When I first came to Hawaii in 2004, a plate of lunch was $5.50. Today the same plate of lunch is $8.90, which is $3.40 more. At the same time pay has not really gone up at all. But rent, on the contrary – it went up. Back in 2004, the average rate to rent a room was $500 to $600 per month, and the same room today is at least $800. Of course, it depends on the area where you want to rent, but the overall trend is that the prices go up. There are different reasons why the cost of living in Hawaii is so high, and all of these reasons are connected. Here are some of them: Everything in Hawaii (or almost everything) has to be imported from the U.S. mainland or other parts of the world. So because... [Read more]