Paauhau Rental

[Wis-Can 0]

Congrats and I hope you have many happy memories in your new home!

[DeadPoolX 9]

Is that a Mustang in the second picture? The car, I mean.

[Donna A 4]

when we were there in january milk in maui was $8/gal. i about died when i saw that. gas was comparable to here which surprised me...i thought it would be alot more. we are paying about what u do for groceries also but man u sure are paying alot for electric. thats really alot. do u use the air conditioning? we didnt have to use it when we were there.

[MrsCat 6]

Is that a Mustang in the second picture? The car, I mean.

'tis my baby. Or the tourist car as my husband refers to it. And no its not the V8.

when we were there in january milk in maui was $8/gal. i about died when i saw that. gas was comparable to here which surprised me...i thought it would be alot more. we are paying about what u do for groceries also but man u sure are paying alot for electric. thats really alot. do u use the air conditioning? we didnt have to use it when we were there.

$8/gallon. YIKES. That's horrible.

We do run the air conditioner on occasion. Not too often but sometimes. The house is only 1000sqf so it doesn't take long to cool it off. But I'm cheap so I run it as little as possible.

[Carlawarla 1]

Lovely place MrsCat! I love the flooring as well. I remember you saying you didn't want carpet.

We were in HI about 4 years ago now, and while I enjoyed it, and it was lovely to go, I wouldn't go back...unless it was to visit someone of course. I think that people have this romantized picture of HI in their head, and there are just as many lovely places like HI on the mainland.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Is that a Mustang in the second picture? The car, I mean.

'tis my baby. Or the tourist car as my husband refers to it. And no its not the V8.

When my wife and I were scouting out places in Vancouver, I rented a Mustang. I thought it might cool. Well, that's the wrong car to drive around in downtown Vancouver.

[Krikit 1,164]

When my wife and I were scouting out places in Vancouver, I rented a Mustang. I thought it might cool. Well, that's the wrong car to drive around in downtown Vancouver.

[July09Bride 1]

MrsKat... thinking of your lovely new home and its location - I think you said you were near Kona, have you ever tried Kona Lisa Coffee or visited them??

[Texanadian 10]

Most people say that, especially when they see the cost of living here. Everyone whose come to visit always complains about the price of everything. When Chris and I moved here we did the same thing. You eventually get desensitized to it. We pay usually $250-300 for electricity each month, and spend about $700-800/month on groceries and we don't eat extravagantly at all. I've said this before but a can of Chunky soup here is usually $5, maybe $4.50 on sale. A gallon of milk is $5.00 (at Walmart) and eggs are also $5.00 for a carton. Fortunately in the summer months fruit is plentiful and cheap because its local grown.

Edit: This one always gets people. A loaf of cheap bread (picture Wonder) is $6.50. And its NEVER on sale. Fortunately there is a Costco in Kona and we buy it there for much cheaper.

Gas is about $2.50/gallon.

Its not all sunshine and rainbows. Actually it is. . . . . just on the Kona side of the island.

When you say $250-300/month for electricity, is that during July and August during the worst of the summer? Or is that every month all year? I've always been confused about Hawaii weather. Some people say that they live year round without air conditioning (and even without windows). I've heard others say that it's muggy all the time. I know in south Texas, we have to run the air conditioning for 11 months of the year. Electricity is expensive in Houston. 17 cents/kwh last summer. Much higher than the 6 cents it costs in Vancouver.

I'll have to take note of the price of food here next time I'm grocery shopping. I know what the total will generally cost, but never really take note to see what a can of soup or milk costs. $6.50 for a loaf of generic bread? OUCH. How much does a foot long sandwich at Subway cost? Say a BMT.

Have you driven by this place yet?

The TV show was sneaky. They always made it seem like Magnum's shack was next to the main house. It was actually beside the tennis courts (partially hidden by trees in this photo, although you can see a bit of the roof). The inside of his shack was actually a boat house in real life. Nothing inside but a large empty room. The inside view we all saw on TV was filmed at a movie studio.

[Texanadian 10]

I think I'd be buying a bread maker.

[MrsCat 6]

There is a monopoly in electricity in the islands (Helco) so they can and do charge whatever they want. You could live without an air conditioner, but it would be miserable. It also depends how high up the mountains you live. Above 4000 feet is cool at night, but muggy. Near the ocean where we are, its hot and muggy at night. The warmest months are actually August and September. But the hot weather usually starts around March. Its been unseasonably wet and cool, so we haven't needed the air conditioner much.

Our most expensive month was December - go figure with all the Christmas lights.

JulyBride - I haven't heard of that coffee plantation. There are so many amazing ones on the Kona side, which are total labors of love for them. Most just break even at the end of the year.

[Donna A 4]

one cheap thing we did see pinapples for $.79 where here in ohio they are $4.99 for one.

thats what i wanted to ask u. is there a season where pinnapples are better? when i went about 25 years ago to hawaii in june the pinapples were so sweet but this time in january they were like the ones we get here, a little sour.

Edited April 10, 2009 by Donna A

[MrsCat 6]

one cheap thing we did see pinapples for $.79 where here in ohio they are $4.99 for one.

That's true, very cheap pineapples, avocados, papayas and mangoes.

one cheap thing we did see pinapples for $.79 where here in ohio they are $4.99 for one.

thats what i wanted to ask u. is there a season where pinnapples are better? when i went about 25 years ago to hawaii in june the pinapples were so sweet but this time in january they were like the ones we get here, a little sour.

I dunno - there must be a preferable season.

[Texanadian 10]

There is a monopoly in electricity in the islands (Helco) so they can and do charge whatever they want. You could live without an air conditioner, but it would be miserable. It also depends how high up the mountains you live. Above 4000 feet is cool at night, but muggy. Near the ocean where we are, its hot and muggy at night. The warmest months are actually August and September. But the hot weather usually starts around March. Its been unseasonably wet and cool, so we haven't needed the air conditioner much.

Hmmm, in Houston we used to have one electricity company. It was about average. 10 cents or so. Then they deregulated the electricity market in the idea that competition would lower prices.....HA!....The rates have done nothing but go up. Rates are all over the place depending on who and what time of year it is. How much coal, nuke, nat gas, hydro, or wind you use. But the average tends to be about 16-17 cents. Last summer some were up in the 25 cent range. And if your power company goes out of business, they switch you to the provider of last resort which is 30 cents/kwh.

Hawaii seems to have the same problem but opposite being the one company but still with high prices. You seem to be in the 30-34 kwh range. Although Oahu is only 20 cents. Go figure. You guys have the highest electricity costs in the country. But Texas has the highest health insurance costs. Call it a draw.

We were running $320/month last summer for 1300 sq ft. I thought that was painful. Can't imagine what that would be like at 30 cents. That would be about $565/month.

I looked up the weather stats for Hilo since that was the closest I could find. Compared them to Houston and Vancouver just for the heck of it.

Rain per year (in inches)

Vancouver 44"

Houston 46"

Hilo 129"

Holy moly. No wonder it's muggy where you are. But no doubt you must be surrounded in the greenest of the green. I like that. I couldn't deal with Arizona and it's bland yellow and brown everywhere you look. I can't speak for Hawaii, but the difference between Vancouver and Houston is that Vancouver gets 160 days of rain while Houston gets 100 days. So when it rains in Houston, IT'S LIKE NOAH'S ARK! Houston's rainiest season is during the summer months, while Vancouver like Alberta hardly gets anything for summer rain.

Hours of sunlight per year

Vancouver 1920

Houston 2579

Hilo 1817

I think this is misleading. What is sunlight? Does 5° and sunny in Vancouver count? I've always heard that Hawaii gets something like 320 days of sunlight a year.

I think overall you have the best weather in Hawaii. Always close to swimming places. Just like Vancouver. But with the tropical non stop weather all year round. Houston tends to cool off in December and part of January. But in the summertime, it's awful. Same size as Oahu but with 4 million people. To get to the Gulf of Mexico to go for a swim, I need to drive 60 miles out of the city and you can count on rush hour coming back home..... While you're surrounded by lush green trees and forest and nature. I'm surrounded by concrete as far as the eye can see. It's actually 10°F hotter here at night than it should naturally be due to the huge amount of concrete in the city.

From a cost of living standpoint, it's hard to beat it here. No state income tax. Food is cheap. Cars are cheap. A 2000 sq ft 4 bedroom 3 bathroom house with a nice yard can be had for about $140,000.....But I've always had a soft spot for Hawaii. Just seems like paradise. I'm surprised the place isn't more populated.

The Big Island looks to be 4,000 sq miles. I'm from Vancouver Island which is 12,000 sq miles. I think I could live on the Big Island quite nicely. There was about half of Vancouver Island that I never went to simply because it was a long ways to go in one day.

Looks like you and Mr Cat have got a nice place to live.