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Very interesting of course but again its slightly going off topic. I wish to inquire about a monthly spending by a single (not-married) individual with average or even below-average but livable living standard.
What is you definition of "below average" cause it may be above average to some and slum to others. You can;t ask others what they spend and use that as a guide unless you are asking specifics like this:
I am looking for a 1 bedroom apartment in the Honolulu area with reserved parking. Building have to be in good shape and professionally managed. I don;t want a high rise luxuary condo but not a low rise where Dwaye Chapman is knocking down the door next to me. I need it to include utilities and have a/c.
That to some may give a better idea of what you want.
You food cost depeinds on what you eat. What will you be eating? Are you going to eat at the local grinds or do you have a certain need? Will you be eating day old leftovers or do you want fast food?
You want a good idea? list out what you want and will be doing and have people tell you what those cost. How much is a samll can of tuna? Ho=w much isthe average cost of beer on tap at average bar? How much is a gallon of gasoline? How much is Charmin toilet paper at an average supermarket?
have you looked at online ads from the big stores on Hawaii to get an idea of cost?
How many kilowatts of electrictuy do you estimate to use and how much is each on Oahu?
Minimum wage doesn't matter, you can't live on it.
PacificFlights, as usual, has some good advice!
For your average living costs, well, there is no "average". Hawaii has all sorts of different living conditions side by side. You will have a multi-million dollar house (note: "multi-million" does not automatically denote "mansion") directly next to a several hundred thousand dollar hovel. However, as a single male and if you were to share housing with someone, you might be able to find rentals in the $600 to $700 range. If you aren't used to driving, then just get a bus pass and use the bus, a bicycle or moped to get around. Find housing within walking distance to your employment and that will save a ton of time, hassle and expense.
Having a nursing license would open more job opportunities to you than many folks hoping to relocate to Hawaii. Again, find housing near enough to the hospital that you'd be able to walk or bus to work and that will save tons of costs. The costs of an apartment next to Queens will be radically different than the cost of an apartment next to Waipio hospital (or whatever the name of that medical center in Ewa is called.) See if you can find a job at Castle hospital over near Kailua. You can find a nice room to rent in Kailua probably for less than Honolulu.
Get a map of Oahu, check Craig's List for available apartments. If something seems like a screaming deal, then there's probably something to scream about. Traffic on Oahu is absolutely horrendous. Live within walking distance to work or be on a main bus line and work somewhere else along the same bus line.
And if you want some cheap land, I've got an acre to sell you for $10K! Just check "Royal Gardens" on the Big Island and you'll know why.
And to OpenD, I just wanted to tell you that while Hawaii is more expensive, after two years of being a nurse, I would more than likely make $45/hour versus here, in Maine $25/hour at the most. ...
....things may cost more, but pay should be compensated accordingly {hopefully}. How do most jobs pay there? What is the minimum wage there?
1. The average salary for a nuse on Oahu is about 15% below the average mainland wages. take the highs and the lows across the entire mainland and Hawaii isn't keeping up with the average. hawaii also gets many hurses from foreign places whuich drives downt he wages.
Pay is not compensated based on cost of living unless governement. Its based on what they can pay to get what they want. If you want $45 an hour with 10 years experience and some licensed RN with 10 years experience in the Philipines will work for $30 an hour, who do yiou think they will hire (especially if that Phillipino speaks Japannese)?
I think Hawaii minimum wage is below Maines minimum wage - so much for compensated according to cost of living.
I think Hawaii minimum wage is below Maines minimum wage - so much for compensated according to cost of living.
Good point, and here's the facts behind that assertion: U.S. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - Minimum Wage Laws in the States (http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm#Maine - broken link)
Thank you for again elaborating your opinion about how things are. Clearly you are of high caliber residing in Hawaii. My simple inquiry is monthly spending by a single (not-married) individual with average or even below average but livable standard. I hoped not to be too specific as I can integrate any financial update that anyone would post. So far it does get off topic by people asking again that what I inquire for isn't specific or talk totally about something off-topic from my intended inquiry of "Cost of Living in Hawaii". But indeed there are some Charlie Harpers point of views and Alan Harpers point of views. I welcome any type of information but hopefully concerning a monthly spending by an individual who is not married.
I don't think it's cooled off that much, OpenD, the river of lava was running across it just last year.
Tuihamo, if it helps you any, I have a friend who shares an apartment with four other guys in Kalihi and he pays $575 a month including utilities for it. However, he's sleeping on a couch in a curtained off portion of the living room and it's not a good area of town. He works at a gas station for about $10 an hour and makes ends meet by not needing much. He repairs his own car, wears thrift shop clothes and mostly lives off of eating junk food. No girlfriends, no fancy anything. He probably gets by on about $1,200 a month. I would not, however, recommend his lifestyle to you since he grew up in the neighborhood and he still has lots of problems with break ins and theft and such. I don't think he has any medical or dental insurance, either.
[quote=PacificFlights;18221838]If you want $45 an hour with 10 years experience and some licensed RN with 10 years experience in the Philipines will work for $30 an hour, who do yiou think they will hire (especially if that Phillipino speaks Japannese)? quote]
I see what you are saying...minimum wage here, I think, is $7.75/hour.
Good point, and here's the facts behind that assertion: U.S. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - Minimum Wage Laws in the States (http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm#Maine - broken link)
Maine is $7.50 an hour, Hawai'i is $7.25
I must say, I am shocked that it is so low in Hawaii...I thought maybe it would be around $10/hr.
[quote=hotzcatz;18221725]Minimum wage doesn't matter, you can't live on it.
I understand you can't live on minimum wage...you can't live on it anywhere. However, a lot of places that have a higher cost of living have a higher minimum wage and that does tend to play into how much more other people with higher education jobs/careers get paid. People can sometimes get by with roomates or a live-in while making minimum wage...I can see that it would be extremely hard to make it there under those conditions as well though. Either way, I do understand that increasing minimum wage does not help anything usually anyway, since the cost of everything goes up as well when that happens.
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