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Location: Was in Western New York but now in Hilo Hawaii
1,234 posts, read 4,590,451 times
Reputation: 454
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whynot?
Not really, to be honest. You will be poorer than you imagine and the island is reeling from the recession. Layoffs, businesses closing, scheduled hours cut. Most part-time work is 19 hours, not 30, so you'll need two part-time jobs. "Not reporting" working for a resort is unlikely. Most withhold, and many are union.
Good luck.
I agree ! Living cheap in Hawaii is hard to do. If you want to be so far off the grid as to not pay taxes you will have to re think many things like drivers lic. ins, and when you decide to go back onto the grid then you have to rethink that for back taxes and such.
My best suggestion would be to take what savings you have and go to the Islands get a cheap apt. and relax to see what you will do with the rest of your life....
Generally, the term "off the grid" is used specifically in relationship to the electric grid. It is a term in general usage which has a specific meaning these days so using in this instance is going to confuse a few folks. I think the term you may be looking for an "alternative lifestyle". Most alternative lifestyles are also off the grid but that's not used as the description for how they live.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of other folks who also want the same "live well on half a job" lifestyle and it just doesn't work here. If you don't have a car, share a room (not a house - a room), prepare most of your own meals and find food from places other than the grocery store, then you may be able to squeak by on one part time job. It is a lot easier to do this if you have family and community support.
There are more ways of making money than having a job, have you considered anything you can make or produce and sell? Something people are going to need? Something you like to do? So far it seems (from what little we know from your posting) your working life has been geared towards making money which is not all that fulfilling of an occupation. If you have some passion you can follow and get folks to pay you money to do it, then you can have a fulfilled and enjoyable life and frequently you will make enough money to get a reasonable lifestyle out of it, too. What's your passion? Training horses? Furniture making? Gardening? A passion for house cleaning is quite profitable but not many people have that particular passion.
Generally, the term "off the grid" is used specifically in relationship to the electric grid. It is a term in general usage which has a specific meaning these days so using in this instance is going to confuse a few folks. I think the term you may be looking for an "alternative lifestyle". Most alternative lifestyles are also off the grid but that's not used as the description for how they live.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of other folks who also want the same "live well on half a job" lifestyle and it just doesn't work here. If you don't have a car, share a room (not a house - a room), prepare most of your own meals and find food from places other than the grocery store, then you may be able to squeak by on one part time job. It is a lot easier to do this if you have family and community support.
There are more ways of making money than having a job, have you considered anything you can make or produce and sell? Something people are going to need? Something you like to do? So far it seems (from what little we know from your posting) your working life has been geared towards making money which is not all that fulfilling of an occupation. If you have some passion you can follow and get folks to pay you money to do it, then you can have a fulfilled and enjoyable life and frequently you will make enough money to get a reasonable lifestyle out of it, too. What's your passion? Training horses? Furniture making? Gardening? A passion for house cleaning is quite profitable but not many people have that particular passion.
You're definately correct, my working life so far has been a never ending struggle and each time I think i'm turning the corner to make enough money to do something with, I end up getting screwed by corporate america or the economy.
I really don't know what I want to do. I've always enjoyed sales, but unfortunately most sales jobs are for COMPANIES and I'm sick of a business entity holding my fate in their hands.
My passions include sports, mostly football and baseball, playing and watching. I'm also really big into heavy metal music. I've always wanted to be a fire fighter like my older members of my family, traditionally they've all become Chicago firemen. But today, Chicago's fire dept hiring process is federally mandated which = affirmitave action which = I can't get hired for about 5+ years.
I don't know how any of my passions could service a lifestyle or a service/product. I don't have any tradeskills except business knowledge and sales.
I almost don't even care about money at all at this point, I just want freedom to travel and live my life. But unfortunately you need money to be free, unless you want to be a bum.
Dude, to work as a waiter 30 hours a week is not at all: "stress free environment" and besides that you can make easily $3000 a month just by 30 hours a week working as a waiter. There are no waiting jobs in Hawaii, because they are actually very good and people like to keep them..Good luck
OP, i totally feel your pain. but you're not thinking this through clearly. you don't like working for your company or the fact that it's in chicago - that's fine. but i don't see the logical connection from (a) having a job in chicago to (b) moving to hawaii (which has the HIGHEST rent in the nation) with no job lined up and looking for a waiter job in a state where the tourism industry is still reeling from the recession and hospitality jobs are in very short supply.
my assessment (take it or leave it) is that you're obviously frustrated with where you are in life right now (which is fine) but your response is to pursue a ridiculous path that is more likely to leave you financially and emotionally worse off than before. you're not the first person to want to just wipe the slate clean and start anew in paradise.
if you're serious about hawaii, the smartest thing to do would be to pull any strings or connections you have to find a job in hawaii first. relatives, your company, a boss, a friend, a college buddy, your barber, whatever. nail down a job offer first. then move.
Spend some time on the NYC, LA, SF, Miami boards. There is no shortage of 20-somethings who plan to quit their jobs and move to a city they barely know on false dreams and visions that are encouraged by Hollywood and sensationalist media in order to work as a bartender earning lots of tips and meeting attractive women/men and having the time of their lives in paradise. it's so disturbing how many of them think that it's easy to get a waiter/bartending job and that it's an easy, low-stress job with no responsibilities.
Not to nitpicking but do you have a college degree? Sales professionals are highly compensated and sought-after in corporate America. Sales people in my company have at least a college degree in a specialized field; most have a master's degree and some are even Ph.Ds. My point is we all love to live in HI. You are young and have a long way to go. At this point in your life, you should really try to get a career going, whether living in Chicago or HI.
I would try going down to the south west somewhere. The cost of living is probably 1/3 of Hawaii. I recommend Texas, New Mexico, or possibly California. That way if things don't work out for ya, at least its warm outside. Not so bad sleeping on the warm sand.
"Not so bad sleeping on the warm sand." -- Jason28
...if you sleep during the day. At night, you'll need blankets. At least out in the desert...and West TX and NM has PLENTY of wide-open spaces.
I agree that NM's cost-of-living is pretty low, although it's higher in northern NM (such as the Santa Fe/Los Alamos area). But even there, when compared to HI, it's not bad at all. Even extraterrestrials like NM...since 1947.
Plus, just about everything else (food/utilities) is cheaper, too.
If you're a veteran, it's more vet-friendly than many other states and apparently, "liberal" NM is more pro-gun (similar to AZ) than many other states (so you can exercise your right of self-defense AWAY from your home).
And West TX/NM/AZ all have LOTS of sunshine, which is great for solar-power (photo-voltaics) for a home if you want to live off-the-grid or just have emergency backup power (which is smart no matter WHERE you live).
HI is so much the opposite in ALL those things...
...except solar power potential. And due to high electric costs there, going solar would pay-back much sooner than on the mainland, where electric rates are cheaper. I have it here for emergency backup power. Would do the same in HI.
Last edited by cloudcroft; 11-10-2010 at 03:31 PM..
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