Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Out of morbid curiosity could you find those same items where you live now and see what those prices are?
Actually I did....I'll enter them, but you'll have to go back and forth from post to post to do the comparison. When I looked it was between 10 and 30% more. Here we go.
Ruby, your Target LA prices are different from mine, not sure why. I compared the same size packages as I found in Kona, for example the same exact juice was 2.94 in LA, and the ice cream was 3.39. I'm pretty sure the only thing cheaper was the soy sauce. But the housing savings sound awesome. Can you give any more details on your Oahu rental? That's an amazing price.
Hey Slinky, went to the one in Montclair, about 30 miles east of LA.
I've been looking for about six months, my location is flexible because I found a job in Honolulu in my field where I can telecommute. DH has been forced into early retirement. The Makaha Towers is a secure condo complex in Waianea/Makaha. The grounds are beautiful, secure for our classic car we're bringing over, plus we'll be on the 15th floor. The ocean/mountain view is incredible from the living room and bedroom. The entry door is on the mountains side. It's 700 sq. ft., small for Calif standards but normal for NY standards. The owner lives on the East side of the island, originally from San Francisco.
You really have to find a rental owner who treats their property like their own home. Doesn't seem like there is a lot of "home pride" going on. You have to weed through the uglies to find that one that's beautiful and jump on it. I was lucky that one of the forum members offered to do the physical inspection for me, take updated pictures/e-mail them to me, call me with a verbal report. And the important question, "Would you rent it for $1K?"
Part of the reason the apartment you found is so reasonable is because it's in Waianea/Makaha. The further you go from town, and especially that direction, the more reasonable and modern the places become. Unfortunately the commute then becomes hell.
It's all a trade off. My supervisor lived on that side and commuted downtown for 3 years. He spent $400 in gas a month, and that was before it was $4.45 for the cheap stuff like it is now.
Due to no fault of my own I am looking for a place again, and in town it's hard to find something liveable for under $1,600 a month. Not trying to be negative, just honest.
Like I said, I don't have to commute. I found another high rise location in Waikiki that was $1200 for 600 sq. ft., nicely maintained in Waikiki. However, since I telecommute, didn't want to fight the tourists all the time. Having lived in Laguna Beach, Las Vegas, Pasadena, been there, done that.
I found that in the high rise condos/apartments it was easier to find a 1 bedroom under $1500 than standalone small apartment complexes.
Also try padmappers.com and other avenues then Craigslist - good luck house hunting.
Out in Ca we have a store Called 99.cents store and i normaly shopped there for tp and papertowels and other goods i need ..
The only thing i went into the store was for meat milk and spendla and eggs the rest of the stuf i need i bought at the 99.cents store and since it started to carry 2.lts of pepsi and dr pepper they have really increased there sales in the area i lived i before i moved to the NYC area for work before my retirement to the big island
Dont want to bust your bubble but you need not look into that we have sales tax, excise taxes, taxes on groceries, taxes on everything. If they could figure it out they would tax you when you wipe your butt.
Dont want to bust your bubble but you need not look into that we have sales tax, excise taxes, taxes on groceries, taxes on everything. If they could figure it out they would tax you when you wipe your butt.
Aaww Oh well...it was fun to think about for an hour or so. I found bottled air for sale in Park City so I'm sure you're right
Yes, General Excise tax on everything, but our rate is only 4.166%, less than half some of the sales tax in many places in California and other states.
We pay GE tax on services too, some of which are not taxed in (for example) California. Services such as shipping, accountant fees, delivery of furniture, technical or handyman services...
... Of course some people don't put that on the invoice, but they do have to pay for anything they collect, so most do include tax on the invoice. We track and pay GE on anything we buy out of state. Most of our neighbors don't, but we just do.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Out of morbid curiosity could you find those same items where you live now and see what those prices are?
Oh well...it was fun to think about for an hour or so. I found bottled air for sale in Park City so I'm sure you're right 
