Relocating from Europe to Kauai, real cost (Honolulu, Lihue: rental car, apartments)

[fischi19]

Hi everybody,
As mentioned in a thread a while ago, we (me and my girlfriend) will relocate tomorrow in a week. Here some background information:
We are:
- 2 young professionals (mid 20ties, with a bachelors degree in international hospitality management from Lausanne, Switzerland
- both have dual citizenship (swiss/USA and german/USA)
- have saved up about 40'000 US dollars to take along
- together we make about 90'000 gross per year, plus tips
- no debt, no loans, no monthly payments, no car (yet)
- we bring nothing but 4 suitcases
- no kids
- we both have signed valid job contracts with two major upscale hotel companies in Poipu (we don't work in the same company though)
- we start working beginning of August

- we are planning to purchase a cheap car and pay cash (about 10'000 max)
- rent a small condo, 1 or 2 bedrooms near poipu, so not both of us need a car, we estimate the monthly cost to be somewhere near 1300 to 2000, including utilities.
- we want fast internet and two cell phones as well as cable TV
- we have no expensive hobbies, I do kitesurf and surf but I bring my equipment along, furthermore i play soccer and i run
- we hardly go out to eat, as we as passionate cooks
- my company offers great benefits such as cheap health insurance and a relocation allowance of 3000 dollars, furthermore we can stay at the hotel for free during the first 2 weeks until we get settled.

During the first 3 months I will post weekly how much we spend for what, so we have a real impression what it costs to relocate and how much money we use. All numbers are including taxes

We have spent so far:
- 2 x 780 dollars for our flights from Frankfurt to Lihue = 1560 $ in total
- 4 x 35 dollars for extra luggage = 140 $ in total
- rental car for the first week (avis) = 260 $

more to come once we get going on July 14! See you in Kauai,

Cheers from Switzerland,

fischi19

[Snort]

Good price for those airline tickets! You guys will do very well. You have jobs lined up, a moving allowance, free place to stay right away, and money saved. Check craigslist.org for the latest in rental prices on housing and beware the really low-priced ones, which are always scams (one way or another).
If you've never been to Kauai before you'll find it amazingly beautiful, especially when you turn the corner and head across the north shore.

[fischi19]

Yes, we tried to organize everything as carefully as possible. Furthermore we made sure we have all the contracts written and confirmed. We have called all the necessary people this week by phone to make sure everything will run smoothly.
Furthermore we have been following this forum over the last couple months with great care.
Since I was promised the job we kept our eyes open for cheap flights. We now fly from Frankfurt to Anchorage, then to Honolulu and finally to Lihue. Thanks to the Hawaiian Airlines membership we were able to get a good deal for the car.
Anyways, I will record all the costs to occur over the next couple weeks and months in this forum. I hope that this will give a better understanding of how much money, as well as planning, is needed to make it in Hawaii.
I am very excited and I will share all expenses, as well as other experiences we've made.
Cheers,
fischi19

[fischi19]

After a 24 hour trip, 2 stopovers in anchorage and honolulu we arrived in kauai.
Here is the financial update (again, everything including tips and taxes)

lunch in europe: 35 dollars
water and supplies for on the plane: 20 dollars
lunch at chili's in anchorage: 36 dollars
minor expenses in honolulu and kauai: 20 dollars

Today we are looking at the first rental place at 2 PM. My employer grants me 2 weeks of free accommodation plus 170 dollars for food per week. I hope to find something within those 2 weeks.

[FallenIntoGreatness]

I also want to relocate to Kauai and wish you the best of luck. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[Rialta]

Fisch, I wish you luck, I was born in Anchorage, live in Phoenix now, but always wanted to live in HI. However, I am in a much different situation than you are regarding jobs and money as well! (Wish I had $40,000 Thanks for sharing!

I'm sure you'll miss those world famous Switzerland lakes! How often would you want to travel to Europe to see family/friends?

[fischi19]

Good morning everybody,
It is time for a little update. We have arrived here last thursday evening, since then 3 days have passed and we tried to get as many things organized as possible, despite the jet-lag and the inviting beaches. First of all we were looking at 5 apartments already and I will quickly tell you our experience with that.
The first apartment was nice, 2 bedroom, cost about 1600 plus utilities BUT it is a foreclosure. We don't want to take that risk. the next two places were very cheap but small and filthy. plus they were more like studios and didn't have full kitchens. I can not live with that. Then we checked out another place in Poipu. It was a former vacation rental. The guy there was quite weird, telling us all his life story, that he basically has a trillion dollars in his head and i don't know what. The place itself was nice, so was the price but again, the owner doesn't know how long he is able to keep the apartment and if and when he is going to lose it. The last place was nice. A nice house, a little outside Poipu but close enough for us to work so we do not have to buy 2 cars. Very clean, very neat, managed by a realty company, minimum 6 month lease. We would love to move in there BUT it is rather expensive with 2150 dollars, only water included. then we started doing the math. This is our budget (if we don't find anything else):

Apartment: 2150 $
Sewer: 48.50 $
Trash: 28.68 $
Power: 200 $
Cable, internet, phone: 150 $
Car insurance: 100 $
Gas: 150 $
Health insurance : 150 $
Savings: 500 $
Hygiene & health 150 $
Food: 1000 $
Entertainment: 320 $

Total: 4957.18 $ (= total net income without possible tips)

So there is not a lot we can play with at this point. This would be the numbers if we do not want to touch our savings. We consider taking that apartment for 6 months and then we decide if it makes sense in the long run. Worst case we see that we can't make it on that budget and we look for something else after 6 months. Fortunate for us we can financially afford to take that risk.

Then the car search. We figured that for what we are looking for we need to put between 6000 and 12000 dollars on the table. As our expenses for the apartment are relatively high, we plan on purchasing a cheaper car for around 6000 and save the money instead of spending it.

Then, regarding the cost of our move here so far. the last 3 days we have spent roughly 25$ per person per day for food. As we are still living in a hotel we can not cook, therefore we have to eat out.
Besides that we had only minor expenses.
Map of Kauai: 4.50 $
Water per day: 3 $
Food per day: 50 $
2 long island iced teas and a mai tai: 33 $

Total the last 3 days: 190.50 $

We hope to find an apartment soon so we can cook and decrease the cost of living.
I start working on the first, my employer pays my hotel until the 28th.

Fish

[fischi19]

today we got some more stuff done:
cell phone prepaid with verizon: 48 $
lunch: 28 $
gas: 41 $
bottle of wine: 5 $ (headache in a bottle)
hawaii drivers manual: 5.20 $
folder: 3.50 $
hole puncher: 12 $
depot for our house: 2150 $ (we get that back when we move out though)
and we opened a bank account with the hawaiian bank
This Thursday i will add up all costs and see how much we have spent in our first week so far.


Mahalo

[fischi19]

Hi again! We finally got more things organized. Here are the main costs listed during the last 4 days:

Electricity: 200$ deposit as we are a new customer
Cell phones: 230$ for two phones and the first month of our contracts. Our european phones do not work here, unfortunately
Driving licenses: 2 x 12$ for our new Hawaiian licenses (only got a permit so far, as our international driving licenses can not be easily transferred. we have to redo the entire license)
Car: 10549$ for a 2003 Dodge Durango, one preowner, accident free, carfax checked
3 year extended warranty for the car: 2800$ (we just like to have no worries about the car, whatsoever)
Car insurance: 101$ (payment for the first two months)
Food during the last 4 days: 120$ (we still do not have a kitchen, so costs are rather high)
rental surf board & SUP: 85$
Gas: 45$

[fischi19]

In Total, we have spend roughly 20'000 for our relocation, including airlines tickets, various depots, a car, food, rental car and gas, insurances etc. My employer will reimburse me 3000$ for relocation.
We are roughly on track in regards to our budget. now we just have to stick to it and if we do not lose our jobs we should be fine.
I am sure all that could be done cheaper. The biggest cost saving point is certainly the car. Expenses regarding to our car run up to roughly 13'600$
I will run the numbers next week and post them here. As of monday i can tell you what the cost of living is here. Then we will move from the hotel to our new home and be able to cook and determine how much we have the AC running and things like that.