Aloha! Half a year ago or so, I posted a thread asking for help planning a
6-month stay in Hawaii, where the goal was for my wife and myself to get as far away from full-time work and stress as possible, just for a while. I called it a "mini retirement." I am 25 years old now, and we are not FI, although we are very much Mustachian and in a good financial position relative to our peers, despite mediocre wages (I was a public school teacher; wife made less than that). Here's the old thread:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/'mini-retirement'-in-hawaii-%28many-questions-both-financial-and-geographical%29/...and here is the follow-up now that we're back home after 6 months of paradise:
First of all, the short of the story is that it was a HUGE success! Over the course of 6 months in Hawaii,
we each worked about 8-12 hours per week, and
our net worth increased by about one thousand dollars (not much, but that's a positive number!!!), even with slightly net negative portfolio returns. We had an AMAZING, unforgettable, mostly uncompromising time, and most importantly, each of our days was unplanned and self-directed. 10/10 would recommend to any Mustachian.
Income details-Freelance portrait photography (me): Variable, but averaging $500 per month profit over 6 months
-Freelance math/physics tutoring (me): Variable, but averaging $350 per month over 6 months
-Freelance online marketing work (wife): Steady $1300 per month
-Credit card churning: We did this pretty aggressively and probably squeezed a total of close to $2000 profit out of it in 6 months.
Expense details-We rented a 2-bedroom apartment (too big for us and could have rented the extra room for $400-500/mo easily if we tried) on the coastline road in one of the two main cities on the Big Island. The beach was about 50 meters (30 seconds) from our front door. We paid $930/mo for rent.
-We purchased a low mileage 2000 Mazda Miata convertible for $4500 upon arrival and sold it for $5600 when we left (big profit!). I adored that car. Many great memories.
-We purchased 2 bicycles for $450 on Craigslist and sold them for $400 when we left.
-We furnished our apartment VERY, VERY minimally, knowing that we were probably staying for only 6 months. Our bed was a couple of very thick mattress pads stacked on top of one another, and our main piece of furniture was a $50 card table and chairs set from Walmart. No TV, no couch.
-We purchased a small, portable air conditioning unit for $300 upon arrival, and electricity was INSANELY expensive, so we paid roughly $200/mo to run it through the scorching summer. Most people lived without AC, but to me, this was worth it. Call it my weakness. We sold it for $200 when we left.
-Everyone complains that food is insanely expensive in Hawaii. It is, if you keep eating exactly as you did on the mainland. If you relegate yourself to Walmart/Costco groceries only and eat healthy amounts of staple foods such as rice and pasta, food is very cheap. This is what we did. We probably ate out 10 times or so in 6 months. It was actually very satisfying.
-We did visit 5 different Hawaiian islands while we were there. This was the most expensive part of the trip, due to flying , ferrying, and hotels. We slept inside of rental cars in rural areas several times to save money, and we did use some saved up credit card rewards points on hotels and airfare.
-We paid our next door neighbor $30/mo for their WiFi password, since an Internet connection was about $60/mo normally.
-Entertainment budget was very very close to ZERO, and we were never bored! Nature is truly amazing.
-Obviously all other normal life expenses applied, and were handled in Mustachian ways. Interestingly, car insurance is REALLY cheap in Hawaii!
-Just a note...Our net change in net worth was about +$1000 over the course of the trip, but as you can see, there was a lot of up-front cash layout to begin (car, bikes, etc.), so you probably want at least $15-30k (being super conservative) to feel safe beginning a journey like this. We had more than that.
Fun factors and other notes-This trip was insane. Not just because it was Hawaii, but also because
we have never felt this type of freedom and self-sufficiency and self-direction in our lives. TRY IT. This trip was such a huge boost for my motivation to keep developing toward FI.
-Holy crap, there is no greater place on Earth for (just-for-fun) photography than Hawaii.
-Making a list of things we wanted to do on the island and putting it on the fridge was helpful. We'd just wake up every day and say, “hey, which thing should we go do?” 99% of these things were just free stuff in nature (hiking, biking, swimming, snorkeling, etc.).
-TONS of people warned us before going that local Hawaiians are unkind to “haole” (white people). Wow, this could not be further from the truth. These are some of the most caring, incredible people on the planet. The spirit of aloha is alive and well. I think a lot of horror stories must come from people who are living the go-go-go consumerist tourist lifestyle in Hawaii. We probably fit in a lot more due to our modest lifestyle, and that maybe helped. Please, if you go to Hawaii, be cool. It is a special place with special people deserving of immense respect.
Anyway, we're back home now and are in the process of buying our very first home for cash! Then it's back to full-time work to prepare for FI. I really hope this post encourages someone, not specifically to go to Hawaii, but just to realize the liberty and autonomy you have.
Feel free to ask questions!
