A new comer's story..(and a little bit of help needed) (Honolulu: rental, insurance)

[sbartist]

Another newcomer here too. Lived here when I was 8 and my dad lives here most of the year and my husband, son and I recently made the move.

Sold our 1,457 sq ft townhouse in Washington state and just TODAY rec'd keys to our teeny 1 bedroom 488 sq ft condo, so we will be moving this weekend and getting situated.

My husband actually moved here at the beginning of March transferring with the company he was already working for, everything transferred except pay

That left me in Washington to sell and pack up our townhouse and also look for employment and wait for my son to finish his first year of college (yes, he moved with us, I could not leave him with no family on the mainland).

I did start job searching on CL a few weeks before actually moving here and actually had a job lined up via Skype interview. Unfortunately, when I actually met the person in-person (that was on a Monday), there were just way too many red flags for me and I just could not accept the position. Fortunately, I had two other interviews lined for Wednesday of the same week and really wanted the job at one of the places and was offered it. I started on June 25th and I must be doing okay, because I am still here Although it is legal work, the judicial system here is way different so I have lots to learn, and I am.

My son was discouraged job searching (never having held a job before made it a little more difficult), however he did find a part-time job stocking shelves at a local grocery store (started this week) and he can continue searching elsewhere for a full-time job. At least he has his foot in the door somewhere.

We did not have to rent a place while waiting for our condo to close because we crashed at my dad's who is currently on the mainland for the summer.

We sold one car and shipped one car. My husband and I generally either take the bus or weather permitting he either cycles to work or I walk. Even once we are moved we will only be another 15+/- minutes away and can continue to do the same.

Since my husband is retired military we are able to shop at the commissary and do, because it is cheaper.

Everyone we have come across has been very friendly and helpful. Just have to treat everyone the way you want to be treated.

[whtviper1]

488 sq ft?

Is your son also living with you in that place? That sounds - well, cozy.

[sbartist]

LOL - yep!

Can't be any worse than my dad's studio! We do have a lanai (not enclosed) at our place and since his work hours are 11 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., I haven't seen much of him the past two nights.

[daveyboy1225]

Holy crap! I bet you're missing that extra bedroom or two yikes! Initially I thought I'd live in Waikiki area but I think I may venture out in the burbs! Especially with 2 Pomeranians.

[Honolulu waku waku]

I'm condo-hunting right now and finding a lot of disparity in how rental homes are measured. We looked at something called 1000 sq ft yesterday. The MBR was tiny, and the other BR even smaller. I doubt the place was 600 sq ft; if you count the lanai then maybe 700. Then we saw something called 700 sq ft & it was a lot roomier. There seems no rhyme or reason to how things are measured, and pictures can be deceiving so you just have to go look. I can't imagine fitting in 488 sq ft with an adult son but it sounds like you're making it work. Maybe when you have 3 reliable incomes you'll be able to move up a notch. <br><br>

Just wondering... where will your son attend college? Will he be able to transfer all his credits?

[Aiea Nana]

Originally Posted by anewcomer85

Aloha,

I cannot believe I am actually sitting in my Waikiki apartment and writing on this forum. Just three weeks ago we were reading all the posts here to make a decision whether to move to H6onolulu or not. We fell in love with Honolulu the first time we visited and when my husband got the job we were beyond excited and made the decision to move. Now that I think back, it seems that there were far more discouraging posts rather than encouraging. For people who are looking to move here, I just thought i'd give our story...

My husband was to start his job in mid July, we came here stayed at a hotel for 4 days and honestly walked 4-6 hours each day just looking for apartments that had rental signs/or any buzzer system to call the manager. It was tough on the first day, we had no leads and all apartment managers were off of work before 3:00 pm. While we were on the mainland, I looked all over Craigslist and so there happened to be some showings on our second day. We saw two apartments and walked all over again with not much luck. The apartments we saw were usually not like shown on the pictures. By the third day we started to worry, we were getting desperate..we went all over Downtown with not much luck (well also because our budget was about 1200 to 1300). It almost seemed as if there just wasn't any rentals available. Finally towards the evening of our third day I found two studios that could be shown to us right away, one was 1200$ and the other was 1060$, they were both clean, small yet furnished and both in Waikiki, both in great locations. We thought since it would be our starter, we'd go with the cheaper one and we even got it to go down to $1000 for 6 months. It's small but plenty good for us. It's no luxurious 2 bedrooms we had back home but this would do for us until we get on our feet. I love our home now..we really don't need any bigger apt yet..

Now, about things being expensive...i was in shock when I went into FOODLAND ( a little grocery store right in Waikiki), everything seemed three times more than what we were used to. Peanut butter $5, Bread $4..i was discouraged when I was at that store..i felt as if we'd have to give up so much food. But this gets better, we found a SAFEWAY about 10 mins away from our home and I realized FOODLAND just has the prices so high because they can!!!...there were many great sale items in SAFEWAY..so now we do our grocery there, and i feel much better about our groceries.

Believe it or not I feel as if the food quality is somehow better, the vegetables are tastier and fresher and even the meat tastes better. It may just be in my head but i feel much better about eating the food here than back home on the mainland. Now we only have one last issue..

My husband has somewhat of a decent job and we could afford living here on only one income but I am not a person who could sit at home..or i will just go crazy. So I started looking for jobs here, granted that it has been only 3 weeks but it seems hard. I have my MBA degree but minimal experience in the Banking industry. I am trying to get into the banking industry and i have applied to numerous positions and haven't gotten any calls. At this point, a job is a job and I am trying so hard to just get my foot in the door at a bank but it seems that my resume just gets tossed away . I have been applying online, even for a teller position (which I totally don't mind starting as). I thought about walking into the bank branches after submitting an application but i don't know how they would like it...Any thoughts would be appreciated, just how do you get a job here?. Should I go to employment agencies?..should I walk in and talk to branch managers?..it seems that people all know each other and get jobs through networking but since i am a newcomer i don't even know where to start..

OVERALL, We haven't regretted moving here!..

If you can afford to live on one salary try doing some volunteer work in the area that interests you. If it is finance you could work for a United Way agency or something similar in the finance dept. You will meet people and learn the working ropes. This is also a great way to have local references. I think that would be a plus for you.

Good luck.

[Spammasubi]

Originally Posted by Aiea Nana

If you can afford to live on one salary try doing some volunteer work in the area that interests you. If it is finance you could work for a United Way agency or something similar in the finance dept. You will meet people and learn the working ropes. This is also a great way to have local references. I think that would be a plus for you.

Good luck.

Brillant. Great advice, Aiea Nana!

[Koale]

Well...you just hang in there. Keep submitting your Resume'...over and over and over...about the third time you have to submit it I would suggest politely asking to speak w/HR or the Manager and deliver it in person, by personally handing it to them. It took 9 months and 7 resumes/applications later before I did this and ended up w/the interview and the job. Find the job you want and go get it. In the meantime...have a little fun, relax and enjoy your Island Home.
Welcome...
Koale

[anewcomer85]

Originally Posted by Honolulu waku waku

I'm condo-hunting right now and finding a lot of disparity in how rental homes are measured. We looked at something called 1000 sq ft yesterday. The MBR was tiny, and the other BR even smaller. I doubt the place was 600 sq ft; if you count the lanai then maybe 700. Then we saw something called 700 sq ft & it was a lot roomier. There seems no rhyme or reason to how things are measured, and pictures can be deceiving so you just have to go look. I can't imagine fitting in 488 sq ft with an adult son but it sounds like you're making it work. Maybe when you have 3 reliable incomes you'll be able to move up a notch. <br><br>

Just wondering... where will your son attend college? Will he be able to transfer all his credits?

You will be surprised how little place you actually can live in when you have to lol...I actually didn't want to say anything because people would think we are crazy but we have a little 1 year old baby with us and we are living in a 400sq ft with a lanai. We came from a cheap sweet 2 bedrooms and now thinking back I don't know what we needed all that space for lol. We have adjusted, and the only downfall is we don't have dishwasher and washer/dryer..but hey, at least there is a laundry. I love our place, we are just so thankful that we don't have roaches (my husband's biggest fear ). Our place just needed a little cleaning and i think we cleaned it and made it our home...I will be sad to leave it in a 6 mos time.

[anewcomer85]

Originally Posted by Aiea Nana

If you can afford to live on one salary try doing some volunteer work in the area that interests you. If it is finance you could work for a United Way agency or something similar in the finance dept. You will meet people and learn the working ropes. This is also a great way to have local references. I think that would be a plus for you.

Good luck.

Great idea, I have been thinking of getting out and volunteering. I wasn't sure where to start, I will look into United Way. Thank you dear!