Like the title says, I'm wanted in Honolulu. I originally posted this question to the Hawaiian subreddits asking specifically for people who make near to that amount to tell me their stories, but wanting to bring the question here for a more math and finance perspective.
I currently live in Nashville, which in comparison to Honolulu is extremely cheap.
I don't want to go into specifics about the company but I will say that's it's a large tech company and I mainly do help desk/IT stuff. From what I've read online about wage statistics and cost of living calculators, it seems that the $16-18/hour rides the line on what most consider "doable".
I know every situation is different - everyone has different needs, so below I'll try to outline some of my situation.
- mid 20's
- engaged, not married; no children
- no major debt (about $8000 in student loan at 3%; in other words, I could pay it off if I needed to)
- $30k in liquid savings, and another $30k beyond that
- $70k in usable credit in an absolute emergency
- my fiancé would be moving with me, meaning she would have to quit her job and try to find one post-move
- office is in Honolulu, so no luck in getting into the cheaper areas of the island
Right now mine and my fiancé's combined income is around $70,000, but our expenses are between $24,000 and $26,000. We wouldn't sever her income right away; ideally I would move first, then she would sort our affairs here while I'm settling in. Probably join me after a month or two. However it seems like it's damn near impossible to find a job unless you actually live there, so her chances of having something lined up ahead of time is unlikely. This means we would be on one income - one $35,000-ish income- for a little while. Though when she goes back to work that would add at least $20k (min wage) to the household. Realistically she'll make more than minimum wage, but we can't count on what we don't know.
In an irrational way, I want to move. I mean, it's Hawaii, right? But I also don't want to do it and have to eat our savings until there's none left.
Please, anyone who has any thoughts on this feel free to chime in. Have you ever moved from somewhere low cost of living to somewhere extremely high-cost of living? Anyone here actually on Oahu having gone through a similar situation? Does this sound like a good move or does it seem to risky for you?
And if anyone has experience with moving a cat or car to Oahu, I'd love to hear what that's like as well.
Submitted June 18, 2017 at 03:23AM by grapesodaking http://ift.tt/2seiiD9
