I want to move to Hawaii from Omaha Nebraska? (Honolulu: for sale, oceanfront)
OahuIncludes Honolulu
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Ok, I have been a resident of Nebraska all of my life. I've been to almost every state, and I've lived in 3 other countries.
I'm out on my own now, and I live with my fiancee. I plan on moving to Manoa Hawaii for school. I want to know what the cost of living is there. I know it can get pretty pricey for the honeymooners and the tourists, but I really want to make that a permanent residence. I plan on going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to pursue the course of Marine Biology. But to get good discounts there, I have to be a resident for at least 365 calendar days. SO, I plan on getting an apartment or owning a beach house to fulfill their requirements. (Preferably a beach house for obvious reasons)
Anyways, I graduated highschool last year and I'm trying to make it on my own. I want to move to Hawaii so bad! For the atmosphere, for school, for a change. I've lived in Nebraska all my life, and I am tired of looking at the all of the falling snow outside. Instead of sitting inside, I want to go swimming! I want to do all of this and it seems that money is an issue. (Remember, Fresh out of high school, and just accepted into a University. I work in a hospital, and the pay can only be so high for someone of my caliber, I only make 14.96 an hour, and it still doesn't seem like it's enough). . . Any and all help is appreciated!
The cost of living is, not "can be", high here. The economy in Hawaii is not better, and in some ways worse, than on the mainland for those with few skills and no money to tide them over. (can't just drive over to another state!)
Congratulations on being accepted at the college; that's good start. At roughly $14.00/hour your monthly gross would be about $2200. Now subtract about 25% for taxes that leaves about $1600. With rents on even a small ohana or studio approaching $1000/month you can quickly get the picture.
Your dream is difficult but not impossible. It will be very hard to land a job before you arrive. The tricky part is having about 6 months' living expenses saved up first. Housing and goods are high; most wages are comparitively low. Few industries are hiring, many are laying off or cutting hours.
Go to online newspaper sites, craigslist, etc and look at the ads for housing for rent, and for sale just for the fun of it, on Oahu, for a start. That will give you an idea of what the cost is. (by the way a beach house would be around $2M for starters!) Condos to purchase, oceanfront, would be upward of $500K generally speaking.
Hint: Residency is not only based on the fact that one may have lived in the state for 1 year especially for college admission. My son had been here 1 year and we had to show his AND my voter registration, proof that we had voted in at least a few recent elections, etc. in order to fulfil their requirements for instate tuition. Voter Registration, local DL or ID card, lease, mortgage/deed, utility bill in your name, local bank account are ways to establish true residency. Oh, and get a local phone number on that cell. Pet peeve of mine is dealing with folks who actually have been her 1 or 2 years and still use their mainland cell #! Get a new number!
Congratulations on you decision. Hawaii is a wonderful place to live, play and grow, but you will have challenges. The cost of living is high...you and your girlfriend are going to have to work to make ends meet. The average cost of a studio is about $1000-$1400 per month and you will have to have one month deposit before landlords will give you serious consideration. Falling in love with Hawaii and living here are two different realities. Both are good only if you have the persistence to make it work even if you have to work two jobs while going to university to be able to afford a "reasonable life style".
Congratulations on you decision. Hawaii is a wonderful place to live, play and grow, but you will have challenges. The cost of living is high...you and your girlfriend are going to have to work to make ends meet. The average cost of a studio is about $1000-$1400 per month and you will have to have one month deposit before landlords will give you serious consideration. Falling in love with Hawaii and living here are two different realities. Both are good only if you have the persistence to make it work even if you have to work two jobs while going to university to be able to afford a "reasonable life style".
I wish you all the best....Aloha!
You mean my boyfriend? Haha I'm a girl. No worries though.
it would probably be cheaper to just move to the west coast live for a little while then apply to UH, i know they offer cheaper tuition, almost the same (if it isnt I can't remember from what ive heard from family) to instate tuition. the school want to encourage students from washington, oregon, california, arizona and nevada i think to attend so they give substantially lower tuition rates, though this was also as of 2006 not sure if still is the case. that would be another option but not sure if youd be willing to do this, you might have better luck applying for some sort of grant or try to get a scholarship to help with tuition
If you're going to be at UH, you should consider trying to live in the dorms. First, dorm living is a great part of college experience. But also, it can be very difficult and expensive to live off campus, especially when you first arrive. Manoa (other than in the dorms) is probably one of the most expensive areas in Honolulu for housing. If you live someplace cheaper, you have to worry about how to get to & from school... a car is a big expense and hassle for most students. Mopeds are popular, but you have to pay for gas, parking, tickets, etc.
Hawaii is very expensive indeed. Housing, food... it'll all cost a lot more than you're used to. But the ocean, the hiking, and the trade winds are free. Lots of students do make it work. But if you're thinking that a college student is going to be living in a beach house, you've got a rude awakening coming when you arrive...
No owning a beach house, if they were cheap enough to be affordable we would all be living in one. You won't be able to afford to rent one, either, and most likely not able to afford to even rent an entire house or apartment by yourself. Most likely you will be sharing an apartment or have a room in a house somewhere and that somewhere will most likely be away from the beach. If you are lucky, your room will have it's own bath, otherwise you will get to share with one of the other tenants. Most likely you will share the kitchen and you might have use of the rest of the house as well, although that's not always a given. Parking will be tight or non-existant, a moped, bicycle or bus pass is what most folks on limited budgets use.
Oahu is a densely populated island and Manoa is just off the edge of the middle of Honolulu. Unless you've lived there awhile, you won't even be able to tell where the dividing lines between Honolulu and the rest of the housing areas are. Honolulu is one big mass of apartment buildings between Waikiki and Honolulu Harbor with dense housing areas surrounding that. Waikiki is nothing but really tall hotels & apartment buildings anymore. Twenty five to thirty stories tall, big tall buildings everywhere. Think of it as Manhattan (New York, not Kansas) with palm trees.
Oahu is a lovely (and warm) place to live, however, the size of your personal living space is one of the sacrifices required to live there. The apartments and houses are much smaller than what you are used to on the mainland. Easier to clean, less furniture to buy but much less room, too. The price of food will be much higher if you get the same sort of foods you are used to eating on the mainland. There will be things that are just not available here at all but there will be new and different things you never even knew existed. It is an adventure but it won't be ANYTHING like what you see on TV at all, most of that is just the Hawaii Visitors Bureau's and Hollywood's propaganda.
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I know...I Know....just kidding
