Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Hawaii > Oahu
 [Register]
Oahu Includes Honolulu
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-10-2014, 11:13 AM
 
3 posts, read 4,763 times
Reputation: 15

Advertisements

Aloha! I have been reading some of the threads here and I find I still have a lot of questions. I currently live in the midwest and have a job opportunity in Honolulu. It is a good job making about $70,000/yr. My husband will need to find a job and he's very hesitant about job opportunities for someone who doesn't have a degree. He has been working in manufacturing and is very worried about the job market there for a non-professional (someone who isn't a doctor, lawyer, real estate agent, business tycoon.)

We also have a 10 year old son and I want to make sure we move to an area with good schools and a low pupil:teacher ratio.

So, here are a few of my questions that I can't really seem to find answers to.

1. How does the job market look for someone who has a background in manufacturing, shipping and packaging but doesn't have a degree?

2. I've been looking at houses for rent (don't want an apartment) and I'm really terrified of the $2,000 - $3,000 monthly rent prices and we can't afford to buy. Is everything decent (not falling down around our ears, not in the middle of meth alley, etc) really that expensive? How do average folks afford to pay such high rent? What about the average cost of utilities? I know groceries are expensive. Will $70,000/yr be enough to live a comfortable, non-extravagant lifestyle? (We do like to eat out about once a week and go to the movies about once a month or so.)

3. What areas are good areas to live? I currently live in the suburbs of a large city and we like the small-town feel. I was researching Kaneohe and it looks nice. Are there other places you can suggest?


I love the idea of living in Hawai'i but I'm terrified. Right now all moving expenses will be paid for by the company, but if we don't like it or the job doesn't work out, unsure how we'd make it back to the mainland so this is a huge decision for us. I'm doing as much research and asking as many questions as possible, so any and all help you can give is greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!
Annette

Last edited by CherryKoolaidDrinker; 03-10-2014 at 11:48 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-10-2014, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Kahala
12,120 posts, read 17,821,034 times
Reputation: 6175
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post

We also have a 10 year old son

I love the idea of living in Hawai'i but I'm terrified. Right now all moving expenses will be paid for by the company, but if we don't like it or the job doesn't work out, unsure how we'd make it back to the mainland so this is a huge decision for us.
Wait 8 more years for your son to get to college and vacation in the meantime.

If you are "terrified" now it isn't going to get any better based on the information you wrote so far.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 12:23 PM
 
3 posts, read 4,763 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1 View Post
Wait 8 more years for your son to get to college and vacation in the meantime.

If you are "terrified" now it isn't going to get any better based on the information you wrote so far.
Thanks for the no help you gave.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 01:03 PM
 
Location: mainland but born oahu
6,657 posts, read 7,727,548 times
Reputation: 3137
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post
Thanks for the no help you gave.
I believe the big thing to remember is that what makes Hawai'i expensive is that the wages haven't caught up with the cost of living. Currently i can't tell you how the manufacturing job market is in hawaii because i haven't lived there for awhile. But i can say this is what the incomes are like in Hawai'i. Note remember hawaii is the most expensive place to live in alot of areas, rents, food, gas, services, taxes.

This is from 2012 but the min wage hasnt increased so i hope this helps a little?

OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN HONOLULU- MAY 2012

Last edited by hawaiian by heart; 03-10-2014 at 01:15 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 03:04 PM
 
Location: SF Bay & Diamond Head
1,776 posts, read 1,865,897 times
Reputation: 1981
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post
Thanks for the no help you gave.
If you listen to his advice he's probably saved you from financial ruin, a divorce, and your kid becoming an uneducated meth head. Or it could be all pineapples & rainbows. Your attitude won't wear well in Hawaii.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 03:06 PM
 
Location: SF Bay & Diamond Head
1,776 posts, read 1,865,897 times
Reputation: 1981
Oh, stop drinking the coolade.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,350,584 times
Reputation: 10757
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post
Aloha!
Aloha, and welcome to the forum.

Quote:
I have been reading some of the threads here and I find I still have a lot of questions.
Try using the Search function to pull up threads relevant to your search. It's the fastest way to access a lot of info, and I think you'll find that all of your questions have been answered before.

Quote:
I currently live in the midwest and have a job opportunity in Honolulu.
Where, precisely, in the midwest? It's hard to give you a good Cost of Living Comparison without knowing where you are now for a realistic comparison.

Quote:
It is a good job making about $70,000/yr. My husband will need to find a job and he's very hesitant about job opportunities for someone who doesn't have a degree. He has been working in manufacturing and is very worried about the job market there for a non-professional (someone who isn't a doctor, lawyer, real estate agent, business tycoon.)
He is smart to be concerned. Even with a specific trade or skillset he'd be up against established locals, and there is a strong hiring bias for friends and family members and acquaintances, and against people who have lived in the state less than a couple of years. That's a very common complaint among new transplants.

Quote:
We also have a 10 year old son and I want to make sure we move to an area with good schools and a low pupil:teacher ratio.
Sorry, you won't really find that in Hawai'i, and the public schools are among the lowest ranked in the country.

Quote:
So, here are a few of my questions that I can't really seem to find answers to.

1. How does the job market look for someone who has a background in manufacturing, shipping and packaging but doesn't have a degree?
Sorry, there's almost no manufacturing in Hawai'i, other than a few food products, so there's little of those other related industries either.

Quote:
2. I've been looking at houses for rent (don't want an apartment) and I'm really terrified of the $2,000 - $3,000 monthly rent prices and we can't afford to buy. Is everything decent (not falling down around our ears, not in the middle of meth alley, etc) really that expensive? How do average folks afford to pay such high rent? What about the average cost of utilities? I know groceries are expensive.
Again, all these questions have been answered before, repeatedly, which is probably why you got a rude reception at first. Take the time to do some homework and you'll have a different set of questions to ask.

Quote:
Will $70,000/yr be enough to live a comfortable, non-extravagant lifestyle? (We do like to eat out about once a week and go to the movies about once a month or so.)
For a single person, yes. Not for a family of 3, with a child in school. Not on Oahu. You can get by, as many do. What's your present location? I'll give you a Standard of Living comparison.

Quote:
I love the idea of living in Hawai'i but I'm terrified. Right now all moving expenses will be paid for by the company, but if we don't like it or the job doesn't work out, unsure how we'd make it back to the mainland so this is a huge decision for us.
Pay careful attention to this last point. Because life in Hawai'i is so much different in so many ways from the popular fantasy, from the "idea" you like, a very large number of people who take jobs in Hawai'i, with no previous experience in the islands, give up and return "home" within a couple of years. You must, must, must have an exit strategy, including enough money set aside to get back to where you came from, in case it doesn't work for you.

In any case, good luck with your decision.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,945,389 times
Reputation: 10901
Aloha CherryKAD,

Well, your husband will probably have to find employment in a different career area, there's not a lot of manufacture in Hawaii. There are some jobs in warehouse work, though. That might be similar. Won't pay a whole lot, though, but every little bit helps.

$70K will probably allow for a living situation, especially if your husband can find employment and pad that out a bit more. Rents are going to be very expensive, especially if you want a house to live in. Most folks manage to get by because there are more than one breadwinner in the household or there are multiple generations of workers living in one house. How about a condo or apartment until you get more used to Hawaii? Might be less expensive?

It will be a much smaller house and much closer to the neighbors than you are used to. No large yards, everything is pretty much packed closely together. The closer you get to downtown, the tighter the housing. The traffic to and from downtown is horrendous, too. Kaneohe might be a good spot, though, since you can get to town pretty quickly over the Pali. Kaimuki might work, too. There's some small houses there that may be within your budget, but housing is going to be expensive. Kailua would be really nice, but that's probably too expensive. You don't want to rent sight unseen, either, it's quite possible that the rental will be next to something nasty although I suppose Google Earth can help a bit there. Craig's List has a lot of rentals listed, but there are a lot of scams there, too. Hawaii Kai, perhaps, although not inexpensive, but then, hardly anywhere will be.

Electric costs are going to be extremely high. See if you can find a rental that has a solar water heater or propane water heater. There is no natural gas in Hawaii, so that's not an option. Heating water is one of the highest energy users in the household, so if you can get that in either solar or propane, that helps.

Will the company allow you to move your household in two stages? Stage one just the basics to get you moved over and then an additional shipment after you find out where you'll be living and what you'll need? Since Hawaii houses are very small (and you aren't sure if you'll like Hawaii) moving over just the basics might be a good idea. Then if it all doesn't work out, there's less to ship back and it's more likely to fit into the house you rent.

For schooling in Hawaii, unless you can afford a private school (most likely not) then the best thing is to treat school as sort of a socialization group and do a semi-home school in the subjects that you really want your kid to know. Don't rely on the school to teach reading, math, finance and science but let it be a place for your son to learn how to get along with others. All the public schools in the state are run by the Department of Education, so they are all going to have similar pupil/teacher ratios. The public schools in the better neighborhoods are a bit better funded because they get more donations from the kid's parents, but otherwise, there aren't going to be huge differences from school to school.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 08:07 PM
 
13,754 posts, read 13,257,395 times
Reputation: 26020
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post
... Is everything decent (not falling down around our ears, not in the middle of meth alley, etc) really that expensive?
Annette
Yes. What is decent on Oahu might appear to be ghetto to you. Paradigm shift ahead.

Last edited by hunterseat; 03-10-2014 at 08:09 PM.. Reason: thought of something to add
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-10-2014, 09:42 PM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,483,729 times
Reputation: 2481
Quote:
Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker View Post
Thanks for the no help you gave.
You were given excellent help, you just don't want to see it. $70k a year for 3 people on Oahu isn't squat, and your husband's chances at a good job are very slim.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Hawaii > Oahu
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:17 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top