Living and working in Ewa on 75k/yr, family of 3? (Honolulu: 2014, car registration)

[jslanger]

Hi all-

We're a family of 3 (two adults one baby) looking at moving from Chicago to Oahu for a job right on the border between Ewa and Waipahu paying 75k/yr. I've figured a 2br in the Ewa area at ~2,300 with Waipahu being a little cheaper. So with 24k going to housing, what would life be like on the remaining 25k (rough estimate after taxes)?

We're outdoor oriented, don't have cable TV, and aren't into the nightlife. We would need decent internet service to build a second income stream, but we couldn't count on any money from that for a while.

After the research I've done so far, 75k seems like we would be living on a pretty tight budget with little to no savings for retirement or mainland travel etc. I'd love any experienced opinions.

Thanks.

-Jim

[whtviper1]

Well - I'd start with budget: Electric, Water/Sewer, cell phone, home phone, internet, car insurance, car payment (if any), gas, clothes, debt payments/credit cards, student loans (if any), savings, etc....

[hotzcatz]

If future home ownership wasn't a high priority, it should work out. Depending on your budget, of course. You may want to check your math a bit. $2,300 x 12 = $27,600 which then leaves roughly $21,500 after taxes or $1,800 per month for food, utilities, insurance, car maintenance, etc.

Still, it could work and with the ability to increase that with some sort of online work, that would help. If you could get the same employment in Chicago, you'd be able to save a ton of money that you would then be able to spend on vacations in places like Hawaii, however you'd be freezing in the Chicago winters each year.

Is it possible to get the job on Oahu and then transfer it to one of the other islands in a few years? Moving off of Oahu lightens the expenses by rather a lot. It's just that jobs are much harder to find on the islands other than Oahu.

[jslanger]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I used 2k for the calculation as that seemed to split the difference between Waipahu and Ewa - 2300 would be a better reality check though.

I'm putting together a budget now. Hawaiian Telcom has a plan that would work for 60$/mo. It seems like people run the A/C more in Ewa, so is 200$/mo reasonable for electric? What sort of numbers should I be thinking for water/sewer?

One big unknown for me is the cost of food. We have family on the island, but they are military and shop at the PX, so their perception of costs are a bit off. What is a reasonable food budget for a family of 3? We like to cook and don't typically eat lots of pre-packaged food.

Thanks,

-Jim

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by jslanger

It seems like people run the A/C more in Ewa, so is 200$/mo reasonable for electric? What sort of numbers should I be thinking for water/sewer?

One big unknown for me is the cost of food. What is a reasonable food budget for a family of 3? We like to cook and don't typically eat lots of pre-packaged food.

If you run Air Conditioning - figure $300-$500/month. Even without Air, for a family of three (with 1 I assume is a stay at home mom?), figure the low end about $150/month.

Figure $100 for water/sewer.

In terms of food - a good estimate is that your $100 basket of food on the mainland will likely cost $130 in Hawaii.

Gas is running about $4.23 as of the time I wrote this.

[ramram55]

"Hawaiian Telcom has a plan that would work for 60$/mo"
what is involved ? internet ? home phone ?

[jslanger]

$300-500 a month with A/C? I over estimated the food costs, so that adjustment is mostly a wash with the electric under-estimation. Is the information that Ewa is one of the hotter areas accurate? Is there another town you recommend we look at? The goal is a very short commute to the old Hawaii Medical Center West campus and a few walkable amenities for a toddler.

-Jim

[jslanger]

Originally Posted by ramram55

"Hawaiian Telcom has a plan that would work for 60$/mo"
what is involved ? internet ? home phone ?

That is for the 49.99/mo 25mbps internet service plus taxes and fees. We've never had cable TV.

-Jim

[ScottStielow]

Don't forget car insurance is the highest in the nation. Mine is $400.00 every six months no tickets or accidents and my car is payed off. Car registration is figured by year and Vehicle weight. This year my 2011 Ford Fusion Sport ran me $345.00 and starting to go down due to age. You will also have to get a safety inspection at $27.00 every year also, it just went up this year, it was $15.00. The DMV is cracking down on the safety inspection and whoever does the inspection scans the vin to ensure no modification of the car was done. I passed, but others have had issues passing their safety inspections.
Scott

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

Don't forget car insurance is the highest in the nation. Mine is $400.00 every six months no tickets or accidents and my car is payed off. Car registration is figured by year and Vehicle weight. This year my 2011 Ford Fusion Sport ran me $345.00 and starting to go down due to age.

Many people on the mainland would be envious of $400 every six months. I don't find car insurance in Hawaii to be very high at all. This site suggests Honolulu is #20 in the nation.

Most Expensive Cities for Car Insurance | NerdWallet Insurance

I'd hate to be in Detroit, with average premiums at $10K/year.

Car registration is based on vehicle weight - the year is not a factor.