What to bring when I move to Oahu? (fit in, 2014)

[joenorwood77]

I am a special teacher who currently lives in Minnesota but has a Hawaii teaching license. I also spent time visiting Oahu, Maui, and Big Island back in November. I have done everything necessary to remain on the first list of candidates for when there are openings for the 2013-2014 school year. I should expect to start receiving phone calls late May. Last summer I received about 50 calls, but decided I should visit the islands first before accepting any job offers (and that was the right decision). Oahu is the only island I am interested in for my first move. I can eventually see myself living on Maui though.

Anyways, my main question now is: of all of the things I currently own, which stuff should I bring with in my luggage when I move, which stuff should I have mailed over, which stuff should I pack and leave at a family members house in case I return in a year or two, and what do I just cut my losses with and get rid of entirely? If I understand this right, being a Prime member on Amazon.com means I can probably save some money ordering a lot of stuff from there once I move, instead of shipping over things that I currently own.

I also know some people pay money to ship over their car while others just buy a used one once they move. My car gets 40 MPG and has been reliable (Toyota Echo) but is getting close to 220,000 miles on it. Part of me still thinks it might be worth spending $1000-2000 to ship it over rather than buying something else. However, some people feel the change in climate (Minnesota to Hawaii) might be too difficult for the car.

[whtviper1]

Do a "spring cleaning" and get rid of clutter. You have to make a budget and determine what furniture is important to keep. If you really think this is potentially a 1-2 year gig, consider putting things in storage depending on how valuable it is and your budget. I'd do a Kelly Blue book on the car and weigh potential maintenance costs regarding the car. Shipping things to Hawaii can be expensive versus the other away around. Prime is worth the membership but everything will be available on Oahu at Walmart or Sears/Target usually at mainland prices.

[joenorwood77]

I am hoping that everything goes well and I never move away from Oahu once I move there. However, I also want to be realistic and I understand a lot of people leave after a year or two due to a variety of reasons. So, I may hold onto some items and store them away until I know for sure that Hawaii will work out for the long term. That is helpful to know that places like Walmart and Target have mainland type prices. I was fairly impressed when I went to a Walmart on Big Island. Even there, some items were pretty decent regarding their cost. I have been getting rid of clutter ongoing now, but I just have so much stuff. This week I have been going through and listing most of my books on Craigslist.

Are there any items that are definitely worth keeping and sending over to Hawaii? The more I look into this, the more it appears I might be best off just bring with what I can fit into my luggage when I move and then get rid of everything else and then just buy online or at a Walmart/Target the things I need over there as I need them.

[whtviper1]

If you have decent furniture or other things you are considering bringing - you can get free quotes from movers - Royal Hawaiian Movers comes to mind - they'll have someone come your place and give you free estimate - they move by the pound so pre-packing doesn't help - other movers will give you free estimates also. Then at least you can put the numbers in perspective of buy versus ship.

[Dthraco]

Flat Rate USPS boxes are great for shipping tools, silverware, soap, etc. Yeah, soap, if you add up how much it would cost you to replace stuff that fits in a flat rate box, and it's cheaper to ship it....

Amazon ROCKS. While Target / Wal Mart / Costco have good prices some stuff is hard to get, like certain pet supplies.

We brought over several plastic bins on the plane with keepsakes and things we wanted to keep. Shipped as much as we could in flat rate boxes. The rest was like starting over, furniture, cleaning supplies, art, etc.

A friend of ours who lives on Maui put most of her belongings in storage at her parents place when she moved over. She made an inventory and numbered boxes. From time to time she would ask her mother to ship her stuff from box # whatever. I haven't asked if she ever went back and got rid of all the stuff she didn't eventually ask for. But she still lives there 7 years later.