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If you really want to make a job for yourself using the Costco theme, do as many do, go to Csotco, WalMart, and Sams club. Buy a bunch of fruits and veggies in bulk. Remove the label that says a Product of the Phillipines or Product of Mexico, set up a stand at the side of the road or the farmer market. Sell those imported fruits and veggies to the newcommers for a profit because they thinking its from Hawaii. Repeat next week.
have ytou been to some of the "local" shops and notice the aloha shirts from china flying off the shelf by tourist. Notice the person selling hand made furniture with a big container outback with RTA furniture inside from Korea. And the handcrafted jewlery and things where they forgot to take the made in Hong Kong label off.
You don;t have to made anything, just figure out a way to sell other peoples stuff at higher prices.
I guess I'm surprised that local produce isn't cheaper (and therefore the main produce), given the cost of shipping produce from other countries. Otherwise, being a middleman is definitely a time-honored way to make money.
I still like the waterbong idea, though! :^) (You can sell good waterpipes for $50+ easy, and I imagine you could make at least 8 a day without too much trouble. Wish I knew how to blow glass -- making money legally off the enormous marijuana market is definitely intriguing.)
I guess I'm surprised that local produce isn't cheaper (and therefore the main produce), given the cost of shipping produce from other countries. Otherwise, being a middleman is definitely a time-honored way to make money.
I still like the waterbong idea, though! :^) (You can sell good waterpipes for $50+ easy, and I imagine you could make at least 8 a day without too much trouble. Wish I knew how to blow glass -- making money legally off the enormous marijuana market is definitely intriguing.)
Yes, I could probably make waterbongs - I could probably learn to cook meth or if I could find enough women willing to "work" I could run a cathouse too but I don't believe in encouraging illegal behavior . Remember I'm an old fart with old fashioned ideas .
Yes, I could probably make waterbongs - I could probably learn to cook meth or if I could find enough women willing to "work" I could run a cathouse too but I don't believe in encouraging illegal behavior . Remember I'm an old fart with old fashioned ideas .
Mickey
MickeyE...I just love your sense of humor...not bad for an old fart!
I like your Costco idea. I wouldn't mind using my van to get large stocks of supplies for neighbors, especially since those bulk items are best broken up anyway.
I was also wondering how popular the barter systems is on Hawaii -- as your post indicates, you can save a lot by not paying for shipping, taxes, etc. I was thinking of making a point with my business that I would accept payment in barter, because I'd be happy to do things in exchange for a steady supply of fruits and veggies (and because it would probably be easier for neighbors to pay with their produce than with cash). After all, after my housing is paid for, what more would I really need besides a little gas?
Hawaii is more of a "gifting" type society than a barter type. When you have excess you just naturally give the part you don't need to your neighbors and ohana. They, of course, just naturally give you what they have an excess of, too, once you are part of the neighborhood/ohana. That means you only need one avocado tree for each season in your neighborhood instead of all of them in your yard.
Barter is still good, though. Folks exchange all sorts of stuff and even commercial establishments have been known to indulge. I've swapped baby ducks for meals at restaurants and my DH swapped a 4WD car for a new refrigerator. An aquaintence swapped some bulldozing work with one guy for some car painting for another guy and got an antique armoire for his mom from the guy who got his car painted. Usually deals aren't so complicated, though.
If your housing is paid for and the property taxes are low you'd still need a bit of income to pay for the property tax, then you'd need money for phone/internet connection, food (as you mentioned) although food can be grown, the occasional bit of clothing, propane to run the stove/water heater (unless you have solar hot water and cook on a rocket stove), a vehicle and it's insurance and registration as well as stuff you can't grow or barter for.
For the more rural areas of the island, folks usually keep a lot more in their cupboards than folks who live in town. The "bulk" items from Costco may not be considered "bulk" at all. Most folks will routinely keep twenty pounds of rice at hand as well as a week or more's worth of food. Many of the really rural folks go to town less than once a week sometimes only once a month.
as i said on my other post, there is a double whammy of low medical reimbursement (due to the hmsa monopoly) and high operating cost (due to high rent and employment costs). so even after accepting a lower pay, many private practice docs struggle to stay in business.
rather than asking a general interest question, why not tell us what you are interested in? that would be infinitely more helpful for you!
As a doctor on Maui, here is my take on why doctors don't stay here too long (especially on the neighbor islands):
1) Population with poor insurance coverage. There are many patients on Maui who have no or really poor insurance (e.g. AlohaCare, Ohana, Quest-Ace, etc). The poor insurance companies regularly deny my billing claims or compensate you for a fraction of what the claim is worth. HMSA is actually one of the best insurance companies in terms of payment, so I would love it if everyone had HMSA insurance. I know that many of you out there think that doctors should work for free, but it is difficult paying rent and your employees if you can't collect adequate revenues. And with the 30% Medicare cuts looming, the situation is just going to get worse and will require lowering overhead (e.g. firing employees), not participating with Medicare, or significantly increasing volume (e.g. 2 minute visits with your doctor).
2) High overhead and poor employee selection. The cost of rent, electricity, TAXES, etc is absurd and really is a detractor in terms of running any type of business here. It also is difficult finding adequately-trained medical staff here who aren't smoking up every other day, or who actually treat their jobs as a valued commodity. I have never run into the sort of employee issues that I've experienced here, compared to the mainland (yes, I know, I shouldn't say that the mainland is so much better than the islands).
3) Poor hospital support and physician community. There is a lot of physician backstabbing, I think mainly because it is a small island and every doctor is trying to keep their piece of the (already-small) patient "pie". New doctors are not particularly welcome since they are likely taking revenue from the "old guy's" business. The hospital facilities are actually better than I expected, but still not as good as modern mainland city hospitals.
4) Limited technology. No matter what, I feel that medical technology will always take longer to get onto the island since it is just plain more expensive getting it here. This limitation is a negative from a professional standpoint, especially for doctors (like me) who want to offer cutting-edge treatments.
5) Poor schooling system, opportunities, etc for children. This issue has been reiterated several times. I want the best for my children, and I'm not convinced that a Maui environment/education can offer that. Yes, it is very safe and wholesome here, but I have found that many of the kids here have very narrow interests. I don't want to have to spend another 20K a year to send my children to Seabury, especially when there are great public schools back on the mainland.
Overall, it is difficult for a physician to stay here for the long-term when he/she can make a 30-50% better living on the mainland and be closer to family. One can use that extra 30-50% income and just purchase a vacation home in Maui instead!
Don't get me wrong...I love living on Maui and the patients/people here are very nice. But in 10-15 years from now, I'm not sure that the island's allure will outweigh its significant disadvantages. Who knows. I think Maui is much better for those in their young adult years when they have less responsibilities and are still "exploring the world" and surfing every other day...but much worse for those of us interested in our careers and giving our children the best opportunities possible.
Anyways, that's my humble opinion of the physician situation.
Last edited by Vicious; 08-05-2011 at 01:19 PM..
Reason: grammar error
agree with everything (except the part about HMSA! hahaha). seriously though, i don't want to add to this thread kvetching about how hard it is to be a doc or nurse or glassblower in hawaii.
it almost seems like OP wants us to suggest a good job for him/her as a career change. how could anyone do that!?! it took me a looong time to learn this, but in all sincerity, in order to be successful at something (and more importantly to be happy at doing something) you need to know thyself, local market conditions be d@mned!
agree with everything (except the part about HMSA! hahaha). seriously though, i don't want to add to this thread kvetching about how hard it is to be a doc or nurse or glassblower in hawaii.
it almost seems like OP wants us to suggest a good job for him/her as a career change. how could anyone do that!?! it took me a looong time to learn this, but in all sincerity, in order to be successful at something (and more importantly to be happy at doing something) you need to know thyself, local market conditions be d@mned!
Well, all other things being equal, I would rather see a HMSA pt than an AlohaCare patient any day.
I think MickeyE has some great tips for SUPPLEMENTING income, but you can't live on those. Being retired with a small pension and plenty of time to do handiwork/gardening for food, cash or barter is not the same as having a family, a low paying job, and not enough time left over to do anything else.
With the cost of housing (in a house), having a family, going to good schools, and covered by health insurance requires at least 60K in salary. There was another thread were there was consensus on 80K being better, with 100K being comfortable.
But that lifestyle is still a mainland relic. Whether by culture or by necessity, island-style is to live more crowded, often with family, have elders nearby for childcare, public school, not full insurance coverage, as the Maui doctor experiences. That definitely lowers expenses, BUT it is not readily available to recent transplants.
When I was let go from my job, I did handyman work, and my wife made and sold jewelery at craft fairs. Because we were just starting in these new fields, we weren't very good at marketing ourselves. We just couldn't ramp up the income fast enough, even after cutting all our expenses to keep our health insurance.
Yes, I could probably make waterbongs - I could probably learn to cook meth or if I could find enough women willing to "work" I could run a cathouse too but I don't believe in encouraging illegal behavior . Remember I'm an old fart with old fashioned ideas .
Mickey
Hey Mickey, you and I are the same age. And we think alike! (re: illegal activities) I remember following pimps with my police car back in the 70s while a HPD cop. I didn't stop them, I just followed them round and round the streets around Hotel St. Used to drive them crazy as they tried to figure out what da hell I was doing, lol.
Then I would get a call and would leave. But as soon as I was finished, I'd do it all over again.
To get back on topic. I left HI because of the job situation and never looked back. HPD was and still is the lowest-paid major department in the nation. There is a very simple reason for that. There is no competition!! So if there's anyone interested in joining the HPD, be sure you have someone that can help with expenses, like your *parents.*
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. Remember I'm an old fart with old fashioned ideas 
. 
