Our move to Maui-info for those who are planning to move (Honolulu: apartments, buying a home)

[hotzcatz]

Auwe! Be nice, she's suffering already. No worries she no stay.

She is at least letting folks know how things are for her so other folks thinking about moving here can consider if they will have the same sorts of issues if they move to a group of islands 2,500 miles away from the mainland. It will hopefully save them a lot of huhu (and us as well) if folks that should only visit here read these postings and think before they ship a container load of their stuff here. (Although we then wouldn't be able to go to the great yard sales of folks moving back to the mainland but there's enough stuff here already.)

Different folks like different things and some places work much better for them than other places. I know of at least one person who thinks the perfect vacation would be to Siberia. He has two doctorates so he isn't unintelligent, but given a choice between a vacation in Bali and a vacation in Siberia, he would choose Siberia.

Considering the downturn in the tourism as well as the mainland economy, there will be more and more folks heading off to the mainland now.

[pigeonhole]

. If you dont expect much from your life-you will be fine, if all you need is frolicking on the beach and hiking to waterfalls.
But many people are not like this-they want to grow, learn something new every day, have a career, have children and family, and be able to give good life to their kids

What do you mean by this, JuliaHuff? I find these sentences offensive.
I'm a "beachcomber", I love beach life (I'm a fan of Jimmy Buffett) and if I could I would always live like that, and I don't think I'm more selfish or superficial than others who boast the possession of material things and run the rat race in big cities.
The nicest, most understanding and open people I ever met were New Age people with a cool Zen attitude to life , in communion with Mother Nature,I met some at Kaanapali (okay, I was there as a tourist), in Puerto Vallarta, in Ibiza, great people...the wisest and most mature and giving I ever met, one certainly doesn't find this kind of people in big cities! the salt of the earth...and they had children too! you know, Miss, the world doesn't revolve around NYC, Paris or...SIBERIA (OMG)!

[hilobound]

how much money should you bring with you when you move to hawaii when you already have a job lined up?

[MadRussian]

Originally Posted by hilobound

how much money should you bring with you when you move to hawaii when you already have a job lined up?

You can figure this out:
1. If you going to rent you will need - rent for first month + security deposit (usually equal to rent) may be also last month in some cases.
2. You have to live (food, gas, new household items ...) until first check.
3. You have to pay fees to get HI license, tag for your car, safety sticker.
If your car not arrived yet – you have to rent car.
I bet I missed something.
So if you going to rent some small cheap studio it would easily comes to $5000+

[hilobound]

No we are renting a huge house like 2300 sq ft for not all that much more than we are paying now in tennessee but can see the ocean and the mountains on either side....fully furnished and yes i am shipping a vehicle but we are getting another one when we get there plus a motorcycle i hope........how much are tags and a safety sticker which sounds kind of weird.....thanks for the info

[leilaniguy]

All you can possibly carry. But seriously, it depends on your living arrangements, will you need furniture? A car? Realistically I'd say at the very least 5-10 thousand. The first car I bought here, $4,500.00, blew up in just a couple months. Vehicles are taxed by weight and type, so it varies. I pay $135 a year for my Ford ranger. Safety check is $15-$20.

[sandinmyshoes]

can you tell i grew up by the beach?lol.i had a dream to retire in hawaii.i looked at real estate prices about 6 years ago.they went through the roof.lot of people said the islands were very expensive.they were all tourists there.i said what place isn't expensive when your a tourist?forgot what island or area i was looking at but i think it was a hippie like community.house had some acreage(2?)a garden,fruit trees,chickens and even came with a goat for milk.i wouldn't live in manhattan if i won the lotto.as it is now i'll retire somewhere else because i hate/fear flying,and wouldn't want to isolate my son from his relatives.the islands certainly are my idea of paradise.i will have to take some vacations ps,....i am very sorry for the lady who lost her baby.

[Kapalua]

Hello, I had moved to Maui in Feb. 1978till November 1999. Back then Maui was expensive compared to the mainland. Gas at Azeka's on South Kihei Road, was # 1.13 back in 1978. Food prices were expensive compared to the mainland also, that was to be expected because most foods had to be shipped to the islands. I seen Maui develope. We had Azeka's the little store in Kihei and Foodland as the main grocery stores. Back in 1979, they started to build STAR MARKET on South Kihei Road, next to the new Azaeka's shopping center. You all remember when the Bank was just the " trailer" in Azeka's Shopping Center? ////////////////////////////////////////////////// To the lady who just moved to Maui, It is against the LAW on Maui and in all the Hawaiian islands to have CHICKEN FIGHTS. that is NOT cultual it is Animal abuse, and it is nothing new, I would read the in the newspaper all the time, of men who are not local but of the Philliipino nationality, they would keep being arrested and fined for their crimes. It is against the Law. People on Maui already would have them reported to the POLICE. ............ Also, I have lived many towns on Maui and predominately I lived in Kihei, Not all people are rich in Kihei, there are homes that are rented out and there are many Conods tht are rented out too. Back then when I moved there rents were cheaper compared to the mainland, but every year the landlords were raising the rents. .................... When I left Maui in NOvember 1999, bananas a pound at Star Markets were selling $1.29 per pound they just had went up in price. But Longs Drug you could find them at a much cheaper price, 78 cents per pound. .............. The locals are locals from the Phillipines, they are not Hawaiian. You can hardly find any full blooded Hawaiians on Maui, and they never harbored any hatred towards of Haoles( caucasians) . Hawaiians are mainly mixed with other nationalities and from all islands most of them left the islands EONS ago, to go and work in LAS VEGAS, to Oregon and in California. nothing new under the sun, they fled the islands when I moved there, while I was residing there. There are many people from TONGA living on Maui, they are not locals they are Polynesiands from Tonga, they are not Hawaiians. My last place I lived on Maui, had just a little bit of Hawaiian in them. But I was not ever hated or the other mainlanders ever hated when we moved to Maui. THEY HAVE MRI machines at the Maui Memorial. My neighbor worked there as a Nurse. I have friends that still live there, hey were born there and own their own homes, they built their own homes. ............................ People have always moved to Maui, while I resided there, they came and went they complained that it was too expensive of course they came with hardly any money, so they were working paycheck to paycheck. MAUI has been too expensive to live on for too many years and the HOTEL OCCUPANCY is really low, 40%, I know this because I have a friend working in one hotel on Maui there as a manager. 40% for the winter months also, workers are bein laid off and hours have been cut. Because the ECONOMY CRISIS here in the USA. People are not able to go to the islands for vacations like they use too...... so lots of people have no choice but to move from the islands and MAUI is going to be hurting really bad. .............. I never heard of Maui having " gang- members" SO some people in Hawaii, lost their teeth and cant afford dental care, it takes MONTHS to get in to see the dentists on Maui, anyways, so why did you have to critize some pooor people to make MAUI sound like there are toothless people, so what! Some people cant wear false teeth because they were born with a bump in the roof of their mouth, so this prevents them from getting upper false teeth. .................... Now they have UPPED the rentals condos even more... it is totally outrageous! No one can afford that, the paycheck if you notice, NEVAH goes up but what 25 cents to one dolar? No one can compensate and the food prices keep going up. When I was there at COSTCO's you could get a gallon of milk for $3.39 last I heard it was a few years ago it was $7 a gallon and distilled water was $4 gallon. ............... For me i lived many places where I had a garden, I was not buying any fresh veggies for years on Maui. Then at work I would get a free duty meal, salads that i could take home to eat. MAUI is totally unaffordable for years now. and Maui, is going to suffer, becaus they wil not have any workers.

[has2dogs]

Aloha all -This is a follow up to my earlier posts - we made it, the dogs are thrilled to be here, I am relieved they are safe and healthy. After all the over-preparation and over-thinking I did, I'm glad it went so smoothly, but I feel I have so much to share and want others to benefit from my experience. And I have no complaints at all, the food is great, the weather is great, the people are nice, I like my job, and I don't think things are more expensive if you know where to look. I just got 4 different kinds of poke and a tray of salmon sashimi for less than $15. Papayas 99c per pound, nice big washington fuji apples for $1.29 a pound at Safeway. (p.s. I am on Oahu, which is cheaper than Maui) ALOHA!

[graciebellesmomma]

Julia, I am so sorry for your loss.

We moved back to Lake Tahoe after living on Maui for 1.5 years. The medical stuff scared me, too. I also have a child that was starting school and the education on Maui is not at the level it should be.

If you do end up staying for a while, there is a wonderful Naturopath MD in Kula. Her name is Dr. Julie Claire Holmes. She helped me with hormone imbalance. I had blood taken and tested and results the next day. She also carries progesterone in her office. She is kind, warm and SMART!

We wil still spend a month there every year, but for now, the mainland is the place for us.

I hope you can find peace and happiness with you and your husband in the same place, soon!