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I've been saying that Hawaii is not really that expensive a place to stay compared to major cities.
Within a week of returning to the mainland I now have a job offer (ooops).
Up until now I have been planing for Chicago, so I know the money there.
The place in Chicago is near the lake but about a mile hike to any beach. (never mind that the lake is too cold to swim in.)
So here are the Chicago numbers:
2 bedroom - 2 bath in a nice condo on an upper floor.
$3,200. Lower floor $2900 (or buy it for $7xx,xxx plus 10K a year property taxes). Stand alone homes start at $1M and $15,000 a year prop. tax.
Parking $245/ mo
Health club $145/ mo
Average electric $200/mo, cable/Internet $100 - $150/ mo, Gas prices are about $.20 a gallon cheaper in Chicago.
Income tax 6%, Sales tax 10.25%
Food will be more expensive in Oahu, but I'll save on clothing costs (no $800 suits or winter jackets and boots)
I honestly don't think Hawaii is that much more expensive.
Someone tell me if I'm smoking the wild weed here.
I honestly don't think Hawaii is that much more expensive.
Someone tell me if I'm smoking the wild weed here.
It depends on what your comparing. Certain areas Chuicago, NYC, LA etc will also have steep cost. The thing is to compare cost of living as in apples to apples and you have cost of living as in applea to papayas.
Apples to apples is to break down all cost and compare between the two. You may find the total cost of living to be the same because you may spend more in housing in one place but less in food int he other. You may have high electrical cost one place and low cost in another. But when all cost are added it may be higher, lower or the same. This is used mostly to determine how one place stacks up against another on these items regardless if they apply to your situation or not.
Apples to papaya is comparing your cost based on specifics of you living. So you take real cost of how you will live and compare to another place. This is the hardest way because so many belive they will do things so much diffrerent after they move. They also forget some new cost that they may have but because they dont have it now,m they foregt to include it.
When doing apples to apples, Hawaii is at the top end. True it may be close to some specific areas like NYC or chicago, but overall compared to may other areas, its way up there. When doing apples to papays, that all depends on what changes you are making. Take your cloths cost, eys yopu may spend less on cloths but will thatm saving be eated away with water sports equipemt purchases? You won;t have garage or parking cost the same but will the higher gas prices out pace the savings? And have you factored in that on the mainland you may have 5-10% spikes in prices where Hawaii some regular things can have 20% spikes when they happen?
Also when comparing are you really comparing prices? If you eat out three times a week and because of food prices on hawaii that same eating out is more, your not really comparing apples to aples if you don;t include that regualr eating out in comparing. If your changing the habits of your eating out and only doing it once a week or no longer are you eating at a fine resturant but a more local "diner" type place, your actually using apples to papayas to compare.
So long as you honestly know that what you want to do and how you want to live is doable with the income you will be getting, I don;t think it really matters what it cost to live one way on the mainland to what it will cost to live on Hawaii. The problem is most people falsly belive they will be making changes when they don't or they belive they will make these changes to match their income but compalin over and over again who much worst they have to live. To those people all that can be said is, you should have planned and compared on how you really would live not on a fake belive that they can survive on income based on a change that they don't make.
2 bedroom - 2 bath in a nice condo on an upper floor.
$3,200. Lower floor $2900 (or buy it for $7xx,xxx plus 10K a year property taxes). Stand alone homes start at $1M and $15,000 a year prop. tax.
Parking $245/ mo
Health club $145/ mo
Average electric $200/mo, cable/Internet $100 - $150/ mo, Gas prices are about $.20 a gallon cheaper in Chicago.
Income tax 6%, Sales tax 10.25%
Food will be more expensive in Oahu, but I'll save on clothing costs (no $800 suits or winter jackets and boots)
I honestly don't think Hawaii is that much more expensive.
Someone tell me if I'm smoking the wild weed here.
These numbers are pretty similar to Honolulu, I think. The difference is that in Chicago, you *could* find a much, much cheaper place to live if you down-scaled the neighborhood, the condo size, and how nice the building is. In Honolulu, you could get a place cheaper, but not *a lot* cheaper.
Also in Honolulu, what is "nice" might be different. A nice condo here is typically a lot smaller, though a good lanai makes up for a lot. If you're an A/C person and get a larger place, the electric might be higher. (Mine is close to that for a decent-sized 2BR/2BA condo, but I never run A/C at all.)
But, yeah, if you can afford what you lay out here, I think you can afford Honolulu. And you will *definitely* save money on clothes & shoes! $5 rubber slippers FTW.
Pay is the same in both places. I seem to have a skill set in demand, which was quite surprising considering the economy.
Wife's an Doc and they are in demand.
I'm not making a blind leap here as I just spent almost two months in Hawaii. *
As for eating out. The low end places are cheaper in Chicago, but the high ends are more expensive (Its not hard to drop $200 a plate on a meal with wine).
I just haven't seen that much difference in cost from where I would live in Chicago.
PF had some really good points. Thanks for the thought.
I think a large part is whether I'd rather have a papaya or and apple
*Of course I may have been bitten by the Hawaii bug.
The good news is I don't have any kids or anything tying me to the mainland. So if I make a mistake, it's easy to change. What's the worst than can happen as opposed to the regret of not trying?
** It also sounds like I've already decided. Good thing I got the driver's liscense.
Compared to where I have lived (Lincoln Park in Chicago, South Beach Miami, and Honolulu HI) in new condos with the similar amenities and concierge services, I find Honolulu is way overpriced. The prices are similar but for example in Honolulu for 2 bedroom apartment; living and parking space are much smaller, and the ceiling is lower, quality of building material I consider subpar, also the pool is not heated and there is no sauna or steam bath, and the gym isn't all that nice. When I moved here I looked at ALL of newer building in the city.
However, I consider eating out is inexpensive in Honolulu. I'm not talking about the fine dining, but the everyday lunches. I eat out everyday and Honolulu has more value. I eat out everyday now because it is more affordable compared to the cities I mentioned above. I find it odd since grocery shopping is more expensive here especially the Wholefoods market.
dont forget about how much more Gas costs over here....
Funny thing. It isn't cheaper in downtown Chicago (not that there are stations in The Loop) than in Honolulu. I just checked gasbuddy.com to verify.
I lived in McClurg Court Apartments for a while when I lived in downtown Chicago, and gas is always real high near downtown.
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