Prices and Cost of Living in Oahu/Hawaiian Islands for 2014? (Honolulu: rental, how much)
OahuIncludes Honolulu
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Beijing: 544 [Hazardous Health alert: everyone may experience more serious health effects, lol]
Honolulu: 24
Kona: 9
I'ver been in Beijing a lot this year and it is kind of a surreal experience. You generally see at most 3 city blocks and things just become this haze - and they don't have any hesitancy saying the smog is "life threatening".
I'm not sure how Honolulu can have a worse number than Kona though - unless that is on a vog free day. For the past couple of years, the sky around Kona seems to have a much more greyish/blue than Honolulu from the vog than a vog day in Honolulu. I see much more bright blue sky in Honolulu than Kona.
your rent for a studio out here will be at least triple what you are currently paying, plus add a security deposit equal to one months rent for move in so expect a $1500 per month rental to cost you a little over $3k for move in (add in application fee and/or credit check)
unless you are military, shipping your car (assuming you will be) from Korea to Hawaii may be more expensive than the car is worth
If you have researched the forums you will already know that it is very rare you can rent a place out here in advance without having looked at the property, so expect to be forking out more money for a hotel (generally at least $125 per night) and car (average around $300-500 per week) and parking ($20 per night on average) while you look for a place to rent.
there are many more hidden or surprise costs that I did not address but others most certainly will, plus you can search the forums more extensively and find a wealth of information.
Rent: $1700/mo for a 1 bedroom in Waikiki, deposit was same as rent initially @ $1,600.
Utilities: Included in Rent.
Cell Phone unlimited data, 300min voice, including 2-yr device payoff: $75/mo
Broadband Internet & Premium Cable: $55/mo
Gas: $3.95/gallon
Milk (reg, non-organic): $4.95/gal
Ground Beef: $10/lb
10 lbs watermelon: $9.99/lb
Loaf of standard bread: $5
Bus ride: $2.50
Cigarettes: $8-$10/pack
Import Beer Bottle 6-pack: $10
Buying a beach umbrella to take to the beach whenever: $40
The costs in Virginia Beach isn't exactly cheaper
Rent: $1600/mo for a 1 bedroom at the Oceanfront or in the 'burbs.
Utilities: Maybe included in Rent.
Broadband Internet & Premium Cable: (Same)
Gas: $3.25/gallon
Milk (reg, non-organic): No Comment: I don't drink milk
Ground Beef: $4-5 /lb
10 lbs watermelon: Seasonal
Loaf of standard bread: $1.25-3.50
Bus ride: $1.50 - (3.50 all day)
Cigarettes: Don't Smoke
Import Beer Bottle 6-pack: $9-11
Buying a beach umbrella to take to the beach whenever: $40
Best way to check: Grocery Store ads.
What I found was the property costs are what is driving up the cost of living.
If you know what you will spend, you can then figure out how much you need to make. After you have that figure, then you can start finding out what jobs you can align with that pay that amount. Once you have the #'s ahead of time it's much more cut and dry to figure out if it will work.
I agree. No point in looking at certain jobs if the pay won't provide for your standard of living. It's like firing aimlessly and hoping the target was big enough.
Anyhow, here's some cost comparison I got last night on auto insurance:
2004 Chevy Blazer: full coverage
2001 Honda CBR600 F4i: liability
Cincinnati Insurance (current provider, not available in Hawaii): $662/year
Geico Insurance: $902.60/year
Notes:
Clean driving record, single, comparable coverage between the two.
I've looked into switching providers several times since I've had Cincinnati, and never found nearly as good of a rate, so I was pleasantly surprised that Geico in Hawaii was only 136% of what I'm paying now.
Washington state. gas is $3.85 a gallon where I am and has hit $4- Milk is 4, and ground beef at the nearest grocery store is $5 lb. Decent but not gourmet bread is $4. Strawberries for a small container were $7.98 last week, $5 if i drive 30 minutes. Cereal is almost $6. I bought a bottle of limoncello for husbands birthday for $19 and it ended up being $27 with all the various taxes. This thread is pretty interesting, that although some grocery items are higher we are closer than I thought already. Rent is way more there obviously. Good post. It appears I am closer than suggested with my food planning budget.
Washington state. gas is $3.85 a gallon where I am and has hit $4- Milk is 4, and ground beef at the nearest grocery store is $5 lb. Decent but not gourmet bread is $4. Strawberries for a small container were $7.98 last week, $5 if i drive 30 minutes. Cereal is almost $6. I bought a bottle of limoncello for husbands birthday for $19 and it ended up being $27 with all the various taxes. This thread is pretty interesting, that although some grocery items are higher we are closer than I thought already. Rent is way more there obviously. Good post. It appears I am closer than suggested with my food planning budget.
Aloha and welcome, Lucy what makes Hawai'i so expensive is the low wages and all the taxes.
Washington state. gas is $3.85 a gallon where I am and has hit $4- Milk is 4, and ground beef at the nearest grocery store is $5 lb. Decent but not gourmet bread is $4. Strawberries for a small container were $7.98 last week, $5 if i drive 30 minutes. Cereal is almost $6. I bought a bottle of limoncello for husbands birthday for $19 and it ended up being $27 with all the various taxes. This thread is pretty interesting, that although some grocery items are higher we are closer than I thought already. Rent is way more there obviously. Good post. It appears I am closer than suggested with my food planning budget.
Not sure about that....Hilo is better than Honolulu but still:
Does Washington state tax groceries (all groceries)? Hawaii does.
And correct me if I'm wrong, please, but I believe Washington State has no state income tax? I pay 8.25% in state income taxes here. Nothing to do with food, of course, but just another thing to consider.
It's a little more complicated than anecdotal prices on milk and bread.
And if food is so much cheaper only a half-hour away, why not shop there? It's like shopping at Food Pantry in Waikiki instead of going to Costco or even Safeway. Sure, it's closer, but really, if the prices are making one crazy, it would be worth it to take the little trip to a less expensive store.
I just looked at a Safeway flyer from Seattle (not sure where you live, though). Prices are hugely lower than the prices here. Almost brought me to tears, LOL.
I'm sure that if you're saying you pay more than the prices in the flyer then I'm sure you do, of course---you do the shopping. My question is why you pay prices that seem so much higher than those in the flyer? Do you shop in a little local market or something like that?
Last edited by PaliPatty; 02-26-2014 at 06:45 PM..
Does Washington state tax groceries (all groceries)? Hawaii does.
And correct me if I'm wrong, please, but I believe Washington State has no state income tax? I pay 8.25% in state income taxes here. Nothing to do with food, of course, but just another thing to consider.
It's a little more complicated than anecdotal prices on milk and bread.
And if food is so much cheaper only a half-hour away, why not shop there? It's like shopping at Food Pantry in Waikiki instead of going to Costco or even Safeway. Sure, it's closer, but really, if the prices are making one crazy, it would be worth it to take the little trip to a less expensive store.
I just looked at a Safeway flyer from Seattle (not sure where you live, though). Prices are hugely lower than the prices here. Almost brought me to tears, LOL.
I'm sure that if you're saying you pay more than the prices in the flyer then I'm sure you do, of course---you do the shopping. My question is why you pay prices that seem so much higher than those in the flyer? Do you shop in a little local market or something like that?
Generally I do go "into town" to shop 2 or 3 times a month, but stuff is higher here than the Midwest where we last lived it was an adjustment. We are close to Canada, not seattle. Big difference in pricing but Seattle is more expensive in other areas. It just snowed here and there is 1 plow for the entire county, we had to shop close, but we are just mindful of sales and use coupons too. As far as food prices, I wasnt far off in thinking 2-300 more a month but it depends on the island, I'm looking at flyers. Gas though is pricey here, sounds very similar. We are better off than the canadians though.
I was at the customer service desk at Safeway Kapahulu earlier today. I noticed some cigarettes were almost $12 a pack. Seriously, WTH. That's highway robbery. Smokers must be pissed.
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