Here is another email that came in from a woman who was considering moving from California to Hawaii with her husband, after moving there from Ohio a couple years before. She loves California but is thinking – maybe moving to Maui, Hawaii is the next step?<\/p>\n
It just might be!<\/p>\n
Here is her email:<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Well my husband and I spent most of this afternoon on your site. We really enjoyed the articles about moving to Hawaii, and helpful insight. Thanks! I tried to post to your article, but I think my comment was too long.<\/p>\n
Put it this way – we have 2 toddlers. No way, no how, would we move to Hawaii without savings, at least one job lined up (for one of us parents), and a place to rent. We dream about moving to Hawaii and find a large portion of our free time surfing the net looking at everything Hawaii!<\/p>\n
We are learning a lot and will make a 10 or so day trip there prior to moving. Actually, our plan is to move there and NOT work for a couple months and just enjoy life and get to know the area. We will be moving debt free and I am the queen of weekly specials, roadside produce stands, and craigslist for home furnishings! We know not to blow money on silly things like going out to eat delicious Hawaiian food, spending $40 at the movie theatre, paying for parking when there is a free lot a block away, or spending excess on clothes and other meaningless items.<\/p>\n
We are from Ohio – lived there our whole lives. In 2007, I had been working from home for about 2 years and the company told me those days of emailing from my living room were over. However, I was offered a position in the office. Which just so happened to be in San Diego, California. I had always dreamed of moving to Cali, so we figured, aw what the heck?<\/p>\n
I cannot tell you how many people said.. oh the cost of living! the traffic! the hot weather! you name it.. we heard it. And guess what? We are just fine. Even better off than before we moved here! We established ourselves as a family unit and paid off well over $10k in debt. We live in a very nice 2br\/2ba condo in a town just north of San Diego. Its great, just not our forever home.<\/p>\n
We are well aware of the expenses in Hawaii. I am also aware that the grocery stores have sales, just like they do here. And if ground meat is too expensive one week, and chicken is only $1.19 per pound – then the bird it is! I mean do you really think we need burgers again? I think not.<\/p>\n
What I am trying to say (which might spark another article idea for you!) is that if we are smart as Americans, we can live anywhere we want. We just need to be smart about the way we live and the choices we make. I Googled Maui grocery stores and just like the mainland stores, they post their weekly special flyer on their website. The prices were just about the same as they were here in California. We are used to high prices and nearly 9% sales tax. It’s California – we pay for everything. We call it the ‘weather tax.’ I am assuming its about the same in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Anyways, I am rambling on and not asking any questions. Sorry about that! I am still wondering.. where is a good place to look for homes for rent – particularly in Maui?<\/p>\n
Another thing.. when I finish my Master’s it will be in Speech Pathology. All schools need them, and I am hoping that a school or nursing home in Maui is hiring as well. The pay is great. I will try to get hired at a company called EBS Healthcare (who employs my best friend and cousin) as they are a contractor and place SPs in places all over the country – including Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Thank you,<\/p>\n
Sarah<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Hi Sarah,<\/p>\n
You really did give me the inspiration to write a complete post about moving to Hawaii – thanks for that!<\/p>\n
Yes, you can move to Hawaii without jobs – with savings.<\/p>\n
But, to Maui – it would be tough. If you have savings – and don’t mind spending it – then, I think no problem. If you don’t – I wouldn’t risk it by moving to one of the islands other than Oahu as your first stop. Oahu is a big place – lots of people. Lots of jobs usually. Please check out the classifieds thoroughly and hedge your bets…<\/p>\n
Maui doesn’t have even a fraction of the jobs available that Oahu does. There are many more businesses on Oahu than all the islands combined (I’m guessing at that – I’m sure it’s true). But, I feel like Maui is the ultimate place to live while living on Oahu, would also be nice – if Maui wasn’t possible.<\/p>\n
:) Good luck to you both!<\/p>\n
Aloha,<\/p>\n
Peter Kay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here is another email that came in from a woman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":9505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,2336],"tags":[2285,1907,2284,1634],"class_list":["post-3791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hawaii","category-maui","tag-living-in-hawaii","tag-living-on-maui","tag-moving-to-hawaii","tag-moving-to-maui"],"yoast_head":"\n