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I had a very good friend who has lived in Hawaii for many, many years tell me, "You don't go to Hawaii to make money....you go to Hawaii to enjoy the money you've already made." It's a gorgeous place with very loving people, but like Alaska, it can be an expensive place to call home. Perhaps its all relative to what you are used to and how you want to spend your money.
Well, I live in Mililani Town, -- I cant wait to leave and be able to drive across a state line.
Amen braddah, amen - just back from Arkansas and I got to drive across a state line to Oklahoma, what a country!! No Eisenhower Interstate Highway System that, just old back roads of days of long ago and far away.
Aloha!
I guess when you get down to it, there are tradeoffs for everthing. We have lived in Hawaii (Big Island) for seventeen years and have loved every minute of it...even when we were counting our pennies (yes seriously, there was a time when we did that!)
You can get by on 75 a year, but you won't be able to do everything you might want. You will have free beaches to go to, and a lot of sunshine to bask in every day. You will also be immersed in a beautiful culture that is unlike anything you will ever experience on the mainland. BUT, you will have to be careful because money can go very quickly here.
For us, the biggest challenges have been childcare and education. Childcare and preschool facilities have long waiting lists and are extremely expensive. And for a variety of reasons that is too long to describe here, the public school system has its' challenges.
We have had our oldest daughter in a private school for middle and high school. It runs a little over 10 grand a year. Our youngest has one more year of elementary. It will be challenging to pay for two tuitions when our youngest is in middle! Because of this, we are leaning toward a return to the mainland.
Another thing that we have missed is the day to day experiences with our extended family. My kids have not grown up with grandparents or cousins. We have though, created our own "family" here. The friendships we have made are priceless.
I have never regretted out move to Hawaii. The experiences we have had will remain with us forever. Life is full of chapters, and the chapters we have written while living here are full of beautiful, relaxing, and warm memories. Have Fun on your Journey!
I dont know if you moved to Hawaii but ya tha tbook is good I lived on Maui single mom worked at a school less than 30,000 and did fine - we didnt need name brands and loved savers and found a wonderful church - some issues at first - kids had a hard time but it is about learning to adjust and learnign to give respect before you jsut step into a mix - private school is a good option - and best to live in less touristy transient areas - no need to do a hotle you can rent an ohana til you find a place go to craigslist to find one - youll save a bunch -- and learn to live like kamaina not like your visiting - dont speak pigdin like your from there until you can say it natural - be willing to try everything and learn to relax - I came from NY and that was the hardest part or me - I am trying to move to Kauai now and definetly should have never left
I have lived in the islands for 10 years and am preparing to return to the SouthEast. Don't want to sound negative but my husband makes more than 75K and we're having trouble affording to stay or affording to move. It has been a wonderful decade but hasn't done much to prepare for retirement. I do know people who own homes and live on less but they bought many years ago. Grocery prices amaze visitors. All vegetables and fruit are sold by the pound, even locally grown unless you're at a farmer's market.
I wish you well. There are ways to make it work and I think the secret is to not spend all of your money on rent. At one point our rent would have equalled a mortgage of 330K.
Aloha and enjoy your time here.
i'm worried but i'm still gonna make the move i can live in a studio for 900.00 kids are grown me & hushand will be just closer thats the aloha i love you way..... just wish i can find an honest person to help me find a place by end of aug. my job offer says i have to be there by mid sept
We did it at first but it was hard and pretty much living paycheck to paycheck. You will really need to lower your standard of living since the cost of living is extremely high. Do you plan on sending your kids to a public school? If so, do your research. Many are under the "No Child Left Behind" Act. Some good schools in Honolulu are Kahala, Noelani, Maemae, although I haven't checked the test scores lately. I had my son at Kahala elementary through a geographic exemption since we could not afford to live there. It is an affluent area and most of the kids zoned at this school are probably sent to Punahou or Iolani which costs over $20K a year. Hawaii is a great place to raise kids.
Wow it's been a little over 2 years since I posted this thread and coming back to it brings back memories,I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful wonderful advice,most of it was accurate,even had doubts once we got here but we were really fortunate and lucky.I guess my only explanation is that if it is mean to be it will work out somehow but before you decide to give p once you are here give yourself a good 2 years if by then things aren't getting better then maybe it just wasn't meant to last.
Cheers everyone !!
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104 chompers
