Dreams of the Islands

[Plantastic]

Most of these "can we do it?" inquiries comes down to, how much of your life and experiences are tied to consumerism.

How involved are you with your child? Are you able to enjoy supplementing any educational shortcomings by directly engaging with him/her? or, do you "have" to invest in private schools?

Do you "require" the amount of space and amenities in a particular demographic neighborhood that demands a large portion of your expendable income?

Do you waste a lot? or, are you conscientiously conservative?

Crunch some numbers, reflect, think, reflect some more, figure out what is worth your investment of money, and more importantly, TIME.

You can easily make it, if you don't live above your means.

Think honestly, and good luck!

(By the way, the questions are rhetorical, I don't expect answers.)

[KauaiHiker]

I agree with plantastic, it really depends on your lifestyle. 3 people can easily live on 85K if you don't need a gas-guzzling SUV and a pickup truck, shop local foods, and don't fly to the mainland every year. Try to find housing so you can commute on foot or by bus, so you can live with one car. If your wife works, and all that money goes to another car payment+insurance+gas, after school child care, and take out food, you aren't really getting ahead or enjoying the island lifestyle. Same with your job actually, if it's still high stress and you can't enjoy life, then might as well be on the mainland making more money.

I find the people who enjoy Hawaii are those who don't need things, but prefer outdoor and community activities.

[hotzcatz]

$85K on Oahu with a family of three and looking to be near a good school. All the public schools in Hawaii are run by the State Department of Education so supposedly they are all funded the same and such, but some are better than others.

To help with your decisions, get the address of where you'd be working. Then get a map and find the nearest good school and then check Craig's List to see how much the housing is in that area. The less expensive housing is off on the leeward plain, BUT the traffic between that area and downtown Honolulu adds several hours a day OR MORE to your commute time, so housing in that direction shouldn't be considered unless you're also working in that area.

So, take your basic salary, deduct taxes, health care deductions, etc. and see what's left to work with each month. Then deduct housing, figure several hundred a month for electric (or get your electric bill and figure what it would be if you paid about forty cents per kilowatt hour). Deduct car payments (if any), cell phone payments, etc. So how much is left?

You can look online for several grocery stores in Hawaii, on Oahu a lot of folks shop at Safeway and Costco. They may post their prices online or at least have their sales mentioned online.

You won't be able to buy a house, you can check some real estate listing and see house prices on the island.

Crunch the numbers and see what they look like.

Now, if you've got a chance for more money or even the same money in a lower cost of living area, you'd be able to buy a house and save money, get equity, etc. and then vacation in Hawaii and still enjoy Hawaii and be able to save for retirement as well.

Instead of saving for college, have your kid learn German or French and go abroad for college where higher education is free, even for foreigners.

[rya96797]

If you love hawaii (as a tourist), just vacation here every year, and continue loving it. Vacation locations are always better as a tourist and not a resident. Why mess with a good thing?