Yes, if they make certain choices that are not overly popular with the average consumer. Does the average person find Hawai'i more expensive than the mainland? Absolutely, without question.
It's a well documented fact that Hawai'i so much more expensive than the mainland that the Federal Government has given Hawai'i a completely separate Poverty Level scale from the 48 continental states. The Hawai'i scale is 15% higher than the mainland. Fact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
The real estate is cheaper than New York, Coastal California or Chicago.
Some real estate is cheaper. Some real estate is really, really cheap. Can you say Kalapana? Got a hot deal waiting for you there. And there's a lot of cheap land. But the most desirable real estate, where the most people want to live, is not cheap, and conversely the cheap land is not where most people want to live. Government research showed that the median cost of a home in Hawai'i last year was the highest of all 50 states. Fact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
That food is expensive is a myth. Eat local and you will do fine.
Yes and no. I eat local, and grow what I can because it's necessary. I can't afford to eat "mainland style" here. 85% of the food consumed in Hawai'i is shipped in from the mainland, including almost everything in a package or with a national brand name. Fact. 15% is produced locally, and if you know how to shop and limit yourself to eating only fresh local food, then yes, you can eat less expensively. Fact. But the average consumer wants fresh eggs and Campbell soup, and Ruffles potato chips, and Oreos, and bread made from wheat that is not grown on the islands, etc. at least SOME of the time. And health experts say you should not eat ocean fish more than once a week because of pollutants. So it's pretty hard for a typical family with kids and two working parents to adapt to local style. Also a simple comparison of chain restaurants mainland to island will show the island prices are higher. Fact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
Water is also cheaper.
In a lot of cases, yes, I'll give you that, but where people need to truck in their water it can be quite pricey.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
Electricity is expensive. But with days of 80 and nights of 68 you wont be using that much of it.
First, it isn't just a little more expensive, the base kw/h rate here is more than double the base rate I was paying in Texas, AND the base rate is only about 1/2 of the overall bill, so the total bill is maybe 3 times as much, for less use. In the worst summer I can remember in Texas I ran the A/C 24/7 for 4 straight months, and never went over a $150 bill. Here I have no A/C at all, am very diligent about turning off lights, etc. and I still pay more. According to Helco the average monthly residential bill in Hawai'i is about $300.
And let's not forget the price of gasoline, which is normally about a half a buck a gallon more expensive than the mainland.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
As said before medical care is based on the deal your employer provides. At the same time, if you are unable to get medical coverage due to hardship, a certain base medical care is available for free. Preventive care requires insurance. Care for a serious accident or injury is provided at any Emergency room regardless of insurance.
Unfortunately preventative care is in short supply, and elective surgery is challenging to obtain, so there are problems, such as the fact that Hawai'i has the highest incidence of obesity and diabetes in the country. "Local diet" has something to do with that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenzo
Not exactly an answer to your question, I know.
But one to one comparisons are difficult
Yeah, they are, but a lot of things are comparable enough for meaningful conversation. But let's separate fact from fiction.
I've lived in Tokyo, Chicago, New York and San Diego.
I'm living cheaper here.
I'm spending 3 years in Columbus Ohio and the cost of living is MUCH less expensive. 4 bedroom places on an acre for $200K. Most nice houses are in the mid $100K.
But it's FRGGIN OHIO.
Ohio is the only state with no lakes in it. And you would not want to touch the rivers.
It has a poor transportation system. All fruit was picked green, shipped and gassed on arrival to ripen.
after 30 months I have yet to find fish that isn't so bad that you would throw it out if it reached that point of decay.
The highest and lowest point are 600ft difference
That is costly living. To spend years of my life there.
Very interesting of course but again its slightly going off topic. I wish to inquire about a monthly spending by a single (not-married) individual with average or even below-average but livable living standard.
This is a great thread :-) I felt the same frustration trying to find out info, in that the threads got off topic and couldn't answer my specific questions...seems you got better results than I though...perhaps because of the way you worded things lol...I accidentally, jokingly called myself lazy in my thread versus verbalizing that I had already spent hours researching and getting sidetrack and never learning what I really wanted to know...props to you for knowing how to word things and thanks for creating this thread...seems I got a couple answers now ;-)
And to OpenD, I just wanted to tell you that while Hawaii is more expensive, after two years of being a nurse, I would more than likely make $45/hour versus here, in Maine $25/hour at the most. It is pretty expensive to live here as well, considering heating costs for 6+ months out of the year...so I think cost of living in general would depend on what qualifications you bring, just like most places...things may cost more, but pay should be compensated accordingly {hopefully}. How do most jobs pay there? What is the minimum wage there?
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) 
) and the illness and disease that can come out of nowhere, like the dengue fever from a mosquito bite that just killed a 32 year old top surfer. One way to help lower the expense if you are healthy and don't go to a doctor often is to choose a high deductible.
