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Hidden costs of living on the BI? My husband is medically retiring from the Army within the year. I have been stalking all of the posts here and a few other CD city forums and have a few questions that I really can't find answers to any personal experience would be helpful.
I have tried working up a budget of the costs we should account for before thinking of moving, we have two young (homeschooled) kids so ending up deserted on the BI after failing isn't an option. I feel like I'm missing something we could easily afford living on our limited income so something must be off. I have:: mortgage, property taxes, possible hoa and insurance of around $1,500 (planing for high but hoping for less), food we currently spend $300 on a paleo diet (meat, fruit and veggies) so I'm planning on $500 as I hear meat can be higher and I'm dying to try the local food, car insurance $200ish, gas $120 (we have a prius 8g/440m avg so I figure if we don't travel Hilo to Kona for instance all the time at most 3 fill ups a month?), electric about $300 (we currently use around 3-400kw but accounted for extra although solar would more than fine ), I haven't found much on cell phones but we just need a basic international plan as we don't have any family on the mainland but my husband's mother is in Mexico. We don't smoke or drink so no budget for that. I also had the hardest time budgeting for water if our house happens to be on county so I am assuming that's a millionaires luxury where price is no problem so I shouldn't worry.
Our current state taxes 6% on all goods and 2% food so the "paradise tax" is not too much more. We have 100% health insurance from the Army, I know for some that's an added cost but not us. With my possibly over-projected budget we have about $800 left to splurge or save. We currently live in Georgia (which is also known for roaches and mosquitos everywhere) in a tiny 500sqft mobile home so it's not like I'm expecting a lot by any means. After the hustle and bustle the Army has put our family through were ready to settle down and with no family ties and a possible once in a lifetime all expense paid move to Hawai'i you can't blame a family for dreaming. Our next top pick snows 5 months out of the year.
Basic answers to questions I know are to come. We have not visited but plan to closer to moving time if we don't like it our time there will be a great first vacation in 7 years, if we like it we plan to look at areas to buy, renting doesn't suit us although I know it's recommended. We are just ready to let out a sigh of relief at finding a place to start our roots we have no place to call home as of now we move where the Army shoves us sight unseen holding our breath til the next move. We hardly travel more than 30 miles and live in the smallest city with one stop light, a Walmart, commissary and post exchange but shop mostly from the farmers market. So I'm hoping we don't get rock fever were not used to much. From all the posts here I do have a general idea of areas to never consider though.
Last edited by RelocatingMilFam; 12-27-2013 at 08:27 PM..
Water cost depends on where you live. We get a fair amount of rain here in Discovery Harbour, so we don't have to water the plants too much. Our water bills run around $50 to $60 a month.
I didn't see a budget for Internet or TV?
You may have budgetted low for electricity. It runs about 44 cents per kWh. And we have propane for gas stove, clothes dryer, and water heater.
We currently don't have either tv or home internet. We do what we need from our phones, free wifi with our tablet or library. I saw a few locations around Kona and Hilo had wifi but if we live out of reach do you mind me asking how much a reliable connection usually costs a month?
Thank you for the info on the water.
How much does propane cost to deliver and do majority of houses have it? I have heard of occasional stoves but not of the rest. Is it cheaper than electric? If we linger around our average at .44kwh we would be looking at $132-176+ any fees. We have all HE appliances we will be having shipped and are hoping to install a solar hot water heater if the home doesn't have one our average right now is with a 20 year old energy hog one. Or it seems that way at least but def not efficient in any way we turn it off in the summer since the water is hot without it and our bill drops to 200kw with ac running.
What exactly is it you don't like about military families? As opposed to regular mainlanders who are just told to not come use up all the resources.
Not that we fit into the cookie cutter mold but maybe we should cut these few years out of our life when making friends if it's that much of an issue what job my husband took to keep our family off the streets. At least he's a completely disabled vet so we won't take jobs from the locals or rely on your states welfare system.
Last edited by RelocatingMilFam; 12-27-2013 at 10:39 PM..
What exactly is it you don't like about military families? As opposed to regular mainlanders who are just told to not come use up all the resources.
I was born and raised in Wahiawa. I lived miles away from Schofield Barracks, but had military neighbors. The owner of a house next to my parents had new military tenants almost every year. All of them were loud and obnoxious. Parties and fights at 2 a.m. were commonplace. Moreover, they claimed they were god fearing. To this day, I cannot believe many of them had young kids while behaving the way they did. I have no interest in living next to a bunch of drunk yahoos. Needless to say, it never ended well for any of the tenants at the house. Locals got fed up and licked them.
Where do you plan on getting your "free" medical care? If you will be using tricare, you should see if you can find a doctor and dentist that takes it and is taking new patients. Where do you plan on buying food for 4 people for $500 per month? You might want to look at the price of bread and milk on the big island. Why don't you take a vacation to the big island so you can see if you like it, get a better feel for the COL and see if it will work for you.
Hidden costs of living on the BI? My husband is medically retiring from the Army within the year. I have been stalking all of the posts here and a few other CD city forums and have a few questions that I really can't find answers to any personal experience would be helpful.
Aloha, and welcome to the forum. And please pass thanks along to your husband for his service to our country.
Although there is not a big military presence in Hawai'i County... aka the Big Island... primarily just a training compound called Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) up on Saddle Road between Hilo and Kailua-Kona... you will find Veterans Affairs offices, Vet Centers, and VA Community Based Outpatient clinics in both Hilo and Kailua-Kona. You can find a list of all veterans services in the state here:
food we currently spend $300 on a paleo diet (meat, fruit and veggies) so I'm planning on $500 as I hear meat can be higher and I'm dying to try the local food,
This could be a challenge for you on the Big Island. Since you are paleo you probably don't care about the very high prices of bread and milk, but most of the meat and fresh produce comes from California, and prices are high. The two categories of food that are generally the most affordable are locally grown fruits and veggies from farmers markets, although they are predominantly Asian varieties, and locally-caught fresh fish, especially when bought from the fishermen. The more you can adapt to eating what is fresh and local, the more affordable your food bill will be.
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I also had the hardest time budgeting for water if our house happens to be on county so I am assuming that's a millionaires luxury where price is no problem so I shouldn't worry.
If you are on county water you might spend $50-75 or so. If you have your water hauled, it will cost $200-250 for 4,000 gallons, likely a scant supply for a month. If you have rainwater catchment, figure about $250/yr for filters, UV lamp, chlorine etc. But be sure to check your financing options, because some lenders will not finance homes not on county water.
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After the hustle and bustle the Army has put our family through were ready to settle down and with no family ties and a possible once in a lifetime all expense paid move to Hawai'i you can't blame a family for dreaming. Our next top pick snows 5 months out of the year.
Yes, I can completely get the appeal of being moved to someplace great, and I wish you luck with all that. Just be sure to choose someplace you'll be happy with. Hence the strong recommendations to 1) visit Hawai'i to be sure it's a place you want to live, BEFORE moving here, and 2) rent for a while before buying to be sure you know exactly where you want to live here, BEFORE moving there.
There are some of us here who really love Big Island life and like to be helpful, such as Dreaming of Hawaii and Hotzcatz and myself and a few others who will gladly give you advice and specific information you need. And there are others who mean to be helpful but who live elsewhere who can inadvertently give mistaken answers, because Hawai'i is so different in so many ways from where they are, so consider the source, as well as their location. Unfortunately, as with any anonymous internet forum, there are people with other agendas and other reasons for being here than to give helpful advice. You can safely ignore those people if you wish, by going to My Settings, and adding their names to My Ignore List, and you'll no longer see posts or comments by them.
There should be a spot for you around here somewhere, it's a Big Island, after all.
We have County water and it runs about $60 per month, more or less on average. That's two people, a few critters, three small gardens, one hot tub and about ninety inches of rain a year. The gardens/lawn only get watered consistently when they are seeded (about three times a year) or in the mid and late summer when the rain gets a bit sparse.
Internet/TV cable is about $70 per month, you could probably get it for a bit less if you look around.
What sort of amenities would you like to be next to? You mentioned wifi at a library and your husband's health, so perhaps near somewhere with a library and hospital? What else would make your life nice?
There is a large "artsy" community over by OpenD if you would like art, artists and art galleries near by. Also loads of great wild birds. Bird watchers love the Volcano area.
Pahoa area is famous for being a laid back place the sixties never forgot. Usually tolerant of different lifestyles there, although high drug and crime rates. Some possibility of lava flow, too. Although the lava almost ate Hilo back in the '80s.
Hilo is becoming a University town, but it's still sleepy Hilo. Nice library, big hospital, access to the ocean, big flat areas for soccer, etc. It's the largest population center on the island, but still slow and sleepy. Comfortable sort of town. Gets a bit of rain now and then, but it also gets a lot of sunshine which makes for some great rainbows. Has a huge farmer's market.
The Hamakua Coast is great for diversified farming and ranching. More expensive along there, though, due to depth of soil among other things. Honomu is a nice little town, very quiet, though, but quiet is good. Also Laupahoehoe, Papaaloa, Ookala, Paauilo, etc., etc. Very little crime along the coast. Probably since everyone knows everyone and watches out for each other. Although there was a burglar in Ookala back in '92 or so. Scared everyone and the folks told that to the judge when the burglar was being sentenced. The judge gave the guy 128 consecutive years with no hope of parole. Hasn't been a burglar in sight since then.
Honokaa is a valid small town with a mainstreet off the Belt Highway. (The whole island is circled by "the highway" - don't even bother trying to learn the number of it, nobody keeps track of that. It is just "the road" or "the highway". Sometimes "Mamalahoa Highway" if you want to call it by name, although the name changes depending where you are on it.) Anyway, Honokaa is a valid small town. Has a hospital, a library, fire station, police station, part time court house, too, I think. Cute main street, biggest theater left in the state, I think, lots of little restaurants and shops and a great hardware store. Annual rodeo and Peace Parade. There will town wide wifi coming up soon. Oh, and the theater is now sort of a Starbucks, they serve coffee and nibbles so you can hang out on main street and watch the world go by. Houses can be a touch pricey, though.
Waimea has a great hospital, lovely library but the whole place is a pricey as far as buying a house goes. Great farmer's markets there, too. Lots of astronomy folks live up in that area as well as doctors and such.
Hawi and Kapaau is a lovely area, although I don't know about their hospitals up that way. There might be a clinic, but I can't think of it if they do have one. Kailua-Kona is expensive and rocky, not so good for farming but it's pretty dry there so folks get all happy about their sunshine. Lots of mainland type stores there now, too, as well as many of them in Hilo these days as well.
From Waimea, you head out to the dry Kona side. Actually, from OpenDs place on around you're pretty much heading out to the dry side, but we live on a circle so it makes sense.
Have you decided on which side of the island you prefer?
Food, insurance, mortgage, and gas are figured way too low. I never understand these "get us outta the mainland" things, as they often turn into "get us off of this island" later. Please rent first before you buy. Hawaii is not for everyone, just as San Francisco/Texas (yikes!)/Boston, etc are not for everyone. If you like it, buy later. If you don't like it, your options are not the same at all.
You might find Hilo's local paper e edition ( the mobile version is free) a good resource for east side big island information. Like all local papers it has local and state news, help wanted, real estate, auto dealer and grocery store ads e-Edition | Hawaii Tribune Herald .
As a medical retiree, you need to be aware of the medical situation on the big island. This link describes the doctor shortage in Hawaii (38% doctor shortage on the big island) Save Our Doctors Hawaii | Home . Your husband may be able to get medical care through the VA. Will the VA on the big island provide all the services your husband needs, and if not who pays for the trip to Honolulu? Try to find out whether you and your kids can get a doctor? With a shortage of doctors many doctors may not take Tricare. It might be worth posting on a forum and asking if anyone has a doctor taking new patients with Tricare.
On the good side, I don't believe Hawaii has a state income tax on military retirees although there are lawmakers that want to change it to pay for past underfunding for Hawaii state retirees / increasing revenue for the state.
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), I haven't found much on cell phones but we just need a basic international plan as we don't have any family on the mainland but my husband's mother is in Mexico. We don't smoke or drink so no budget for that. I also had the hardest time budgeting for water if our house happens to be on county so I am assuming that's a millionaires luxury where price is no problem so I shouldn't worry.
At least he's a completely disabled vet so we won't take jobs from the locals or rely on your states welfare system.
