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My name is Captn. My spouse and I have always led a very simple life and are now retired. Here is what I've learned about living decent on very little income, Pay off everything from your home to your credit cards, do not take on any more debt, and it is usually not so expensive to live. We have a paid for home which has a value around $90,000 and it has just come to our attention that we could basically "trade" our home in north-west Washington for one in Hawaii. Maybe build a place around 600 sq/ft with a nice workshop.
What I am wondering is, if you had a paid for home and around $2,000 a month in retirement, would you be able to get by just fine? We currently live on about $1,200 per month, comfortably. Half of that is groceries for the 2 of us. We do not want to struggle to "make it" on the islands. I'm too tired for that. I'm used to being the "poor cousin" where-ever I live. My very modest home is a few hundred yards from a multi-million dollar estate right now.
I read about people who "tried" moving to Hawaii but couldn't make it and went back to the mainland. I do not see how the problems of high housing cost and low employment would have anything to do with me. I find that my white cane helps me be acceptable in about any group. People tend to cut the visually impaired some slack and I try to be polite, so the change in local culture shouldn't be an issue. Is it worthwhile to plan some time getting to know the area with a view towards moving? Everyone talks about how expensive Hawaii is but I actually cannot find where it is much more than the island I live on now. You live there. Paid for home, $2,000 per month for 2 people. Could you get by without stress?
It depends on the paid for home, basically. If it's away out in lalaland and you have to drive to town all the time for groceries, supplies and entertainment, then a portion of your income and time will have to cover that. If it's an all electric house, the electric bills could be high, figure 44¢ per kilowatt hour for electricity. Estimate your grocery bill about 30% higher and see if the numbers work. Do you travel much? Factor in airfare to the mainland once or twice a year if you do.
Most of the inexpensive houses are in an area of really high theft. Not too much violent crime, just tons of break ins and thefts.
Have you visited before? Hawaii is radically as well as subtly different than the mainland.
I am not going to comment about the "get by on 2,000$/mo" b/c I haven't had the experience to make that evaluation yet. But it seems to me, that if you are willing to live in a small dwelling and grow a little bit of food, raise some chickens and stuff. You might very well not only "make it" but live a pretty happy life. There also seems to be many people who like to barter goods and services, so that may help reduce your cost of living as well.
I would definitely like to be corrected if I am wrong. thanks!
If you are comfortable in your present home, why are you looking to move? What do you want that different from where you live now?
Whether or not you could make it on $2,000 a month is really up to you and your lifestyle. Yes, you could pick up some land for around $10,000 in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates (see the threads here) and build a small place. You would have to also put in a water catchment tank and everything that goes along with that (filters, etc.) which you may have to pay to have filled in times of drought (which are not infrequent). You could even go totally off the grid by putting in your own solar or wind powered system. Electricity is very high here -- around 44 cents per KwH.
Food costs are high here. Altho Grassyknoll has been doing well, it is hard to grow a lot of eatable food on black lava. Do you have the time and physical ability to clear the land and bring in soil? While I'm part of a community garden that grows a lot of food, it really is not enough to live off of. We do a lot of our shopping at Costco, which is an hour and a half away. We also have a chest freezer in the garage to be able to store the food that comes in large quantities there.
Have you looked at the price of gasoline here? It usually runs about a dollar more per gallon than on the mainland, so those shopping trips to Kona or Hilo can get expensive.
What about medical care? Do you have insurance that will cover you in Hawaii? Do you need regular care or a specialist? There is a small medical center in Ocean View, but good luck getting an appointment in less than three months, if at all. Even Kaiser has a limited number of specialists, who usually come over one day a week from Honolulu.
How important is social interaction to you? Do you need a lot of friends, or are you pretty independent? Getting accepted into the "local culture" is not a factor of how nice you are, it takes a lot of time and effort on your part. Family is very important here, and most locals are not interested in meeting newcomers.
Before you sell out and move, try renting here for at least a few months to a year. That's really the only way to know if it will work without losing everything. I moved here 3 times before I got it right, have been here now for 16 years.
When I glanced at the thread this morning, I said to myself - wow, $2,000/month would be really tight. Then I re-read and noticed it said $2,000/month for TWO PEOPLE.
Heck no. $12,000 per person per year? That's like $6/hr if you were working and you'd be the equivalent of way below the poverty level unless your plan is massive public assistance.
When I glanced at the thread this morning, I said to myself - wow, $2,000/month would be really tight. Then I re-read and noticed it said $2,000/month for TWO PEOPLE.
Heck no. $12,000 per person per year? That's like $6/hr if you were working and you'd be the equivalent of way below the poverty level unless your plan is massive public assistance.
Yeah, but they would have no housing costs.
There's no doubt in my mind that it could be done. Certainly, there are people out there already doing it.
The question is: Would it afford a satisfactory standard of living for you? Only Captn and his partner can answer that.
There's no doubt in my mind that it could be done. Certainly, there are people out there already doing it.
You think people are living on the BI on $12K per year per person.
Perhaps, with A TON OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. Homes aren't self maintaining. You have property taxes. I'm not even sure you can afford to run fans with that income. Certainly no phone or TV. No car since insurance and registration eat up a lot of that income. Rural Hawaii is not like rural Mississippi. Clothes don't last forever. I'm not convinced at all there are people on the BI who own a home and the costs associated with it subsist on $1K per month per person without massive public assistance.
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