Everyone...


I have been interviewing for a job in hawaii and feel that they may offer this job to me. I have some concerns about the cost of living. Could anyone enlighten me with what I might encounter?

If they do offer this to me, money will be the deciding factor... I am curious about what they are going to offer? I know that the cost of living is higher then what I am used to, but I am not sure what the pay scale is like there?

I currently live in an extremely cheap area, but this also means that the pay is not the greatest. I am currently making in the 40K range. I work in the computerized medical record field. I am not sure what the offer will be like, but I am hoping in the 80K range. I have heard that the payscale is not as high as I hoped?

Can anymore let me know if I am correct in thinking that they are not going to offer me something that high? I checked an online relocation calculator and it said that I would need to make $80K or so to be equal to what I am making here. I find that hard to believe, but you never know.

I will give you my reasons... If I make $80K and pay lets say $2000 a month in rent.. (which would be $24K a year) that would still leave me with $56K for the year to have (for bills and what-not) Now would this be enough to make it day to day? I have no idea. That is where you come in... any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
Chris

 

I can say for housing that $2000 for rent alone is moderately high. The main rent I see is from $1100-1500 range. If you live out in Ewa, you can pretty good size place (compared to locales closer to town and in the Aiea area) for a reasonable price. The most expensive parts of living here is the gas prices as well as the food prices. But you can get some good deals if you shop around and get in the grocery store program. Also shopping at Walmart and Costco's could save you money if you buy bulk. Just giving you some helpful hints. Hope this helps. Good luck!!!

Jason

 

i think as long as you don't want a penthouse in waikiki then your set. what part of records do you do? development or deployment? that makes a huge diff in the pay scale as well. also depends on the company. if it's like honolulu medical group they pay decent to crap depending on the job, but the private hospitals and hospices pay pretty good. let me know exactally what it is you do and i can ask around. my mom is a hospital admin at tripler so i can ask. even with 50k you can survive here. i don't really know what kind of lifestlye your into but for me my job pays off the car and i still got a little left for jack in the box $.99 menu. gotta love the jumbo jack! L8R

 

if you make 80k a year you have to pay taxes so you wont have 56k left over if you are paying 2k for rent. you might have 56k after taxes and after 2k rent have even less. it really depends on if you have a family and want to rent a house, although the rental market right now is through the roof and you will be paying top dollar for any good area close to town. 80k in hawaii is pretty good..i dont know many positions that pay that well unless its really specialized and you are the man at the job. just fill in the missing info, if you have a family, car payments, child support, what you can live in...1bdrm apt, 2 bdrm apt, etc.

-Snuff

 

It wouldn't be easy street on $80k, but you'd sure as heck live a lot better than I do!
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80,000 would be a lot better off than my family.

 

The job is with Hawaii Pacific Health. I specialize in the training and development of workflows and charting tools in a computerized med record called EpicCare. The job will envolve backend and design training, which I am going to have to learn. But that is part of the appeal.

I don't know what they will be offering me? I just know that according to the relocation calc that I found on line I need to make around 80K to equal what I make her in PA.

I don't have a family, but I am trying to talk my current girl into coming with me. My car payment is about $350 a month and I am not sure what I would like to live in... a would most likely prefer a 2 bedroom place (make one an office) But that would all depend on the amount of money I would be making.

Oh, the job is in honolulu. Just to let you guys know.

Thanks for the input so far.... I appreciate it.

 

sorry to disappoint you, but i highly doubt you'll get 80k...hopefully i'm wrong here...let us know how it turns out...

 

I am not sure if they are going to offer that much either... I have a feeling that will not, but that is just what the relocation calculator said I would need to make to equal what I make now.

I live in a small town in PA... very small. I can get a half-double home (renting) for about $300 to $400 a month. I can also go to some bars and get a beer for $0.75.

I can give you some examples of what I pay for things:
Car - $350
insurance - $900 a year
case of beer - $16 to $20
steak - depending on cut $7 to $16
I can go out to the local sports bar with my girl, have dinner and a few pitchers of beer for around $30
gas = $2.19 a gallon for 94oct

I have been to Hawaii before, but it was about 2 years ago. I loved it. I love the ocean, it is my girl that is afraid of water... I would love to learn to surf. She on the other hand would just lay in the sun.

I should hear something in a few days. I will keep you guys posted. This would be a big move for me (all the way across the country) but if the pay is right (or close to it) it is a good oppertunity to get out of this area. I just need to be able to afford to live there.

Most of the problem lies with the bills that my ex-wife left to me. They are out of this world.

 

I think you can survive or live comfortaby on anything more than 50K, I made about 80K when I first moved here and I was able to support a wife and 2 kids as well as have a Nissan Sentra SER Spec V which I was paying around 350 a month for. I got a new job paying a little over 100K and I was able to buy a house and get an 04 G35 coupe as well as a 2nd car for my wife. Cost of living here is not as bad as people say it is - you just have 2 budget properly. If you ask palaban (pm) he might be able to help you a little more - he's a budget analyst for Hawaii Pacific Health

 

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I used to work for Kapiolaoni Meidacal(they're part of HPH now) as a SysAdmin. The work environment and pay is top notch. might not be in the 80k range, but you should make out ok.

 

Word

I make around 58K before tax and if you count my house in that. Oh yeah I work about 95-100hrs a week for that also.

 

Well, it is official. They offered the position to me. Pay is definately less then what I wanted (which I kinda expected) Now I have to figure out if I would be able to pull it off. I have been working away at my job for the past few days and get to head home tonight. So I should be able to sit down and figure some things out.

The deal is not to bad though. With relocations cost taken into consideration and a signing bonus... It might work out. I am going also see if I can negotiate some thing a little higher. I told them that I have a lot of thinking to do as well as a lot of questions that I need answered.

Thank all of you for your help with this... I may just be seeing you there? (most likely with my Blaze Yellow stg 4 WRX!!!!!!!!!)