Am I prepared enough to move to hawaii??? (transplants, for sale)

[Phanos9999]

Me and my wife and little yorkie-poo are moving to hawaii in july 2011. I have about $10,000.00 saved up. My wife is looking for work to be a teacher (she is graduating and becoming certified in michigan with honors and a 3.9 g.p.a.) and I have a bachelors (I work as a chemist) and I am looking for work too before we move.
Does any know if you become a teacher in hawaii, do they give you money to relocate as well???
Am I doing enough to be prepared to move to hawaii???? I am looking for places to live also, probably an apartment or condo, a nice one for about $1,000.00 a month to $1,2000.00..............1,000 would be better. Not much a difference I pay $850.00 now... Or would I have to spend more for a decent place?

Any advice given would be appreciated...

thank you.

[Phanos9999]

Also, I looked everything up and it will cost about $6,000.00 to move our stuff, one car, and dog, from michigan?

[KonaKat]

Which island are you heading for? I don't know of any relocation expenses covered for teachers. If you're a chemist and going to Big Island, there are several scientific type businesses in an area near Kona where there are fish farms, algae farms, deep sea water bottling, etc.

I think it would take a minimum of $6000 to move if you're shipping very much over here. I would not bother to ship anything but personal items and important mementos you can't live without. (and the dog, of course) Get familiar with the pet import procedure through the Dept. of Ag website.

The most important question is, have you ever been here before?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Phanos, I hope that you have been reading the threads on this forum about jobs in Hawaii (what island are you looking, BTW?). There have been discussions about teaching jobs, too. Do you know about the furloughs? The state is having non-work days for their employees, so that should tell you something about the lack of money to pay teachers. I don't know of any school district anywhere that pays relocation costs; asking that question for Hawaii just shows a lack of knowledge about the state of the economy here.

$6,000 to move how much stuff? We moved from Colorado this year and a 20 foot container cost us $7,800. We drove to Seattle and shipped the car from there for $1,000.

You ask if you are doing enough to be prepared to move, but you only mention having $10,000 saved up. You need to spend many hours reading as many forums and books as you can find because you need to be mentally prepared to live here. I wonder the same thing as KonaKat -- have you ever been here before? Why are you wanting to live in Hawaii?

[KoaKine]

Aloha,
You can goon the web site for the DOE to see if your wife's cert will carry over to Hawaii most do some donʻt and she might just have to take a couple classes to get it. As to the compensation it depends on the school and your experience and your negotiation skills. The $6 k cost is what ever you make of it it depends on what you bring my bill was way more but i brought alot...
Time to start the quarantine for your yorkie!

Good luck
Koa

[hotzcatz]

Well, finding employment in Hawaii is probably easier than in Michigan the way Michigan is these days. What island you go to will make a big difference in living costs, however the islands with lower living costs have less employment opportunities. Finding a chemical related job will probably be more difficult than a teaching job.

There are always folks moving to and from the mainland and there are yard and garage sales all year. If it were me, I'd only bring small sentimental things and replace everything else to save a lot of money on shipping. Apartments and houses are also much smaller than their mainland counterparts, so most folks bring way too much stuff with them. And, most transplants go back to the mainland within several years so until you know if you are in the stay put or go back category, it might be best to store the big expensive to ship stuff with some relatives on the mainland.

Bring the wife, the dog and a suitcase or two of essentials. Shipping things via U.S. Postal service is about the least expensive way to get stuff relocated but they are limited on size and weight. Their "Media" mail is very inexpensive, but make sure it is only media since sometimes they open the boxes to check and if anything is in the box that isn't media they will charge a much higher rate. If you find employment, then have the folks on the mainland that you left your stuff with ship the boxes over to you. Inexpensive cars can be found on Craig's List or on certain street corners where folks put the cars for sale. If you are on Oahu, there is enough public tranport that you'd not need a car. It's more expensive to live on Oahu, though. But there's more employment opportunities. A week of hotel or vaction rental will get you landed with a place to sleep that has beds and linens, etc. During that week you can scramble to find another less expensive place to stay as well as employment.

Oh, change your cell phone over to a Hawaii number right away. Employers don't like to call long distance numbers.

Moving to Hawaii is much easier with the less stuff to pack along. Also, check the Hawaii quarantine restrictions to bring the dog along. If everything is done right, you won't have to quarantine the dog over here but you have to start several months in adance over there.

[thatsong64]

Why do you only have $10,000 saved up when your wife is a teacher (not the highest paying job ever, but still a career) and you are a chemist??!! I work part time retail for minimum wage and my husband works an office job for $16 an hour and we have a little over $12,000 saved up. You need to start actually saving. Stop going out to eat, shopping and wasting your money, that is if you actually want to make the move.

Also you didn't give nearly enough information about your plans or situation. And I don't think you have nearly enough information yourself.

I feel like I don't know enough and I research aaaall the time. This forum, podcasts, craiglist, mauinews.com, anything I can find online, dvds, and any friend who knows a girl who knows a guy who knows a dog etc etc etc.

Maybe I'm just too full of myself, but I'm starting to laugh a little that I'm getting lumped in with these people.

ok! back to positivity!

[Phanos9999]

To thatsong64,

Yes, you are full of yourself, arrogant, and don't read fully......
I said my wife is graduating as a teacher, not that she is a teacher. I clearly typed that, along with her g.p.a. I am the only one in my household bringing in money. And as it stands I have $10,000.00 saved up, but I am not planning on relocating until july 2011. Which gives me more time to save up even more money.
And you have no idea how much information I have obtained about moving. I did not state everything clearly because as I said I work as a chemist and I work swing shift at that (if you even know what that means).
Perhaps you need to read a bit more clearly, get to know the person, and hold your hash comments before you judge someone.....

[Phanos9999]

I will state more of what I am bringing to the table at a later date. I just got off of work and the rude comment does not give me much motivation......

[Phanos9999]

One thing I wish to ask, I have been reading many websites and watching vlogs about hawaii. Can anyone recommend any books?