Realities of Living n Hawaii

Several people have asked us to share our 

experience of moving to Hawaii. Please note that, if you are planning a move here, your experience could be entirely different given all the different variables but here is what we have found (excuse the long post):

TRAVEL

When we flew in November, flights were around $232/one way. Lo and I had to purchase a rapid covid test at $139 each. Lo's results arrived before we landed but mine did not, resulting in me having to quarantine for 5 1/2 days. Travel here is opening up now but there are still some restrictions in place.

SHIPPED BOXES/CHECKED BAGS

We contacted a local mailbox place to see if they would store our boxes until we arrived so I could use my work's discounted shipping FedEx service. We had to pay for three month rental at the Shipping place. I spent roughly $357 to ship 12 boxes at the discounted rate. To ship one additional box (medium size) at UPS, it cost $189.00.

We had planned on checking two bags each (around $240 for six bags) but our bags were overweight. It was cheaper to pay for two additional bags vs. Overweight luggage charge. I quickly repacked at the airport. Our check bags ended up costing around $577 for eight stuffed bags (all of them were right at 45-50lbs). We had packed two inflatable beds, which ended up being a Godsend since I had a mandatory quarantine for 5 1/2 days and couldn't go out to the store. It was worth it, in the long run to spend the extra on checked bags.

CARS

Shipping two cars from Orlando to Honolulu cost around $4500. We staggered the pickup dates so we'd have a car in Orlando until right before we left. We used the same carrier but different companies retrieved our cars. With mine, there was a lot of initial information with good pickup details but little to none once the car was on the carrier. Lo's pickup was completely different--no initial acknowledgement (in fact, they showed up without calling in advance) but great follow-up once the car was on the carrier. My car arrival was delayed by one week for some reason but Lo's showed up as expected. The whole process took three to four weeks.

Cars have to be completely clean. Nothing can be packed in the car. You are allowed car seats if requested ahead. Note: some carriers require permission letters from your lien holder, which is more difficult than it sounds. It took us over a month (and multiple phone calls) to get the letters secured. 

LICENSES/PLATES

You have 30 days to switch over your plates and licenses. Due to covid, everything is by appointment only and appointments are limited. We finally got our licenses and my plates at end of February. Lo is scheduled to get her plates in April. I could have gotten both our plates in February but there was nothing that showed defined prices. Plates require a car inspection (around $28 right now). Licenses were around $41 each. My plates with inspection, plates and getting front plates installed cost almost $500. Much more expensive than what we were paying in Florida.

GAS/PETROL

Gasoline right now is around $3.69 gallon. I was able to get gas at Sam's club today for $3.17 gallon. It's worth getting a membership to Sam's or Costco for gasoline and fruits/veggies only.

APARTMENTS

Two bedroom /1 bath apartments range from $1425 to $2200. Our 709 square foot no frills apartment is in the middle of that range. Most rentals are handled by realtors and they are reluctant to rent to someone not on the island. We (meaning Lo) did a tremendous amount of research and found a realtor willing to work with us. Our apartment is pretty centrally located. Most places here don't have heat and only have an air conditioning unit in one bedroom. We were lucky to find a place with a reduced cost laundry facility and two reserved spots. Most places offer one reserved parking spot or none (street parking sounds fine but, trust me, it's not. Pay more for a place with assigned parking.) Also, most places will require one month's rent as security deposit.

Multi-family homes are popular but some of those are very small units. A few we called about were 300 - 500 square foot for a two bedroom apartment. Make sure you know in advance exactly what you are getting.

Also, a lot of apartments here don't allow pets. Ours also has a clause about putting items on the wall (no contact straips, nails or putty). We have tried suction hangers and sticky tack without success so we are stuck with bare cement walls.

GROCERIES

Grocery prices are considerably higher here because everything is shipped in. Also, things sell out fast and it may take awhile for the items to be restocked. Sam's and Costco prices are significantly cheaper than Foodland or Safeway but there are some cheaper local stores here too (Don Quijoite, Times, etc). Safeway has $5 Fridays (best time to get their delicious salt and vinegar wings). The Wal-Mart close to us has decent prices but they offer limited selection and do not sell fresh meat (other than bacon, lunchmeat and hotdogs/sausage). All other meat is frozen. Just as a recent example, a large head of cauliflower at the Foodland by us rang up as almost $11. I put it back. 

There are quite a few farmers markets that offer local produce at lower prices. There is also a flea market that has great souvenirs at cheap prices (worth the $1 per person admission).

Most places charge for bags here (15 cents for paper, more for reusable). And canned and bottle beverages have a surcharge (approximately 6 cents per can), in addition to cost of the beverage.

RESTAURANTS 

Most restaurants offer plates for $10 - $24 but one plate is usually more than enough for two. We've found that so much of the food is so similar that eating out gets a little monotonous; however, the food is usually really good. We've only had a few experiences where we won't go back to that restaurant (usually due to portion size vs.cost). Hawaii is moving away from plastic, so paper straws. Restaurants give you option of chopsticks or utensils.

Tacos are usually $4 each and sold as a three-pack  (except at Taco Bell 😀). Most of chain restaurants offer the same items (with a few local items) but prices average about $2 more for combos. 

MILITARY BASES

There are about 10 bases on Oahu. I have accidentally driven onto about six of them. They require that you do a walk-about. The guard hands your license to his/her partner; he/she walks either next to driver's window or in front of car and walks the car to the other side (basically a u-turn) before handing you back your license.

FURNITURE

Due to Covid, there weren't alot of second-hand options for furniture available and new higher priced stuff is not in our budget right now. After four months of sitting on camp chairs, we opted to get an inexpensive futon because we could fit it in the back of my car and assemble it ourselves (thanks to Lo). We initially purchased it online (with free pickup) because the price was $80 cheaper but the store canceled the order due to limited quantities (even though there were two in the store). We still bought it because it was a good value and it fit in the back of my car. Without a lot of resources or support here, our options are limited. Having a "sofa" has greatly improved the quality of our lives so it was money well-spent. 

INEXPENSIVE STORES

There are no dollar stores on the island; however, there are two Daiso stores here. Things sell out really fast so, if you see something you like, you better pick it up. We really miss the Dollar Tree but we love the Japanese paper towels and gadgets from Daiso.

You can find clothing at Ross or Sam's at decent prices. Walmart/Target prices are comparable to Mainland prices; however, free ship to store options are not always free here and Amazon Prime usually takes three to five days to arrive.

Craft stores are really expensive here and there aren't many. I opted to ship most of our craft supplies, which ended up being a smart idea. The cost to re-buy the items here would have be double to triple of what I paid in Florida and the selection here is limited.

TIME ZONE

You wouldn't think a few hours would make it hard to keep in contact with family and friends, but it does. Just keeping track of the time difference is hard enough -- let alone trying to connect with people. Hawaii doesn't participate in daylight savings time - I'm glad but that one little hour has really affected my relationships. For our friends/family, the differences are:

   - Alaska: 2 hours

   - Vegas: 3 hours

   - Colorado: 4 hours

   - Florida: 6 hours

   - Ireland: 11 hours

   - Germany: 12 hours

I'm sure I've missed a lot of things so be sure to leave me a comment if there's something you want to know sbout