Your time stamps are very helpful. Sometimes, we do not always have the time to see a video from start to finish in order to get to ... "the good stuff".
hold down a steady job, offer tree trimming and roof repair services, buy food clothing at Costco,. shower at the beach, plant fruit trees, catch fish and crabs for protein. Teach tourists how to surf. Those that hustle will do well. The biggest expenses are housing and food. Everybody hustle to make a living. You need to have multiple jobs, so if one job goes bad you still have some income, make friends and help each other when things get tough. make sure you pay taxes so there's social security check in old age. I am an old fart now, and have had 50+ jobs. When I pull out my long board and surf da wave, it's all worth it.
@@tclinn2909 isnt there a saying in Hawaii , This is the only place in the world where you could learn to breath well if you would just allow yourself to do so
I raised my two sons on next to nothing. One of the ways I saved money was I put my water heater on a timer that turned it off between 9AM- 3PM then again at 11PM-6AM covering the time I was at work and the kids were at school and while we slept. Also to save on my electric bill I only ran my washer and dryer during non peak times. My average electric bill was so small the electric company accused me of tampering with the meter. All the money I saved I bought my kids lego’s and I was a happy mama with my kids. 👦🏻👩🏻👦🏻
When eating out: Mililani restaurants portions can feed two Samoans and a kid on one regular plate. We get three plates and feed 9 people. Also if you go Korean BBQ get no rice, you get extra sides. Make a pot of rice at home, you can feed 9 people with 3 plates also.☺️
2 years ago I was in line at my local Foodland market , with a friend up in her years 90+…there was a group of workers buying after work treats, one of the guys got separated from his pals. An was be hind us in line. I noticed his friends were finishing the shopping. I suggested he go in front of us. He was a Big (moke) type guy . After he payed for his snacks. He then payed for my friends groceries. An flashed a beautiful smile. My sweet old friend wasn’t sure what had happened . I had to explain it. It was a beautiful beginning of the 2019 thanksgiving…..
Like most people, I grew up in a multi generational home back in Hawaii. My grandparents collected food stamps and my Dad worked for a food distributor driving a truck (Y.Hata) for $7.35 an hour. This was back in the late 70’ early 80’s. It was difficult at times but I never went hungry and we always had plenty of food in our fridge and freezer because my grandparents and parents knew how to shop for the best deals and ALWAYS bought in bulk. I “pay it back” every year when I fly home to visit my parents. I’ve set them up with a large freezer and I always take them to Costco to buy everything they need before I leave. I’ll gladly spend $500-$700 on groceries and misc items to ensure they’re well stocked and taken cared for while I’m gone. As they get older, I don’t want them to ever have to worry about whether they’ll have enough to live on.
We’ve been here 14 years, definitely into Costco and so grateful for their kupuna hours during covid! We changed our way of eating too. Found a real local farmers market (some are fake, just re-selling Costco mainland stuff instead of locally grown). Sharing our homegrown produce (banana, oranges, lemons and papaya) means we often get return gifts of fish, avocado and mango. No food wasted in this house, ever. My favorite free activity is star watching; just go outside and look up! Learning the Hawaiian names and stories of the constellations has been fascinating.
Sorry this is my second comment but to touch on medical for kids. Keiki Quest covers MOST kids, your income limit has to be like over $200K to not cover the kids. I make okay money and my kids are all covered. I no longer qualify for SNAP (sadly) but when I did I was able to buy so much fresh produce. A bag of grapes here can cost $9 and I can’t afford that all the time. Recently I was in line at Times and my kids were with me, this man was asking me about my kids and high school sports and all that then points to all the fruit and veggies in my cart and goes “Expensive!” and I was like yeah it is but we make do. He paid $60 towards my groceries without telling me and I never found him again. I think about him all the time and hope he is doing well. The extra money bought another week of fresh produce! Also my neighbors and I all bring food to each others houses when we have more than we need. Truly blessed.
Your opening made me laugh because I didn't expect it. But it makes perfect sense. I live in a 4-generation household, not by choice but necessity. Yes, we sometimes have issues, but no, no leeches live here. We all contribute to the household as best we can. Even my six year-old great granddaughter has her chores. Our living arrangement is not for everyone, but I've noticed over the past 8-10 years our extended family living in multiple households has become much closer and loving and caring and supportive, even to helping with major unexpected bills. If we were apart, we'd be living in tents somewhere; together we live comfortably with lots of aloha. I enjoy watching your heartfelt, informative vlogs.
I spent the first 40 years of my life in HI. The recession sent me to the mainland. People always ask why we would move from HI. I always say that we weren’t living in HI, we were surviving. Quality of life suffered. When we do get to visit we notice that HI is losing its “Aloha”. The stress of surviving wear down people.
I'm military and aloha is seemingly starting to suffer a lot just in the 3 years I've been here. I try to keep giving it back as much as I can. Met the nicest, most grateful people ever here. But median price of house in just 3 years has gone from $700k to about $900k. It will be $1 mil soon enough. Going to be a San Francisco housing market. Combine it with the other costs and it's just not sustainable. The average person shouldn't need 3 jobs to barely survive.
I live in town and we grow our own fruits and vegetables. We share with our neighbors and in return they share their bounty. Luckily we have neighbors that go fishing so we have fresh fish from time to time. We also try to grow things our neighbors aren't growing so we can swap a variety of fruits and veggies. Also, I have the Costco cash back VISA credit card and run all of my expenses except mortgage and car payment through it. This is my first year doing it and although my expenses are not that high, I am on track to get back about $500 at the end of the year.
Multi generational living Situation is very common where I am from. (Northern Caucasus). It’s a tradition, when youngest son’s family live with his parents. They help to take care of grandkids, share their life wisdom with youngsters, kids and grandkids take care of elderly when it’s difficult for them to do it on their own. That forms very strong bonds within families and in a society as a whole. You will have to do some searching in order to find a homeless people there. Same with elderly in a nursing homes, can’t even imagine seeing my parents living alone and being taken care by other than myself or family members. Strong family structure is essential for a healthy society. Keep it up Hawaiins👍
When I lived in Maui there was no Costco , no Wal -Mart , no lowes, no home depot, nothing. Just Mom & Pop stores. I did just fine , made plenty money at the hotels. OOKA was the main grocery store and tons of little mom & pop stores, Including the little FILIPINO stores. I was blessed for sure. Thank God for those days. 1991 -2003
10:00 I have a 2004 Honda Pilot. Bought it new and though it's long in tooth, it runs great. IMO The most important thing to maintain your vehicle is to regularly change your oil.
Once housing is figured out you don't need much. No need for hoarding clothes or other possessions. Food can be much more affordable in Costco, Wal Mart, etc. I grew up on rice and beans in New Mexico so it can work. Good advice here! Always good to examine budget, careless to eat out like you are on vacation not to mention unhealthy. Mahalo.
We shop thrift stores. Here on the Big Island most all of the rubbish stations have a thirty store to keep decent items out of the dump. We also shop Facebook market place. If we can not find it there we look for sales at the stores or online for the best price!
Wonderful video! And so on point. Where I live in WA as a low income senior, I get a massive break on my property tax, also my water bill thanks to the county. I also get $40 every year to spend at the local farmers market. I use it to buy heavy items that I don't grow, like winter squash. I have a small veggie garden some of which was built for free, complete with dirt, by a local non profit. My neighbors also have larger gardens that they share with me. These are some of the reasons I can afford to live here. Oh, my mortgage is under $400 a month due to a federal program for refinancing that I think is no longer available. I feel so blessed. I am home visiting family in Kaneohe because someone else used their miles to buy my ticket. Boy, am I glad I wrote this! Makes me appreciate every day and person in my life. Mahalo.
I’m so glad how honest you are about this. My husband and I moved out to Oahu. First to Hilo and then to Honolulu since I had found out I was pregnant once we arrived. We went for the hospital care in Honolulu for my peace of mind and my husband found a job. But this past year has been rough trying to stay afloat. Makes me feel better knowing all us except maybe the rich and famous struggle here on the islands and are trying to make things work. We’re on welfare too and it’s been such a blessing and gives us the ability to go to the doctors and I was able to have my little boy at Queens. I’m grateful for all the friends who have helped us and sharing some aloha spirit with those around. Mahalo for your honesty and authenticity! 🌺🤙🏽💕 Oh and a side note: my husband and I save by turning off the lights a lot and not running AC, also no eating out really and just using our food stamps for picnics, we plan our trips so as not to waste too much gas driving back n forth, and enjoy the free activities such as hiking with our dog and going to beaches. 🌺🐕✨
Mahalo for the comment. It's not as easy as maybe some portray online. Life can be tough when you're living on your own and supporting yourself. But Hawaii is a great place to live. 🤙
We are living on Hawaii Island close to 14 years from off island. We are so called retired .. we plant our veggies sometimes a success sometimes not… we have flock of ducks and chickens that provide us with eggs. Medical bills exist mortgage car payment high utilities groceries etc. We do without a lot as we figured out years ago what the difference is between a need and a want.
Aloha. Great points and the stats really brought it home. Part of the Aloha spirit for us is that managing Hawaii expenses is just dealing with less while still being happy about the important things. Ie less pair of shoes. One drawer of fav tee shirts. Etc. We always crack up over those Reality home buying shows in Hawaii and the mainlanders bring the same sq footage and extra bedrooms as what there used to. They forget that Hawaii uses a lot of outside time vs mid west winters. Mahalo for the great topics 🤙🏾
Grandparents are emotionally invested in their grandchildren's best life! Love, suppport, respect, discipline, etc. We are 3 generations, it is easy, we repect our daughter to be the mom. She gets our granddaughter ready for school, breakfast, she helps her with homework, and gets her ready for bed. We do the school runs, laundry, cooking and grocery shopping while our daughter works full time and works on master's degree.
Load up dried goods, buy clearance and marked down, anytime you go into the city's stop at the market even if you are good. Freeze your meats and breads. That's what my partner and I are doing to save.
Eat every meal at home, get 1200 a month EBT for my 2 sons and I.Dont eat processed food, no chips, cookies, soda etc.Buy food at farmers market, fish from shore when can,aweos and paches, get pig meat from hunter buddy.Live in a rustic house with solar power and water catchment.Caretake the property we live on.So we got no rent bill, no electric bill, no water bill.We live on 3 acres in a rural area of Big Island with breadfruit,mango,banana,avocado,oranges and jackfruit.Also coconut. We were accepted for section 8 housing but have found it very difficult to find a rental unit and seems like 90% of renters are unwilling to rent to section 8 tenants.Costco is over 2 hour drive one way from our house.
Is there a law like on the mainland where landlords cannot discriminate against sec. 8? The idea is to not tell a prospective landlord that information until after you apply, in order to make it work. Rental companies seem better to accept the voucher than private landlords.
I love everything you said in the conclusion. Being grateful for what you do have takes you closer to happiness than buying things to impress people that you don’t even know. I live in Maui. My mom and I came here from California fortunately never felt the struggle but I want to watch these videos to have a better understanding for the people that have grown with the land from generations to generation. Also learn a thing or 2 on how to save here because it definitely never hurts to do so. Thank you for putting things in to perspective with this video. Very well said. Aloha. 🌺
Aloha! So living Oahu island for over a month now. I still have a lot to learn and love it here as well. But I am going to give my perspective from someone who is outside looking in. It’s definitely more expensive here. There is definitely some logistical reasons why prices are high but it’s obvious price gouging is also going on just because you’re in Hawaii. For example, A dole pineapple in my experience cost around 3 dollars in the mainland. Outside of Costco, pineapple ranges from 5-6 dollars yet the pineapple plantation is right down the road. That is just a small example. Here is the bigger example, if prices can be reasonable at the commissary, why aren’t these same companies offering something more comparable in the local grocery stores? Some of these companies are even local. You can buy 100% Kona coffee at half the price versus a local business . It’s not just big corporations doing it, but also local businesses. Another example, Macy’s had a sell for docker pants for buy one get 40% off on the next pair. Why not just offer the lower affordable price to begin with? Trust me, they aren’t losing money. Next is off topic. So next with trash. I feel both some residents and tourists are at fault. Yes, tourist can cause trash in downtown Waikiki, but the fact is, tourists don’t visit the entire island as often. You can go to Waianae Neighborhoods and there are trashed cars everywhere, over grow yards, trash in general etc. I know everyone can’t afford the same things in life, but anyone can keep up with taking care of what you have (I promise I’m not judging anyone). This rail system. I hear it’s been going on forever. Lots of money wasted that could have gone to local schools and heck some of the roads. Just one example of government mismanagement of money. I agree with one of the commenters here. There is a missed opportunity with all the businesses not having a paid membership. Especially gas stations. I would be happy to pay a fee every year somewhere closer to home without having to drive all the way to Costco if it drives gas down 40-60 cents a gallon. Guaranteed visit to the local gas station means more money in volume. I love Hawaii! And I’m really glad to be here. But just giving my observation from the small time I’ve been here. I love it here and proud to be part of the community! I hope can find ways to contribute!
Commissary is non-profit. They move merchandise through military transportation. The commissary surcharge helps fund military families needs. The military pays for the commissary building, electricity, etc. There is no comparison!
Good observation. I liked my time in Hawaii. I lives there in the 80s. It was a welfare state then and the attitude of thats the price to live in paradise was prevalent. There was also discrimination against whites. That’s just an undeniably fact. I don’t know if it still exists but Kama'āina rates or prices helped a little bit. Aloha Air had ticket books for 6 flights to the other Hawaiian islands. That was a good deal which I used to island hop. ABC store was a good source for some items like coffee. I got my cooke street shirts and souvenir t shirts from outlets. Some maybe seconds but it wasn’t that noticeable for me. I also shared condo living with other friends and rented a room in a private house. I even lived with a girlfriend for about a year but decided I had to leave Hawaii. I offered to relocate her and her kids to Colorado Springs but she didn’t want that. Many of the houses in Pearl City had family living in the garages. I wasn’t living large but I was enjoying my time there. Not interested in moving back because I don’t think the mentality has changed much.
@@happycook6737 That is true. But I can guarantee a 12 pack of soda doesn’t really have to be 10 dollars at Safeway. I think people have just accepted the prices. Safeway will have regular sales on soda almost to 6 dollars each. Just offer that price to begin with. The customer is not getting a a deal. I know it should be a little more expensive but not quite that much. Sorry missed your comment originally.
Take advantage of the coupons in the newspapers or free flyers, every little bit helps! Try to live as close to work as possible the commute can be draining at times Aloha Nui Loa!
Not owning a car solves three problems: money, carbon footprint and traffic congestion/parking. Even taking the bus to Costco is useful, as returning is like a workout with free weights, which saves money on a gym. When you talk about "keeping up with the Jones," cars are the #1 means of projecting prestige, both during the 5% of the day that we actually use them and the 95% of the day they sit in a parking space slowly decomposing.
For Grocery, I go to Costco for frozen meats, bulk stuff, and gas, to Walmart for regular household items, and to China town for veggie, fruits, sauce and seasoning ingredients. I couldn’t afford a regular pre-K, so sometime us moms just get together and take turn teaching kids. I personally love Keiki O Ka Aina program which is affordable and great curriculum. Oh buy second hand stuff from Facebook market place.
I love your videos I love Hawaii and would move back there yesterday . All the information you give is soo important to those with pipe dreams of living here . Do it when your young and single its much easier than with a tribe unless you are very rich. Hawaii is my hearts home …… thank you again
A few years ago, the stats were that 50% of Hawaii kids go to preschool. The mainland is 80%. Big difference. For the reasons you started above. Preschool is directly related to 4th grade math and reading levels.
I shop at Ross only on Tuesday with 10% discount for anyone 50+. I only order pizza at Papa John with half price off for anyone 50+. I reserve my rental car and cruise at Costco website which offers great price and perks. I only shop at Farmer's Market in Kapalama. I signed up for Hawaiian Airline credit card, cancelled it on the 3rd year, then they lured you back and I signed up again. Every time I got bonus 60K to 80K miles. That is almost enough for two round trips to East Coast. And before cancelling, I pooled all family members' miles into my account.
My mom's favorite thing to do in Hawaii was what she called "Old lady day" at Ross. My dad was on a 2 week assignment there and she went with him. I teased her because she was in paradise but did her same routine from home in Hawaii. 😂 lol
If your family is below certain income threshold, the State has a program that pays for all your kid's preschool fee. The City has some affordable rental buildings mostly in Chinatown and some newer ones in Kapolei. If you don't mind long commute, the waiting time for Kapolei's is quite short.
Good but shopping at ROSS is a good one too. I also think that sharing outside of your ohana helps. Giving each other fruit and extra stuff when you have to others.
Great content Chris. Keep up the great work. Hawaii is just too expensive. Beautiful but expensive. I’ll be content to visit once every other year as a tourist instead.
All amazing advice in video and comments. I am definitely more purposeful about what I eat. I don’t need steak, or milk. I eat lots of fruit and veggies bought locally (farmers markets), local eggs, fish (if you are lucky you make a fisher friend that will share or catch your own) and bulk rice from Costco. The key is to keep life simple. Just like you said, no keeping up with the other guys. Get that brand new to you 2003 Toyota Tacoma and be happy living in the most beautiful place on the planet.
If I had a family, sure I'd be using Costco a lot. Hawaii was great to visit in September 2021 and I hope to come back again sometime. Couldn't believe how affordable food options were in Honolulu of all places.
I shop at Costco almost every week mostly to buy romaine lettuce and broccoli and fill in gas. I'm retired so I don't need much but still try to spend wisely. Good that you have a budget.
We build our homes on the same property. There three homes on our six acres. My grandson is going to build his place here on the"family" land next year. We do what we must do to live here.
I'm Appalachian and I lived a few years as a child on Oahu (I learned how to swim there magical place) but I noticed Island life really ain't no different than Hillbilly life. Instead of cinder block homes it's trailers, same difference though. Ain't it funny that folks who would probably get along to well but instead we both get all the rich yuppies wanting to experience nature and feel free. It'd all in the eye of the beholder right.
Agreed I'm southern through and through , I lived in Maui from 1991-2003 and thrived there. I regret leaving my landlord actually lowered my rent when I first was gonna leave. They loved me so much. Hawaiians are extreme Ohana , just like southerners.
When I went to Hawaii. I remember one of the drivers mentioning Hawaiian’s going to Costco to pay Mainland prices. Agree or disagree with me. I am figuring if I wanted to live in Hawaii. I would be thinking it might be similar to moving to a big city like NYC or Silicon Valley where the real estate prices are high. The difference with Hawaii is that food is probably more expensive. I am not saying I need to be rich to move there but I have to understand that it is expensive to live there.
Multi generational homes aren’t common with just Hawaiian people and Asians it’s also very common in Europe, most of the American Country’s, and in Africa. But unfortunately for some weird reason mainland USA has a strange affliction to the idea of children living under their parents roof after the minute you turn 18. If you even mentioned that in certain places on the Internet that you live under your parents roof you get called a bum even though you’re saving money and the people usually calling you a bum are in serious debt. It’s like people here don’t want to amass family wealth they just want to take on debt out of some weird sense of obligation, it’s insane. Mainly though this tends to be the lower income Americans doing this. I’ve noticed higher income families and rich families tend to encourage the opposite and try to make their kids wait to move out till they are already financially stable aka the common sense thing to do.
Grow your own food❣️😄 this would be my first tip I envy your weather. I live in Lake Tahoe at 7000ft and I’m determined to grow most of my vegetables supply, mostly with the uncertainty in the world right now. Ive bought a hobby greenhouse and grow lights and I do container gardening. I’ve been self sufficient in most of my vegetable needs. I’ve been in Maui many times and I never get the island feeling. I’ve never encounter fresh fish caught from the ocean or fresh coconuts with a straw so I could drink the water. At least Maui seems way too removed from nature which is a shame. If we’ve seen a common thread in the world in the pasta year and a half is that we can not really depend on the world to provide for us. I just want to encourage people to be more self sufficient. And you guys definitely have the weather to grow at least some lettuce and tomatoes year round. And fruits! I love the papayas. I always enjoy your videos. You have such calm when you talk. It’s soothing. Thank you so much 🙏🏻❤️
I've got a garden. It's not cheap. One bag of compost costs $25 to $50. It costs me $75-100 to fill up my garden soil every 6 months. I compost on my property but people don't really have space for that. Seeds are 3$ a bag. Direct online ordering is 1.50$ from the University of Hawaii. So it's $20-45 for a round of seeds. Mostly it's the soil that costs the most. And you can do all this IF you have land. Gardening here is also more expensive. I can buy a bag of zucchini at Costco for 8$ or spend $10 and 3 months to grow it myself (of the pests don't get it first)
Growing as much as you can is great and I think you must have missed some of the beautiful larger produce fields in Maui. Just outside of Kihei are gorgeous citrus groves and if you wander farther into the interior you can see larger spreads of produce, livestock and lovely streets where people are leaving large boxes of their own produce on the curb to share with others. If you get away from the tourist areas you can see many people fishing off the beaches daily. It is not for sport it is for dinner. If you do not live on Maui, please be careful before judging Maui:) Aloha
@@FrenchFifi65 sure sure. If you have the land it's great. You can compost, preserve seeds, etc. This video is about saving money, growing food in Hawaii is an expensive process for most people that live in urban areas. And in Hawaii most of the population live in urban areas.
Multi generation homes are common in Europe too. 4 bed town house has 6 people living in it. It's also unfortunate common for an elderly person to live alone in a 4 bed house. That unfortunately has the knock on affect of creating a housing shortage and kids in other families not being able to move out.
This is what I've always wondered too about HI. The truth is our system drastically needs to change for the whole country when it comes to making the cost of living sane and affordable for all people. Right now it's just a hope for the future. That's been going on waaay too long. I mean what's it going to take to get real solutions? More homeless, more hungry humans?
Shop da sales.., kta last week had new York steak for half what costco wanted. If you like steak. We have several fruit trees and a big ulu tree. I always tell my neighbors to let me know when they want some. I can't eat it all.
I was on a business retreat and I met one fellow retreat attendee who’s a job was working on the cargo ships as a merchant marine delivering goods to Hawaii According to this gentleman Hawaii has three day supply and they need to concentrate of goods being shipped from the US mainland on US flag ships due to the Jones act ( For a merchant marine is the most well-paid merchant marine union just do the Hawaii and Alaska) Although there are modern conveniences modern buildings and services and lifestyles one can’t lose sight that you’re living on an island an island of thousands of miles away from any other supply chain so everything’s gonna be a lot more expensive When we compare cities like New York and San Francisco which are connected to the US mainland and have an expensive trucking raven rail supply they’re expensive I do to the fact that they’re congested in a small area I think 8 million or so in New York City on several islands and then an hour peninsula for San Francisco what you might have hundreds of thousands in the city itself Still delivered goods are still more affordable in those cities compared to Honolulu I’d venture to say that there’s only a certain capacity that the islands of Oahu will specifics can accommodate for people living there at any one time for the lifestyle are used to I remember hearing and watching your video we are by the Polynesian elders started to ruminate and fantasize how life on the items will be much better if they had a different form of government we are by consideration on the impact of the environment and that it’s Karen capacity were taking into account and people live more communally instead of competitively The lifestyle in the US mainland is not compatible with a resource limitation in Hawaii
Very thoughtful and informative video on making it in Hawaii, especially now when inflation is rearing it's head. In fact, this could apply anywhere where the cost of living is high like the Bay Area or SoCal. Thank you.
Must add when you talk about Hawaii that theres 4 main islands people live on.While all of them have high prices for food and electric Maui and Kauai are off the chart for home prices and rentals.Oahu not so bad,maybe north shore and Big Island probably the most reasonable however getting nuts here too.
Ther are 173,000 Hawaii households using federal snap food benefits which probably means a half million people benefiting and Gov, Green said this week said about half million Hawaii residents use Medicaid. It means that about half the residents of Hawaii require major assistance in health and food subsidies. This is the data. In a free enterprise system the government needs to get out of the way and/or facilitate the free enterprise to provide more prosperity for people, not just subsistence living. You can accomplish this with elected officials who care for the people as well as having an understanding of the private sector. Do not elect people who have negligible experience in the private sector economy because they are unlikely to benefit the economy with their policies and legislation.
Exactly, how does anyone make a household work in Hawaii??.... OMG, I didn't realize how much it takes to make a finances work in a household where you are taking care of "elderly" parents... It's a job and I don't know how elderly people who don't have "family" take care of things... Love your channel!!!
If you love sea food Go fishing ,crabbing shellfish, shrimp etc. plant a garden or go forging in the forest. Yes it's more work but it will benefit you and save you a lot of money. You don't have to eat it all the time just saying once in a while doesn't hurt. Honestly I could live off seafood all day long and I'm Filipino.
I got a question. There are states in different countrys wich you are not allowed to stay like 3 person on a house with only 1 bedroom. Like you need a minimum of space per person like a rule from their goverments. Based on this logic with multigeneration house i can as many person as i want to live with me as long as i pay what the owner demands right?
Back in da day in my 1st jobs (sorry, ah, my HCreole grammahz), we used to build (construction contractor kine building work) da kine add-on additions to houses by the WEEK !! Build one whole tiny house ON TOP da garage roof!! Nice !! Tatami mat floor, shoji doors & all dat ! No mo tub in da bathrooms but da tiny "houses" get 3 showers & 3 toilet !
You've already paid for food stamps with the taxes you've paid throughout the years. Secondly, food stamps isn't there to keep people from getting hungry although empathy does play a minor role. The program is designed to support the grocery store chains. This includes their suppliers, farmers, and shippers, stock room workers, utilities, cashiers, the guy who mops the floors, customer service person. It does reduce shoplifting and prosecution cost. However food stamps crowning glory is propping up the grocery chain's stocks on Wall Street. In that sense, it's more a subsidy for big business. Otherwise their money going get malnutrition. Remember, though, if not for the big business lobbyists, ice cream and tostitos etc. wouldn't be food stamp eligible. Previously, you could buy only necessary items.
Multiple streams of income. Rice to stretch out the meals. A fruit tree/garden to stretch out meals. Costco. The inability to buy most things impulsively cause most places don’t deliver to Hawaii/Alaska. Generosity of ancestor’s who passed down land or built the ohana. Not sending kids to private school or not having them at all. Willingness to work at multiple kinds of jobs, particularly in hospitality?
Im 23 and i still live with my parents even though i make over $45 an hour.. my whole life we’ve always had at least 14+ people living under our roof and once had 19 at one point
Child care is crazy. My wife is an absolutely awesome long term middle school teacher with a masters. We were considering moving to one of the islands. Is the pay much lower than West Coast mainland?
Aloha, If I can survive in Seattle I can survive ANY WHERE. I am anti-materalistic and embrace Polynesian/Hawaiian culture. Thus I will survive there well🤗. Mahalo a nui loa. Aloha
Another thing when going to Costco here in oahu....make sure you use your own card. Don't use your spouse card. They was giving me crap yesterday about it
This is true! Our son used my husband’s card just ahead of us in line so he could pay for his own things and we were told they are cracking down on people using others’ cards.
Aloha! Please consider replacing the term “government assistance” with “the redistribution of wealth.” The government took money from other people and redistributed it to you. #TaxationIsTheft
This is all from Zillow - VRBO - AirBNB and corporations buying houses same thing is happening in Phoenix were I live now as I type this. This will never change now. Nobody should own thousands of houses and manipulate the market. Working people are going to work and are now homeless. Let that sink in imagine working and having a full time job or 2 like many and being homeless living out of your car like they have been doing in Maui for months. I am ashamed of my country I served and what it has become.
So what are some common ways locals can make living in Hawaii a little more affordable? 🤙
Your time stamps are very helpful.
Sometimes, we do not always have the time to see a video from start to finish in order to get to ... "the good stuff".
Cheap fun activities. Beach. Park. Beach again. Playdates.
hold down a steady job, offer tree trimming and roof repair services, buy food clothing at Costco,. shower at the beach, plant fruit trees, catch fish and crabs for protein. Teach tourists how to surf. Those that hustle will do well. The biggest expenses are housing and food. Everybody hustle to make a living. You need to have multiple jobs, so if one job goes bad you still have some income, make friends and help each other when things get tough. make sure you pay taxes so there's social security check in old age. I am an old fart now, and have had 50+ jobs. When I pull out my long board and surf da wave, it's all worth it.
Stop having children they can’t afford. Seriously.
@@tclinn2909 isnt there a saying in Hawaii , This is the only place in the world where you could learn to breath well if you would just allow yourself to do so
I raised my two sons on next to nothing. One of the ways I saved money was I put my water heater on a timer that turned it off between 9AM- 3PM then again at 11PM-6AM covering the time I was at work and the kids were at school and while we slept. Also to save on my electric bill I only ran my washer and dryer during non peak times. My average electric bill was so small the electric company accused me of tampering with the meter. All the money I saved I bought my kids lego’s and I was a happy mama with my kids. 👦🏻👩🏻👦🏻
Great suggestions. We used a water heater timer when I was younger. Smart way to save! 🤙
When eating out:
Mililani restaurants portions can feed two Samoans and a kid on one regular plate.
We get three plates and feed 9 people.
Also if you go Korean BBQ get no rice, you get extra sides.
Make a pot of rice at home, you can feed 9 people with 3 plates also.☺️
My god, those restaurant portions must be HUGE!!
🤙 great suggestion
Is that a single restaurant or many restaurants? I've been looking for this place
2 years ago I was in line at my local Foodland market , with a friend up in her years 90+…there was a group of workers buying after work treats, one of the guys got separated from his pals. An was be hind us in line.
I noticed his friends were finishing the shopping. I suggested he go in front of us.
He was a Big (moke) type guy . After he payed for his snacks. He then payed for my friends groceries. An flashed a beautiful smile.
My sweet old friend wasn’t sure what had happened . I had to explain it.
It was a beautiful beginning of the 2019 thanksgiving…..
Mahalo for sharing. Such a great story and demonstration of aloha.
Seen many examples of that kind behavior in my 11 years Big Island east side
Like most people, I grew up in a multi generational home back in Hawaii. My grandparents collected food stamps and my Dad worked for a food distributor driving a truck (Y.Hata) for $7.35 an hour. This was back in the late 70’ early 80’s. It was difficult at times but I never went hungry and we always had plenty of food in our fridge and freezer because my grandparents and parents knew how to shop for the best deals and ALWAYS bought in bulk. I “pay it back” every year when I fly home to visit my parents. I’ve set them up with a large freezer and I always take them to Costco to buy everything they need before I leave. I’ll gladly spend $500-$700 on groceries and misc items to ensure they’re well stocked and taken cared for while I’m gone. As they get older, I don’t want them to ever have to worry about whether they’ll have enough to live on.
Mahalo for sharing. Great that you pay it back for your family.
What you do for your parents now, it's so beautiful! Please hug your mom and dad. My mom passed and I miss her desperately.
Man brotha you’re an inspiration thank you
Locals look for the grocery sales ... $5 Friday at Safeway, Times,, Foodland, Etc. and weekly sales Longs, Walmart, Target and Walgreens
My mom loves Safeway on Fridays
@@HelloFromHawaii Can't go wrong with the 8 pieces fried chicken...Inflation is hurting everyone
Facts. Just got 4 thick ribeye for $4.99/lb at Safeway last Friday. Hit da Jackpot!!
We’ve been here 14 years, definitely into Costco and so grateful for their kupuna hours during covid! We changed our way of eating too. Found a real local farmers market (some are fake, just re-selling Costco mainland stuff instead of locally grown). Sharing our homegrown produce (banana, oranges, lemons and papaya) means we often get return gifts of fish, avocado and mango. No food wasted in this house, ever. My favorite free activity is star watching; just go outside and look up! Learning the Hawaiian names and stories of the constellations has been fascinating.
Mahalo for sharing. Glad that you've found ways to change eating locally too.
Sorry this is my second comment but to touch on medical for kids.
Keiki Quest covers MOST kids, your income limit has to be like over $200K to not cover the kids. I make okay money and my kids are all covered. I no longer qualify for SNAP (sadly) but when I did I was able to buy so much fresh produce. A bag of grapes here can cost $9 and I can’t afford that all the time. Recently I was in line at Times and my kids were with me, this man was asking me about my kids and high school sports and all that then points to all the fruit and veggies in my cart and goes “Expensive!” and I was like yeah it is but we make do.
He paid $60 towards my groceries without telling me and I never found him again. I think about him all the time and hope he is doing well. The extra money bought another week of fresh produce!
Also my neighbors and I all bring food to each others houses when we have more than we need. Truly blessed.
Great story. Nice that he helped cover some of the costs. Great moments of aloha 🤙
How beautiful! What an unexpected blessing.
Your opening made me laugh because I didn't expect it. But it makes perfect sense. I live in a 4-generation household, not by choice but necessity. Yes, we sometimes have issues, but no, no leeches live here. We all contribute to the household as best we can. Even my six year-old great granddaughter has her chores. Our living arrangement is not for everyone, but I've noticed over the past 8-10 years our extended family living in multiple households has become much closer and loving and caring and supportive, even to helping with major unexpected bills. If we were apart, we'd be living in tents somewhere; together we live comfortably with lots of aloha. I enjoy watching your heartfelt, informative vlogs.
agreed, no freeloaders need apply.
Mahalo for sharing. Glad it's brought your family closer and everyone contributes 🤙
Newest favorite proverb: Comparison is the thief of joy.
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I spent the first 40 years of my life in HI. The recession sent me to the mainland. People always ask why we would move from HI. I always say that we weren’t living in HI, we were surviving. Quality of life suffered. When we do get to visit we notice that HI is losing its “Aloha”. The stress of surviving wear down people.
It's been a tough couple of years. I understand when you say that you noticed the aloha wearing down.
I'm military and aloha is seemingly starting to suffer a lot just in the 3 years I've been here. I try to keep giving it back as much as I can. Met the nicest, most grateful people ever here. But median price of house in just 3 years has gone from $700k to about $900k. It will be $1 mil soon enough. Going to be a San Francisco housing market. Combine it with the other costs and it's just not sustainable. The average person shouldn't need 3 jobs to barely survive.
@@Flowmada You aren’t Hawaiian bro -
@@larazeesk7080 so what anyone can have aloha ur mentality is what’s helping get rid of it
@@Mellow.21 Funny to think I was born in Hawaii -
I live in town and we grow our own fruits and vegetables. We share with our neighbors and in return they share their bounty. Luckily we have neighbors that go fishing so we have fresh fish from time to time. We also try to grow things our neighbors aren't growing so we can swap a variety of fruits and veggies. Also, I have the Costco cash back VISA credit card and run all of my expenses except mortgage and car payment through it. This is my first year doing it and although my expenses are not that high, I am on track to get back about $500 at the end of the year.
Mahalo for sharing. Glad you are able to grow your own and share.
Multi generational living Situation is very common where I am from. (Northern Caucasus). It’s a tradition, when youngest son’s family live with his parents. They help to take care of grandkids, share their life wisdom with youngsters, kids and grandkids take care of elderly when it’s difficult for them to do it on their own. That forms very strong bonds within families and in a society as a whole. You will have to do some searching in order to find a homeless people there. Same with elderly in a nursing homes, can’t even imagine seeing my parents living alone and being taken care by other than myself or family members. Strong family structure is essential for a healthy society. Keep it up Hawaiins👍
When I lived in Maui there was no Costco , no Wal -Mart , no lowes, no home depot, nothing.
Just Mom & Pop stores. I did just fine , made plenty money at the hotels.
OOKA was the main grocery store and tons of little mom & pop stores, Including the little FILIPINO stores.
I was blessed for sure.
Thank God for those days.
1991 -2003
10:00 I have a 2004 Honda Pilot. Bought it new and though it's long in tooth, it runs great. IMO The most important thing to maintain your vehicle is to regularly change your oil.
Once housing is figured out you don't need much. No need for hoarding clothes or other possessions. Food can be much more affordable in Costco, Wal Mart, etc. I grew up on rice and beans in New Mexico so it can work. Good advice here! Always good to examine budget, careless to eat out like you are on vacation not to mention unhealthy. Mahalo.
🤙 Agree. Housing is the biggest issue. Once that is taken care of, life seems manageable.
We shop thrift stores. Here on the Big Island most all of the rubbish stations have a thirty store to keep decent items out of the dump. We also shop Facebook market place. If we can not find it there we look for sales at the stores or online for the best price!
Good suggestion. Cheap aloha shirts and work clothes
Pearl City Goodwill is the best in the nation! Got all my clothes, dishes, artwork and table there. Saved tons of money!
Wonderful video! And so on point. Where I live in WA as a low income senior, I get a massive break on my property tax, also my water bill thanks to the county. I also get $40 every year to spend at the local farmers market. I use it to buy heavy items that I don't grow, like winter squash. I have a small veggie garden some of which was built for free, complete with dirt, by a local non profit. My neighbors also have larger gardens that they share with me. These are some of the reasons I can afford to live here. Oh, my mortgage is under $400 a month due to a federal program for refinancing that I think is no longer available. I feel so blessed. I am home visiting family in Kaneohe because someone else used their miles to buy my ticket. Boy, am I glad I wrote this! Makes me appreciate every day and person in my life. Mahalo.
Hope you are enjoying Kaneohe. I went back this weekend. Great to visit family 🤙
Am having fun, talking story with my nephew, and eating! Looking for a good poke place. Any ideas? Family is so important. Aloha 🌺🌴
I’m so glad how honest you are about this. My husband and I moved out to Oahu. First to Hilo and then to Honolulu since I had found out I was pregnant once we arrived. We went for the hospital care in Honolulu for my peace of mind and my husband found a job. But this past year has been rough trying to stay afloat. Makes me feel better knowing all us except maybe the rich and famous struggle here on the islands and are trying to make things work. We’re on welfare too and it’s been such a blessing and gives us the ability to go to the doctors and I was able to have my little boy at Queens. I’m grateful for all the friends who have helped us and sharing some aloha spirit with those around. Mahalo for your honesty and authenticity! 🌺🤙🏽💕 Oh and a side note: my husband and I save by turning off the lights a lot and not running AC, also no eating out really and just using our food stamps for picnics, we plan our trips so as not to waste too much gas driving back n forth, and enjoy the free activities such as hiking with our dog and going to beaches. 🌺🐕✨
Mahalo for the comment. It's not as easy as maybe some portray online. Life can be tough when you're living on your own and supporting yourself. But Hawaii is a great place to live. 🤙
Eating out is a real budget killer. Best to cook at home. But....waves are free.
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Aloha from Kailua-kona. As usual you are very insiteful in your observations. Thank you.
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We are living on Hawaii Island close to 14 years from off island. We are so called retired .. we plant our veggies sometimes a success sometimes not… we have flock of ducks and chickens that provide us with eggs. Medical bills exist mortgage car payment high utilities groceries etc. We do without a lot as we figured out years ago what the difference is between a need and a want.
🤙 Sounds great.
Aloha. Great points and the stats really brought it home. Part of the Aloha spirit for us is that managing Hawaii expenses is just dealing with less while still being happy about the important things. Ie less pair of shoes. One drawer of fav tee shirts. Etc. We always crack up over those Reality home buying shows in Hawaii and the mainlanders bring the same sq footage and extra bedrooms as what there used to. They forget that Hawaii uses a lot of outside time vs mid west winters. Mahalo for the great topics 🤙🏾
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Grandparents are emotionally invested in their grandchildren's best life! Love, suppport, respect, discipline, etc. We are 3 generations, it is easy, we repect our daughter to be the mom. She gets our granddaughter ready for school, breakfast, she helps her with homework, and gets her ready for bed. We do the school runs, laundry, cooking and grocery shopping while our daughter works full time and works on master's degree.
Great that you help out so your daughter can work and go to school. 🤙
@@HelloFromHawaii Mahalo
Load up dried goods, buy clearance and marked down, anytime you go into the city's stop at the market even if you are good. Freeze your meats and breads. That's what my partner and I are doing to save.
Great suggestions
We bought a 2 acre farm on the big island and will grow and raise out own food and buy in bulk what I can’t grow or raise.
Nice🤙🏾
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Your last point is spot on! We should be happy with what we have not with stuff we don't have.
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true
Eat every meal at home, get 1200 a month EBT for my 2 sons and I.Dont eat processed food, no chips, cookies, soda etc.Buy food at farmers market, fish from shore when can,aweos and paches, get pig meat from hunter buddy.Live in a rustic house with solar power and water catchment.Caretake the property we live on.So we got no rent bill, no electric bill, no water bill.We live on 3 acres in a rural area of Big Island with breadfruit,mango,banana,avocado,oranges and jackfruit.Also coconut.
We were accepted for section 8 housing but have found it very difficult to find a rental unit and seems like 90% of renters are unwilling to rent to section 8 tenants.Costco is over 2 hour drive one way from our house.
Is there a law like on the mainland where landlords cannot discriminate against sec. 8? The idea is to not tell a prospective landlord that information until after you apply, in order to make it work. Rental companies seem better to accept the voucher than private landlords.
I love everything you said in the conclusion. Being grateful for what you do have takes you closer to happiness than buying things to impress people that you don’t even know. I live in Maui. My mom and I came here from California fortunately never felt the struggle but I want to watch these videos to have a better understanding for the people that have grown with the land from generations to generation. Also learn a thing or 2 on how to save here because it definitely never hurts to do so. Thank you for putting things in to perspective with this video. Very well said. Aloha. 🌺
where in mainland u came from?
@@tednguyen7258 Santa Clara, CA
also expensive
Aloha! So living Oahu island for over a month now. I still have a lot to learn and love it here as well. But I am going to give my perspective from someone who is outside looking in. It’s definitely more expensive here. There is definitely some logistical reasons why prices are high but it’s obvious price gouging is also going on just because you’re in Hawaii. For example, A dole pineapple in my experience cost around 3 dollars in the mainland. Outside of Costco, pineapple ranges from 5-6 dollars yet the pineapple plantation is right down the road. That is just a small example. Here is the bigger example, if prices can be reasonable at the commissary, why aren’t these same companies offering something more comparable in the local grocery stores? Some of these companies are even local. You can buy 100% Kona coffee at half the price versus a local business . It’s not just big corporations doing it, but also local businesses. Another example, Macy’s had a sell for docker pants for buy one get 40% off on the next pair. Why not just offer the lower affordable price to begin with? Trust me, they aren’t losing money.
Next is off topic. So next with trash. I feel both some residents and tourists are at fault. Yes, tourist can cause trash in downtown Waikiki, but the fact is, tourists don’t visit the entire island as often. You can go to Waianae Neighborhoods and there are trashed cars everywhere, over grow yards, trash in general etc. I know everyone can’t afford the same things in life, but anyone can keep up with taking care of what you have (I promise I’m not judging anyone).
This rail system. I hear it’s been going on
forever. Lots of money wasted that could have gone to local schools and heck some of the roads. Just one example of government mismanagement of money.
I agree with one of the commenters here. There is a missed opportunity with all the businesses not
having a paid membership. Especially gas stations. I would be happy to pay a fee every year somewhere closer to home without having to drive all the way to Costco if it drives gas down 40-60 cents a gallon. Guaranteed visit to the local gas station means more money in volume.
I love Hawaii! And I’m really glad to be here. But just giving my observation from the small time I’ve been here.
I love it here and proud to be part of the community! I hope can find ways to contribute!
Mahalo for sharing your experience. Hope you are enjoying it so far. Great observations.
Commissary is non-profit. They move merchandise through military transportation. The commissary surcharge helps fund military families needs. The military pays for the commissary building, electricity, etc. There is no comparison!
Good observation. I liked my time in Hawaii. I lives there in the 80s. It was a welfare state then and the attitude of thats the price to live in paradise was prevalent. There was also discrimination against whites. That’s just an undeniably fact.
I don’t know if it still exists but Kama'āina rates or prices helped a little bit. Aloha Air had ticket books for 6 flights to the other Hawaiian islands. That was a good deal which I used to island hop. ABC store was a good source for some items like coffee. I got my cooke street shirts and souvenir t shirts from outlets. Some maybe seconds but it wasn’t that noticeable for me. I also shared condo living with other friends and rented a room in a private house. I even lived with a girlfriend for about a year but decided I had to leave Hawaii. I offered to relocate her and her kids to Colorado Springs but she didn’t want that. Many of the houses in Pearl City had family living in the garages.
I wasn’t living large but I was enjoying my time there. Not interested in moving back because I don’t think the mentality has changed much.
@@happycook6737 That is true. But I can guarantee a 12 pack of soda doesn’t really have to be 10 dollars at Safeway. I think people have just accepted the prices. Safeway will have regular sales on soda almost to 6 dollars each. Just offer that price to begin with. The customer is not getting a a deal. I know it should be a little more expensive but not quite that much. Sorry missed your comment originally.
Take advantage of the coupons in the newspapers or free flyers, every little bit helps! Try to live as close to work as possible the commute can be draining at times Aloha Nui Loa!
Not owning a car solves three problems: money, carbon footprint and traffic congestion/parking. Even taking the bus to Costco is useful, as returning is like a workout with free weights, which saves money on a gym. When you talk about "keeping up with the Jones," cars are the #1 means of projecting prestige, both during the 5% of the day that we actually use them and the 95% of the day they sit in a parking space slowly decomposing.
Good point, but tough sell here. Lots of cars in Hawaii because we love driving.
That photo of Costco looks like hell on earth. But our does too. I totally understand how you feel going to such a crowded, packed places.
Fo'real✓✓
And that's during the week. Wait until the weekend
For Grocery, I go to Costco for frozen meats, bulk stuff, and gas, to Walmart for regular household items, and to China town for veggie, fruits, sauce and seasoning ingredients. I couldn’t afford a regular pre-K, so sometime us moms just get together and take turn teaching kids. I personally love Keiki O Ka Aina program which is affordable and great curriculum. Oh buy second hand stuff from Facebook market place.
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Multigenerational housing is an excellent thing for family closeness and learning from your elders. It's the standard in many countries.
So akamai … love this channel, community and content!
🤙 Glad you enjoy it!
Great video chat, and very informative. Thank you very much.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love your videos I love Hawaii and would move back there yesterday . All the information you give is soo important to those with pipe dreams of living here . Do it when your young and single its much easier than with a tribe unless you are very rich. Hawaii is my hearts home …… thank you again
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Very informative and honest. Aloha from Maui, Hawaii.
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A few years ago, the stats were that 50% of Hawaii kids go to preschool. The mainland is 80%. Big difference. For the reasons you started above. Preschool is directly related to 4th grade math and reading levels.
Yeah, sad that we don't have more kids in preschool. A lot of it might have to do with costs. Hoping to see if public preschool becomes a thing.
I shop at Ross only on Tuesday with 10% discount for anyone 50+. I only order pizza at Papa John with half price off for anyone 50+. I reserve my rental car and cruise at Costco website which offers great price and perks. I only shop at Farmer's Market in Kapalama. I signed up for Hawaiian Airline credit card, cancelled it on the 3rd year, then they lured you back and I signed up again. Every time I got bonus 60K to 80K miles. That is almost enough for two round trips to East Coast. And before cancelling, I pooled all family members' miles into my account.
Mahalo for the tips 🤙
My mom's favorite thing to do in Hawaii was what she called "Old lady day" at Ross. My dad was on a 2 week assignment there and she went with him. I teased her because she was in paradise but did her same routine from home in Hawaii. 😂 lol
Great episode today. Very informative. Thanks
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Thank you so much for the thoughtful ideas 💡
If your family is below certain income threshold, the State has a program that pays for all your kid's preschool fee. The City has some affordable rental buildings mostly in Chinatown and some newer ones in Kapolei. If you don't mind long commute, the waiting time for Kapolei's is quite short.
That commute is killer. Can't imagine driving everyday, unless I can work from home most days.
Good but shopping at ROSS is a good one too. I also think that sharing outside of your ohana helps. Giving each other fruit and extra stuff when you have to others.
🤙 sharing is a great suggestion. Share those avacados
Great content Chris. Keep up the great work. Hawaii is just too expensive. Beautiful but expensive. I’ll be content to visit once every other year as a tourist instead.
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All amazing advice in video and comments. I am definitely more purposeful about what I eat. I don’t need steak, or milk. I eat lots of fruit and veggies bought locally (farmers markets), local eggs, fish (if you are lucky you make a fisher friend that will share or catch your own) and bulk rice from Costco. The key is to keep life simple. Just like you said, no keeping up with the other guys. Get that brand new to you 2003 Toyota Tacoma and be happy living in the most beautiful place on the planet.
lol. 2003 Tacoma was a good year 🤙
If I had a family, sure I'd be using Costco a lot. Hawaii was great to visit in September 2021 and I hope to come back again sometime. Couldn't believe how affordable food options were in Honolulu of all places.
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I shop at Costco almost every week mostly to buy romaine lettuce and broccoli and fill in gas. I'm retired so I don't need much but still try to spend wisely. Good that you have a budget.
The gas is a good deal. But sometimes the lines are so long at Iwilei.
Brah, we are all about the cheap hobbies. Haha. Great video.
Beach, hiking, staying home and hanging out 😆
We build our homes on the same property. There three homes on our six acres. My grandson is going to build his place here on the"family" land next year. We do what we must do to live here.
It's nice to keep family close.
I'm Appalachian and I lived a few years as a child on Oahu (I learned how to swim there magical place) but I noticed Island life really ain't no different than Hillbilly life. Instead of cinder block homes it's trailers, same difference though. Ain't it funny that folks who would probably get along to well but instead we both get all the rich yuppies wanting to experience nature and feel free. It'd all in the eye of the beholder right.
Agreed I'm southern through and through ,
I lived in Maui from 1991-2003 and thrived there.
I regret leaving my landlord actually lowered my rent when I first was gonna leave. They loved me so much.
Hawaiians are extreme Ohana , just like southerners.
I'm in west virginia, Hawaii seems like here as far as expenses go. I'll be looking into moving to Hilo once my child is old enough
When I went to Hawaii. I remember one of the drivers mentioning Hawaiian’s going to Costco to pay Mainland prices. Agree or disagree with me. I am figuring if I wanted to live in Hawaii. I would be thinking it might be similar to moving to a big city like NYC or Silicon Valley where the real estate prices are high. The difference with Hawaii is that food is probably more expensive. I am not saying I need to be rich to move there but I have to understand that it is expensive to live there.
It's tough. The food costs more and is less fresh because of shipping.
Multi generational homes aren’t common with just Hawaiian people and Asians it’s also very common in Europe, most of the American Country’s, and in Africa. But unfortunately for some weird reason mainland USA has a strange affliction to the idea of children living under their parents roof after the minute you turn 18. If you even mentioned that in certain places on the Internet that you live under your parents roof you get called a bum even though you’re saving money and the people usually calling you a bum are in serious debt. It’s like people here don’t want to amass family wealth they just want to take on debt out of some weird sense of obligation, it’s insane. Mainly though this tends to be the lower income Americans doing this. I’ve noticed higher income families and rich families tend to encourage the opposite and try to make their kids wait to move out till they are already financially stable aka the common sense thing to do.
Always the sales for sure. But Costco really does help. I try to do the sale Costco items too. We change up our home menu weekly no problem.
Shopping for sales is almost a full-time job. Longs, Safeway, Costco! 😁
@@HelloFromHawaii haha. Right! And the clearance rack in the back of Safeway is clutch hahaha
Grow your own food❣️😄 this would be my first tip I envy your weather. I live in Lake Tahoe at 7000ft and I’m determined to grow most of my vegetables supply, mostly with the uncertainty in the world right now. Ive bought a hobby greenhouse and grow lights and I do container gardening. I’ve been self sufficient in most of my vegetable needs. I’ve been in Maui many times and I never get the island feeling. I’ve never encounter fresh fish caught from the ocean or fresh coconuts with a straw so I could drink the water. At least Maui seems way too removed from nature which is a shame. If we’ve seen a common thread in the world in the pasta year and a half is that we can not really depend on the world to provide for us. I just want to encourage people to be more self sufficient. And you guys definitely have the weather to grow at least some lettuce and tomatoes year round. And fruits! I love the papayas. I always enjoy your videos. You have such calm when you talk. It’s soothing. Thank you so much 🙏🏻❤️
I've got a garden. It's not cheap. One bag of compost costs $25 to $50. It costs me $75-100 to fill up my garden soil every 6 months. I compost on my property but people don't really have space for that. Seeds are 3$ a bag. Direct online ordering is 1.50$ from the University of Hawaii. So it's $20-45 for a round of seeds. Mostly it's the soil that costs the most. And you can do all this IF you have land. Gardening here is also more expensive. I can buy a bag of zucchini at Costco for 8$ or spend $10 and 3 months to grow it myself (of the pests don't get it first)
Growing as much as you can is great and I think you must have missed some of the beautiful larger produce fields in Maui. Just outside of Kihei are gorgeous citrus groves and if you wander farther into the interior you can see larger spreads of produce, livestock and lovely streets where people are leaving large boxes of their own produce on the curb to share with others. If you get away from the tourist areas you can see many people fishing off the beaches daily. It is not for sport it is for dinner. If you do not live on Maui, please be careful before judging Maui:) Aloha
@@FrenchFifi65 sure sure. If you have the land it's great. You can compost, preserve seeds, etc. This video is about saving money, growing food in Hawaii is an expensive process for most people that live in urban areas. And in Hawaii most of the population live in urban areas.
Thats a great idea but the ground soil has to be prepared and sometimes things just dont grow well in certain areas
Even if you live in town in a condo, you can grow a few herbs or things like green onions in containers.
One of the advantages I see is there are free coconuts and chicken all over the place. No problems catching or foraging your food.
I dont know, Chickens run fast... 😆
@@ADAtrips Maybe with a dog catching net.
Those coconuts are tough to get sometimes. Hard to climb the tree.
😂😂😂
Multi generation homes are common in Europe too. 4 bed town house has 6 people living in it. It's also unfortunate common for an elderly person to live alone in a 4 bed house. That unfortunately has the knock on affect of creating a housing shortage and kids in other families not being able to move out.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you!
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This is what I've always wondered too about HI. The truth is our system drastically needs to change for the whole country when it comes to making the cost of living sane and affordable for all people. Right now it's just a hope for the future. That's been going on waaay too long. I mean what's it going to take to get real solutions? More homeless, more hungry humans?
Not sure what it will take to change things. I have a feeling we're going to find out when it's too late.
Thanks for taking the time.. my dream may be a reality some day..
Loved this vlog. I’m originally from Hawaii living on the mainland (retired military ). There’s no way we could afford to live there 😪.
Glad you like the video. Yeah, it's tough to make it. Hope you can still visit. 🤙
Do you have a video that goes more into food costs and tips for keeping it down?
I don't have a video specific to that topic, but it's something I can consider doing. Mahalo!
Shop da sales.., kta last week had new York steak for half what costco wanted. If you like steak. We have several fruit trees and a big ulu tree. I always tell my neighbors to let me know when they want some. I can't eat it all.
Good point. Lots of great sales
If any store or business has a discount card/club, join it. We save using that card/club. 👍🤙
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I was on a business retreat and I met one fellow retreat attendee who’s a job was working on the cargo ships as a merchant marine delivering goods to Hawaii
According to this gentleman Hawaii has three day supply and they need to concentrate of goods being shipped from the US mainland on US flag ships due to the Jones act
( For a merchant marine is the most well-paid merchant marine union just do the Hawaii and Alaska)
Although there are modern conveniences modern buildings and services and lifestyles one can’t lose sight that you’re living on an island an island of thousands of miles away from any other supply chain so everything’s gonna be a lot more expensive
When we compare cities like New York and San Francisco which are connected to the US mainland and have an expensive trucking raven rail supply they’re expensive I do to the fact that they’re congested in a small area I think 8 million or so in New York City on several islands and then an hour peninsula for San Francisco what you might have hundreds of thousands in the city itself
Still delivered goods are still more affordable in those cities compared to Honolulu
I’d venture to say that there’s only a certain capacity that the islands of Oahu will specifics can accommodate for people living there at any one time for the lifestyle are used to
I remember hearing and watching your video we are by the Polynesian elders started to ruminate and fantasize how life on the items will be much better if they had a different form of government we are by consideration on the impact of the environment and that it’s Karen capacity were taking into account and people live more communally instead of competitively
The lifestyle in the US mainland is not compatible with a resource limitation in Hawaii
Very thoughtful and informative video on making it in Hawaii, especially now when inflation is rearing it's head. In fact, this could apply anywhere where the cost of living is high like the Bay Area or SoCal. Thank you.
Yeah, I didn't factor inflation. $20 plate lunches?
I it’s so true. I was a single mother if 2 kids, and I was not qualified for government assistance
Must add when you talk about Hawaii that theres 4 main islands people live on.While all of them have high prices for food and electric Maui and Kauai are off the chart for home prices and rentals.Oahu not so bad,maybe north shore and Big Island probably the most reasonable however getting nuts here too.
Take up gardening as a hobby and grow as much of your own produce as possible.
Good suggestion. Tried growing stuff, but hard without a yard.
Ther are 173,000 Hawaii households using federal snap food benefits which probably means a half million people benefiting and Gov, Green said this week said about half million Hawaii residents use Medicaid. It means that about half the residents of Hawaii require major assistance in health and food subsidies. This is the data. In a free enterprise system the government needs to get out of the way and/or facilitate the free enterprise to provide more prosperity for people, not just subsistence living. You can accomplish this with elected officials who care for the people as well as having an understanding of the private sector. Do not elect people who have negligible experience in the private sector economy because they are unlikely to benefit the economy with their policies and legislation.
Thank you for your honesty!!
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Exactly, how does anyone make a household work in Hawaii??.... OMG, I didn't realize how much it takes to make a finances work in a household where you are taking care of "elderly" parents... It's a job and I don't know how elderly people who don't have "family" take care of things... Love your channel!!!
Yeah, it's tough. Not sure how people will do it once the silver tsunami comes crashing down.
If you love sea food Go fishing ,crabbing shellfish, shrimp etc. plant a garden or go forging in the forest. Yes it's more work but it will benefit you and save you a lot of money. You don't have to eat it all the time just saying once in a while doesn't hurt. Honestly I could live off seafood all day long and I'm Filipino.
Maika'i loa 👍🏽 u get budget, no compare wit da Tanakas, stay out of debt, go 🌊, hiking, 🏊🏽♀️. Geev um brah 🤜🏾 Save fo dat hale 🏠
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When they ask, Do you need any condiments or utensils. Say yes. 8)
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I got a question. There are states in different countrys wich you are not allowed to stay like 3 person on a house with only 1 bedroom. Like you need a minimum of space per person like a rule from their goverments. Based on this logic with multigeneration house i can as many person as i want to live with me as long as i pay what the owner demands right?
I'm not sure if there are hosting limits. Landlords might have certain restrictions
Maui is wide open , especially behind the old sugar mill in Lahaina.
Back in da day in my 1st jobs (sorry, ah, my HCreole grammahz), we used to build (construction contractor kine building work) da kine add-on additions to houses by the WEEK !!
Build one whole tiny house ON TOP da garage roof!!
Nice !! Tatami mat floor, shoji doors & all dat !
No mo tub in da bathrooms but da tiny "houses" get 3 showers & 3 toilet !
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You've already paid for food stamps with the taxes you've paid throughout the years. Secondly, food stamps isn't there to keep people from getting hungry although empathy does play a minor role. The program is designed to support the grocery store chains. This includes their suppliers, farmers, and shippers, stock room workers, utilities, cashiers, the guy who mops the floors, customer service person. It does reduce shoplifting and prosecution cost.
However food stamps crowning glory is propping up the grocery chain's stocks on Wall Street. In that sense, it's more a subsidy for big business. Otherwise their money going get malnutrition. Remember, though, if not for the big business lobbyists, ice cream and tostitos etc. wouldn't be food stamp eligible. Previously, you could buy only necessary items.
I shop at Foodland on Senior Thursdays.
Multiple streams of income. Rice to stretch out the meals. A fruit tree/garden to stretch out meals. Costco. The inability to buy most things impulsively cause most places don’t deliver to Hawaii/Alaska. Generosity of ancestor’s who passed down land or built the ohana. Not sending kids to private school or not having them at all. Willingness to work at multiple kinds of jobs, particularly in hospitality?
Mahalo for the suggestions 🤙
Im 23 and i still live with my parents even though i make over $45 an hour.. my whole life we’ve always had at least 14+ people living under our roof and once had 19 at one point
That's a lot of people under one roof. Must have been challenging.
Child care is crazy. My wife is an absolutely awesome long term middle school teacher with a masters. We were considering moving to one of the islands. Is the pay much lower than West Coast mainland?
Growing fruits or grazing animals may also qualify your land for agricultural property tax rates.
Aloha,
If I can survive in Seattle I can survive ANY WHERE. I am anti-materalistic and embrace Polynesian/Hawaiian culture. Thus I will survive there well🤗.
Mahalo a nui loa.
Aloha
Thanks for sharing! 🤙
This is lovely
Make the most of your local library.
Another thing when going to Costco here in oahu....make sure you use your own card. Don't use your spouse card. They was giving me crap yesterday about it
Really? They getting strict?
@@HelloFromHawaii yessah. That's what one of the brothers told me.
This is true! Our son used my husband’s card just ahead of us in line so he could pay for his own things and we were told they are cracking down on people using others’ cards.
I see a UNC water bottle. Did you go there? Our daughter graduated from there in the nursing program.
Yeah, I graduated there. Great school.
Sam’s Club is the way to go!
I found eating out was cheaper than food prices at the local Safeway.
Really? Maybe Costco and making big meals that can stretch throughout the week.
I dread going to Costco too.
The Hawaii Kai one isn't bad
Very wise
Ty. 😃🌸
Aloha! Please consider replacing the term “government assistance” with “the redistribution of wealth.” The government took money from other people and redistributed it to you. #TaxationIsTheft
Hawaii is GREAT place to visit but you sure don't want to live there. okay, GOT IT!! ( been there 3 times, 1977, 1981 &2006)
This is all from Zillow - VRBO - AirBNB and corporations buying houses same thing is happening in Phoenix were I live now as I type this. This will never change now. Nobody should own thousands of houses and manipulate the market. Working people are going to work and are now homeless. Let that sink in imagine working and having a full time job or 2 like many and being homeless living out of your car like they have been doing in Maui for months. I am ashamed of my country I served and what it has become.
I love Magnum PI. The original not the remake. Same deal with Hawaii 5-0. I like the original more.
Chris, are there many van lifers on Oahu?
Waddah ya mean shopping at Ross's doesn't count. I buy food, skin care, decor, and the kitchen sink there. 😀
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I spaced out at 6:43. Maybe it's just me.
How much does it cost to rent a one bedroom apartment in Honolulu?
Depends. It's cheaper outside of Honolulu