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has anybody ever done this. Husband is being approached by a company there and there's a tiny part of us that is considering it. There are alot of logistics to consider though. How tough is it to find rental housing? Is the cost of living that much higher? Is it tough being so far from family on the mainland? Any thoughts?

OceanCityGirl wrote:has anybody ever done this. Husband is being approached by a company there and there's a tiny part of us that is considering it. There are alot of logistics to consider though. How tough is it to find rental housing? Is the cost of living that much higher? Is it tough being so far from family on the mainland? Any thoughts?

Don't ask SGH this...she would go in a heart beat

I have no answers, but if you decide to go, love every minute you are there!

The cost of living is extremely high; well depending on where you are coming from and where in Hawaii you are going. This link might be helpful. http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

I would have to make close to twice what I make in Atlanta to have the same lifestyle. According to the website, NJ doesn't look nearly as bad.

I guess you've never been to New Jersey.

LIPH wrote:I guess you've never been to New Jersey.

very expensive to live there. everything has to come in by boat or plane. will you get a cost of living allowance or raise to help out and will it really cover the increased expenses. but it could be a fun adventure if it's only for a year or 2....

plan on lots of winter visitors

Here are a couple of the local newspapers with their classifieds for rentals as well as jobs just in case you're looking for a job as a bartender at a beachside bar.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/homes/

http://www.maui.net/~mauinews/framclas.htm

Having lived on an Island in the North Pacific (or South Bering Sea.....depending on your point of view.....) I can say that it is very expensive (hawaii may be a little cheaper...Costco, regular freighter runs etc). More than the cost of living is the question of what kind of people are you? Does Living on an island fit your personallity? If you can't possibly live away from familly and friends for long periods you might want to reconsider (familly and friends will flood you for a while...heck it is Hawaii after all....). Living on an island, no matter how connected to the outside world, can leave some people with that distant look in their eyes. When new folks would move to Dutch Harbor, within about a week you could tell if they were going to make it 6 months or 6 years. Remember why paradise is paradise.....well yeah it is beautiful when you vacation there, but if you have to work all those quaint, cute things you adored as a tourist can become nightmareish on a day to day basis.....
Anyway a good dose of honest self inspection and you will probably have your answer!

Good Luck!!!

No, it's not THAT expensive to live there if the company you are with gives you a bonus. We had a great time and we're looking forward to going back.

We lived on Oahu when I was a kid, before I knew what cash flow meant. My dad was a pilot in the Air Force and we lived on base, so we had disposable income. It was a great experience and my parents never had any regrets.

Here's another site that gives objective comparisons between cities in several categories, including cost of living.
http://www.bestplaces.net/html/city_compare.asp

To see how Honolulu compares head to head against Ocean City NJ, just click here;
http://www.bestplaces.net/html/ccecon.a ... ty=3454360

Let us know what you decide to do!

Who gives a SH!T if it is expensive!!!
Were talking Hawaii here folks. I'd move there in a second if I could make enough to survive. I would need to make enough to dive and fish though. A man has got his limitations......

Cousin Baxter those are some excellent links. Exactly what I was looking for was a local paper with real life housing costs. They are a bit higher then here but not undoable. Just thinking it might be cool to spend a year or two there. I'd have to be very sure of the employer though because it would be pretty bad to get there and get laid off.
Also there is the relocation costs. Even if the employer covers some relocation you can't move your furniture or even your car unless it's very valuable there. So I wonder what it would cost to pick up some used furniture and a fairly used auto.

I lived there from 1978-1988.
They were THE best years of my life without exception.
I loved my job, my friends, the weather, the way of life-you name it.

The only downside was the cost of living-VERY expensive, but if you live within your means, don't party every night, and keep in mind that you're not on vacation, but LIVING there, you can do it pretty easily. I did.
And I miss it!

My neighbors lived there for 5 years.......they loved it....

what's not to like...especially if it is only fro a couple of years. I bet you'd kick yourself if you don't try it!

OceanCityGirl wrote:Even if the employer covers some relocation you can't move your furniture or even your car unless it's very valuable there. So I wonder what it would cost to pick up some used furniture and a fairly used auto.

That is something to negotiate with the new employer. My buddy who was there during his Army stint, they could only ship one car. Motorcycles are viable due to the high gas cost and limited parking.

Hawaii is very expensive in terms of housing. In Laie, on Oahu near the PCC, a 900 square foot house is going for $300,000.00 and it's not a fancy cottage, it's a little cinder block house and it's not on the beach!

Two months ago when I was there gasoline was running about $1.89 vs. $1.91 in Utah. I know from past experience that generally gasoline is more there then on the mainland.

If you aren't living in Honolulu and you have school aged children consider how well they will get along with the local Hawaiian kids. My friends found that their children were harassed because they weren't of Polynesian ancestry.

In terms of shipping goods back and forth, it can be pricey however depending on the company you may find that they have very liberal reimbursment plans for household goods.

Flying from the Islands to the mainland can be pricey, although it's not much worse then flying from Salt Lake City to Boston. I do know that Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines both offer some great deals to the West Coast. From there you could connect to Jet Blue or Air Tran to get cheap airfare from the West to the East Coast. So depending on how often or how many people are going you may find that this isn't an issue.

If you have pets, getting them to and from Hawaii can be a challenge since the airlines limit the number of animals per flight. This limit seems to apply to both pets carried as cargo as well as those traveling in the passenger cabin. My friends who spent three years teaching in Hawaii had problems in transporting their 2 dogs, 3 cats and 4 birds.

I know that for me to move from Salt Lake to Honolulu I would need to almost triple my income to maintain my lifestyle. Regretfully I don't see anyone willing to pay me that much so I won't have to face the decision of moving there or not.