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Jennypal, If you don't mind sharing, how much savings did you have when you first moved to Hawai'i? Did you buy a house/condo outright, paying mortgage payments, or are you renting?
How much I had in savings? All I can say is that I ended up spending much more than I budgeted at the beginning.
I currently rent an apartment in Waikiki. I pay 1,200 a month without utilities, so to move I had to come up with the first month of rent plus the security deposit that in most cases is also equally to the monthly rent ..so $2,400 for the the first month.
- I thought we could get around easily utilizing the bus system, which you could, the bus literally takes you everywhere on the island, we later came to realize to truly enjoy the island you need a car unless you don't mind riding the bus for 2 hours to get to the north shore each way, or 1:30 min to get to Kailua beach..we also love hiking and there was no way to get to the trails unless you have your own transportation, also to get the more affordable groceries it will take us 40 min to 1 hour to get to Chinatown and the bus drivers only allow you to carry so many bags, so we decided it will be more convenient to get a car. thats the expense I didn't consider. I got a used Honda CRV for 6 grand grand.
-My apartment came unfurnished, so we went ahead and bought a tv,flat iron,blender,night stand,mattress,bed,blankets,sheets, clothing hangers,night table,silverware,dishes,bowls,containers,pots,etc. ..,,all of that about 1,200.
- the cost of living of me not working for almost 2 months..maybe 1,500 ,..so add all that up and that was basically my savings.
I mean it is ok, As I said, as a 1 year experience it was good, life continues, I am young enough to pack my belongings and move on. I know a lot of people will criticize me saying I should've known better, but you know what, you can plan all you can, but the absolute realities can be seen once you are there.
I still have my ticket to go back to the mainland, the 1,200 I'll get back from the security deposit, I will sell the car and the furniture, I have some other secure income so I will be fine.
Hawaii is still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life but theres more than nature beauty to consider a move.
I really wish y'all would quit telling people to relocate to the South. The weather is not that great here. We had over a foot of snow and ice last winter. We get tornadoes aplenty and don't forget hurricanes. The job market is not any better down here, we get flooded with people who are lured here by the promise of a low cost of living PLUS better weather. Try looking at the boards for some of the SE states and you will see what I mean. Toyota came to NE MS and people all over the country have tried to get hired there, hundreds of thousands of applicants for a few hundred jobs. I had neighbors that moved here from Michigan, got stuck here without jobs, and ended up on welfare. I've encountered lots of transplants that moved here from other areas only to be disenchanted and leave.
Basically I just wanted to say things are bad everywhere, only YOU know what YOU can handle and are willing to do to survive somewhere. Typically if you have doubts about something, don't do it. Making a life change of this magnitude requires a full commitment to making it work and LOTS of planning on your part. Dreaming of a better life is not crazy, it just requires work.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am relocating to hawaii in about 2 weeks and did A LOT of planning, I will put it into a post soon. But they above are right, it sucks everywhere, and one has to make the best out of their situation. One has to have the drive, intelligence, connections and many things to make a move work, including LUCK.
And as we in michigan have said, it is a terrible thing to be homeless, but I would rather be homeless there, then in a place like michigan right now where you WILL freeze to death.
Or go through things like this:
Metro and State | 6,500 pack Cobo to seek heating help from DTE | The Detroit News (http://detnews.com/article/20111122/METRO/111220369/6-500-pack-Cobo-to-seek-heating-help-from-DTE - broken link)
This is what I did, move in with family or a good friend, that will help with costs, and you can focus your money on your wife being in hawaii, that is what I did for 5 months. This way you won't be paying for two different locations.
How much I had in savings? All I can say is that I ended up spending much more than I budgeted at the beginning.
I currently rent an apartment in Waikiki. I pay 1,200 a month without utilities, so to move I had to come up with the first month of rent plus the security deposit that in most cases is also equally to the monthly rent ..so $2,400 for the the first month.
- I thought we could get around easily utilizing the bus system, which you could, the bus literally takes you everywhere on the island, we later came to realize to truly enjoy the island you need a car unless you don't mind riding the bus for 2 hours to get to the north shore each way, or 1:30 min to get to Kailua beach..we also love hiking and there was no way to get to the trails unless you have your own transportation, also to get the more affordable groceries it will take us 40 min to 1 hour to get to Chinatown and the bus drivers only allow you to carry so many bags, so we decided it will be more convenient to get a car. thats the expense I didn't consider. I got a used Honda CRV for 6 grand grand.
-My apartment came unfurnished, so we went ahead and bought a tv,flat iron,blender,night stand,mattress,bed,blankets,sheets, clothing hangers,night table,silverware,dishes,bowls,containers,pots,etc. ..,,all of that about 1,200.
- the cost of living of me not working for almost 2 months..maybe 1,500 ,..so add all that up and that was basically my savings.
I mean it is ok, As I said, as a 1 year experience it was good, life continues, I am young enough to pack my belongings and move on. I know a lot of people will criticize me saying I should've known better, but you know what, you can plan all you can, but the absolute realities can be seen once you are there.
I still have my ticket to go back to the mainland, the 1,200 I'll get back from the security deposit, I will sell the car and the furniture, I have some other secure income so I will be fine.
Hawaii is still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life but theres more than nature beauty to consider a move.
I think all of the expenses are more or less expected, regardless of the move someone makes. That's almost expected for someone to make those kinds of sacrifices when trying to achieve a dream.
On the other hand, it sounds like you're not completely sold on Hawaii/Honolulu being the place of your dreams. Sounds like you're interested in a different kind of diversity, with more nationalities present. I recall you mentioning salsa clubs, etc.
So, to me, it seems it's not necessarly that Honolulu is too expensive or a financial strain (as similar situations happen to people who move to Paris, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, etc.)
But, it sounds like it's more 'that' issue, PLUS you'd rather be in another city like SF, etc.
In short, and this is just projecting, but it's not that you couldn't have 'made it' in Hawaii, as you've pretty much already done the hardest part. It's just that you feel a stronger calling to go try somewhere else. It's not completely what you had hoped, and now you're hoping to go try somewhere else. Nothing wrong with any of that.
So we are still playing with the option to move to Hawaii and try to find jobs out there...it's very difficult for us to be taken seriously when we are all the way in the East Coast...I did get a couple of replies through LinkedIN so I'm waiting to see if they like my resume enough to have me interview.
I think if we have an exit strategy, low expectations and 6 months to try to find jobs we can do this. Like alot of people here said, life is too short that a few years from now when we are living "normal" life we will always wonder what if we moved to Hawaii...
Any other tips on how we can apply for jobs...are there any companies out there that would be willing to look at folks who apply from the mainland?
I would suggest go for it. If you don't you'll always wonder what if. Join a Church, shop at Walmart, KMart, Sam's Club, Costco, live simply, like your're camping. Things will and can work out. The worst that can happen is you succeed or fail, either way you will better for the experience. Make great friends of all backgrounds and life will be rich. It's hard to find jobs in HI from the mainland, but people do. What type of work are you looking for? Are you open to eating local foods instead of american food.
I would suggest go for it. If you don't you'll always wonder what if. Join a Church, shop at Walmart, KMart, Sam's Club, Costco, live simply, like your're camping. Things will and can work out. The worst that can happen is you succeed or fail, either way you will better for the experience. Make great friends of all backgrounds and life will be rich. It's hard to find jobs in HI from the mainland, but people do. What type of work are you looking for? Are you open to eating local foods instead of american food.
I am in the IT industry, specifically hospitality companies...I have worked in the helpdesk, supervised helpdesk and now currently do project coordination/management
My wife is in Interior Design...so she doesn't mind working at furniture stores or even doing AutoCad which she is proficient in...
We both are college educated students so we would be looking for corporate office jobs but willing to work anywhere in the meantime so we don't deplete our savings for 6 months while we are there. If we can't truyl find jobs after 6 months we will move back home with her mom until we get back on our feet.
We loved most of the food there. We actually are smart shoppers now, we coupon clip, shop at markets/target/walmart etc and we don't really buy anything extravagent...we want to live simple and enjoy all the free activities hawaii allows us to!
No, I'm returning their to take care of my dad in three weeks. Grew up there, been on the mainland since 85. If you decide to move there and need a friend. Just PM me.
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