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.
Thanks, very interesting... we have arrived to HNL, staying in a hotel in Waikiki as we wait to get into our condo. The condo we are renting is in Waikiki, 15th floor, approx 1100 sq ft. 2 bd/2 ba, 2 adults and a toddler...so far we found the weather very comfortable. If it's like this, we can totally do without A/C. Hopefully we can keep electric bill under $200...
You'll probably be shocked how much food will cost you in Honolulu. Just search for 'Youtube grocery stores Hawaii' and you'll find plenty of videos. I found that the cost of food is more than double what costs in Minnesota or southern California. One paper bag can easily hold about $100 worth of groceries.
That seems extraordinarily high, even for Hawaii with no AC and such a small unit.
5 plus loads of laundry per week, and one family member showers twice per day - as he is filthy when he gets home from work, another one sometimes twice per day - depending if he works out after work.
If this seems high, what should the average be? Some months it is $170+/-, just depends on how many days are in the billing cycle.
All appliances were new when we moved in. The dishwasher has since gone kaput, so it has now become a place of storage. W&D - are both front loading. And yes, everything is electric.
5 plus loads of laundry per week, and one family member showers twice per day - as he is filthy when he gets home from work, another one sometimes twice per day - depending if he works out after work.
If this seems high, what should the average be? Some months it is $170+/-, just depends on how many days are in the billing cycle.
5 loads of laundry for 3 people? That seems high also.
Without any AC, I wouldn't think you would spend much more than $100/month
I'd ask some of your neighbors what they pay and see if it is similar.
5 loads of laundry for 3 people? That seems high also.
Without any AC, I wouldn't think you would spend much more than $100/month
I'd ask some of your neighbors what they pay and see if it is similar.
My son showers before work and comes home and showers again, because he is filthy, clothes go in the laundry basket. His work clothes are a pair of heavy Carhartt's, a long-sleeve tee and a short-sleeve tee, because he works in a warehouse, which is why he is dirty and sometimes muddy.
Husband showers before work, and if he runs after work, showers again. His sweaty, smelly running clothes go in the laundry basket.
I shower before work, but if I walk to work, I have an extra set clothes that I have worn on my walk in, that usually need to be laundered as well, some days I can get two days out of them. But if I can smell sweat on my clothing, I am sure other people can smell me too. If I run, then they automatically go in the wash, and that would be a second shower for me.
5 plus loads of laundry per week, and one family member showers twice per day - as he is filthy when he gets home from work, another one sometimes twice per day - depending if he works out after work.
If this seems high, what should the average be? Some months it is $170+/-, just depends on how many days are in the billing cycle.
sbartist, not trying to steer the thread off-topic, but after reading your posts, I'd be interested to hear about your experiences moving / Living in Hawaii and if you continue to enjoy it or if the experience has changed for you since moving to the island. Given what you've told us, it seems like you may have an interesting story to tell ... what your experience is in Hawaii today and how you may have seen it evolve over time.
You have 3 people living in a 488 sq ft condo, in Waikiki and your electric bill at least, seems high. While that may be unusual for a mainland residence, I don't think it's all that unusual a set up in Hawaii.
And you may have told your story already. But if not, I'd be interested in hearing about it ... perhaps starting a new "my experience" thread or something.
This is a pretty good summation (that I wrote to a friend) regarding our move:
Aloha ~ Just wanted to respond to your question about how we ended up in Hawaii.
When I was 8, we lived in Hawaii for about 5 months (not too far from where we live now actually), then we moved back to Washington into our home which we had rented out while away. My parents divorced when we were in Jr. HS. In HS, my dad had always told my brother and I that he would move to Hawaii after we graduated.
Fast forward to about 12 years ago, my dad regularly came to Hawaii for the 'winter', staying at the YMCA while he was here. He finally bought a studio condo and he is on island from November to May. In 2007, my now husband and my son came to HI on vacation. We returned on vacation in 2008, 2010 and 2011 (in 2011 for 17 days).
My husband loved Hawaii and at that time we discussed possibly moving. We did not tell anyone, except my dad - whom we had looking at condos for us while he was here, and my mom, because I could NOT drop that bombshell on her at the last minute. We started downsizing, knowing none of what we had would fit in any place we owned in Hawaii.
My husband was able to transfer to Hawaii with his job - everything transferred except his pay, we took a huge pay cut with the move, but decided that since we had planned on retiring in Hawaii well into the future, that we should buy a place now.
My son and I stayed back in WA while I continued to downsize and sell our townhome. My son was in his first year of community college on an academic scholarship and I didn't want him to throw away a free education.
My husband moved in March 2012 and stayed in a hostel waiting for our intended date of June 15. Once he moved, everything in WA had to be pushed faster to get out of there by June 15. I got the townhouse sold, sold most of our furnishings, got rid of stuff I knew we would not have room for, and shipped what I could in a tiny container (most of it was my crafting stuff - shhhh). I sold a car and shipped a car before moving. It was super hectic and stressful, but I did it.
We made an offer on a condo that was accepted, projected move-in date was the end of July 2012. My dad had returned to the mainland, so we stayed in his studio condo while we waited for our place here to close.
It only took me a couple days to find a job (I was also doing freelance transcription work just in case), but I never went back to doing that, since I was fortunate enough to not take a pay cut when I changed jobs. I do, however, miss the job I had.
It took me about a year to adjust. My husband and son love it here. My son did move with us, as I was not going to abandon him like his own father did. So my son's bed is our sofa and we do charge him rent. My son and husband work for the same company. My son does want to move out, but he would need roommates in order to do that and he wants to pursue other work as well.
And here we are. It took me a while to find friends who craft and get together on a regular basis, which was huge for me and the funk that I was in, since I left all of that behind when we moved. We have now been here a little over 2-1/2 years.
This is our moving story in a nutshell. Ü Have an awesome day and thanks for asking.
Just adding - that I read this forum on a daily basis before moving for about a year. There is some great advice to be had by just perusing previous info, or asking a question. I find most people who reply are/were very helpful.
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.
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.
