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I've heard over and over again - groceries are more expensive, people aren't that nice, the BUGS are all over the place.. Is it really THAT bad? I keep hearing these horror stories, and a good friend of mine and I are planning to move out to the islands in October. She is getting scared off! I know the pay is less and the cost of living is more, but some people make it sound like you're going to be struggling so much you can't even enjoy it! I'm trying to find a job before I move out, and it seems that a lot of places do interviews on the mainland.
I need some advice! Places that are good to live - I visited in 2006 and I loved Kona and Kauai, but I'm sure Kauai is limited with jobs. Honolulu was beautiful as well. How will I interact with the locals? Will I be hated when I arrive?? And making friends is really a worry of mine! My main concern is the cost of things and surviving. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
My best advice is to spend some serious time reading through back posts here, because the same general questions get asked over and over. Use the Search function to zero in on specific areas of interest, then ask for more details here.
Yes, the cost of living is high... the US Government pegs it as 15% higher than the mainland... and wages are lower. Overall the unemployment rate here is lower than much of the mainland, but many people are working much lower grade jobs than they had on the mainland, and it's not uncommon for people to work two or three part-time jobs. Medical care and schools are spotty compared to the mainland.
Despite all that many people move here, and some love it, while some don't. The one thing almost everyone will tell you is that it's different than you think. Hence my advice to read up on it, as much as you can.
I've heard over and over again - groceries are more expensive, people aren't that nice, the BUGS are all over the place.. Is it really THAT bad? I keep hearing these horror stories, and a good friend of mine and I are planning to move out to the islands in October. She is getting scared off! I know the pay is less and the cost of living is more, but some people make it sound like you're going to be struggling so much you can't even enjoy it! I'm trying to find a job before I move out, and it seems that a lot of places do interviews on the mainland.
I need some advice! Places that are good to live - I visited in 2006 and I loved Kona and Kauai, but I'm sure Kauai is limited with jobs. Honolulu was beautiful as well. How will I interact with the locals? Will I be hated when I arrive?? And making friends is really a worry of mine! My main concern is the cost of things and surviving. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
So - if I understand it right - you know the cost of living is very high - we have bugs since we are after all, in the tropics - you keep hearing "horror" stories - your friend is scared - you know you'll get paid less - you haven't been here since 2006 - and you are concerned about the cost of living and surviving - and you won't have a job when you come.
When one worries about surviving in the same sentence with "cost of things" that usually means a lack of sufficient savings for such a move to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. Don't come.
Considering wages are about 15% lower and cost of living is about 15% higher, if you can live on 30% less than what you are making now, then you may have the skills to make it in Hawaii. If you are barely getting by where you are now (assuming, of course that you are in a place which has a lower cost of living than Hawaii) then moving to Hawaii will just be more difficult than where you are now.
The cost of living/groceries/rent is going to most likely be much higher than what you are used to. There will most likely be more bugs than you are used to as well as house lizards. (Note: house geckos are on your side against the battle against bugs, you want to encourage lizards to live in your house.) However, only three of these bugs are likely to sting you: centipedes, some of the spiders and mosquitoes. In some limited areas there are scorpions, but those are pretty few and far between. There are no big snakes (the one snake we do have in Hawaii looks like an earthworm), alligators, bears, skunks, wolves, coyotes or many of the other less friendly critters. There also aren't very many of the friendly critters around either. No chipmunks, squirrels, wild rabbits, deer, etc. We do have feral pigs although you may not see them for awhile and if you do, there are folks who will come hunt them for you since they are tasty and a food source for a large portion of our population.
However, most of the people in Hawaii are friendly. But! - they will be standoffish for the first year you are here. Getting real friendly with new transplants is likely to be heartbreaking later when they move back to where ever they came from so folks who live here don't get all open armed about the new folks until it looks like they are going to be sticking around. Most of the folks are likely to be friendly, but not real close until they know you are gonna stay.
Finding employment is frequently difficult since employers don't really want to get to know new folks either for the same reason. They aren't likely to stick around. Usually the first job folks get is a low paying one which doesn't need much training or a short term one where if/when the person leaves it doesn't matter. Not exactly "career" type choices but it may be employment. Will it be employment that pays a living wage? That can't be answered until we know how much you need to survive on. Note: the word used is "survive" and not "thrive". Usually there are huge trade offs to living on remote islands out in the middle of the ocean. Less material goods and less facetime with mainland folks are usually the two biggest ones.
It is a struggle to live in Hawaii, especially when you don't have a support group. You will have one friend which is helpful, but both of you will be new and not know anybody when you are starting out. It might work, it might not, we don't know enough to say. However, keep enough in reserve that you will be able to get back to the mainland if you need to.
I've heard over and over again - groceries are more expensive, people aren't that nice, the BUGS are all over the place.. Is it really THAT bad? I keep hearing these horror stories, and a good friend of mine and I are planning to move out to the islands in October. She is getting scared off! I know the pay is less and the cost of living is more, but some people make it sound like you're going to be struggling so much you can't even enjoy it! I'm trying to find a job before I move out, and it seems that a lot of places do interviews on the mainland.
I need some advice! Places that are good to live - I visited in 2006 and I loved Kona and Kauai, but I'm sure Kauai is limited with jobs. Honolulu was beautiful as well. How will I interact with the locals? Will I be hated when I arrive?? And making friends is really a worry of mine! My main concern is the cost of things and surviving. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It is more expensive, people ARE nice (if you are nice to them) and some people do struggle. It all depends on your comfort level wrt your income and lifestyle.
If you and your friend can get a good jobs, sure you should move here. If you're poor it's not worth living here. The bugs aren't bad if you live on the dry (kona) side of whichever island.
Food doesn't necessarily have to be much more expensive than what you pay on the mainland, HOWEVER that means carefully shopping the weekly ads, planning meals and a willingness and
desire to eat as many locals often do. I can almost guarantee your food costs will be as stiff as
rumored if you decide to drop into the local market each evening to purchase that evening's
meal.
The two items you will find breath-takingly expensive are electricity (everywhere) and rent for housing
(particualrly Honolulu metro area). Gasoline is expensive too, but you can pretty much drive around the island of Oahu without using much gas.
I have friends in Hawaii, I am planing on moving to Oahu. The cost of living is higher and I know this all too well. But what I don't know is what's best to bring to the Islands, such as jewelry? Will it rust if not silver or gold? Should I keep it in containers? Also I am wondering how safe it is to bring some of the high-end items I own over. I know I can't tell anyone where I live because this could result in theft. But I don't know if it's had to get traveling clothing racks? It's odd things like this, I know there's a Target and Walmart on the island. I'm also wondering about clothing storage, a safe and clean way to do so, I don't want the roaches thinking my items are Onolious. If anyone has pointers or ideas please let me know via the thread.
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