We were in Hawaii last month and wow oh wow, things are expensive there! Friends and family had forewarned us, but I kind of laughed off the warnings. How much more expensive -- 25% -- I wondered? Well, the first night we were there, we went grocery shopping and half a loaf of bread -- HALF A LOAF!!! -- cost $6. Whole organic milk -- 96 ounces, so not even a full gallon -- was knocking on the door of $8. We honestly couldn't believe the prices.
Going with my philosophy of packing light, I had checked ahead of time to find out if there was a Target on the island we were visiting (Kauai). There wasn't and I didn't bother looking for any other stores. We had already located a bunch of grocery stores so I figured anything we really needed like diapers or wipes could be found there easily. Once we got to Kauai, we did find out that there was a Wal-Mart and a chain of drug stores called Long's. We mentally made a note and went on our merry way.
On our second day on the island, we were listening to the radio and heard that there was a restaurant opposite the Costco -- wait, hold the horses, COSTCO? It had never occurred to me to investigate whether a Costco was in the area. After all, it's a big warehouse store and Kauai is not a big place. We ended up locating the Costco and lo and behold, it had a gas station. At this point, I probably sound like a crazy person who has never seen a store before, but gasoline prices on the island were running around $4.50 to $4.60/gallon at the end of May 2013. Costco's gas station was $4.17/gallon. A pretty substantial savings, especially since we filled up a couple of times, including just before returning the car to the rental agency.
Inside the store, we found another surprise. All the same "tourist" products were available but at much less cost. For instance, we found a package of 12 Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts for $25, compared to an average price of $3 to $4/box at the grocery store. Kauai coffee was $15 for a 24 ounce bag of beans compared to the same price at the actual coffee plantation for a 14 ounce bag. We didn't check the price of produce there, but for dry goods, we found the prices were pretty comparable to the mainland. Of course, I think you'd have to spend A LOT of time in Hawaii to make it worth purchasing the 8-pound pack of pasta, but for certain products, it might very well be worth it.
So, that's the frugal tip of the day -- if you're going to Hawaii (or heck, any expensive place), check to see if there's a Costco or Sam's Club or BJ's available to save some bucks. Do note that you must be a member of those stores to shop there.
Going with my philosophy of packing light, I had checked ahead of time to find out if there was a Target on the island we were visiting (Kauai). There wasn't and I didn't bother looking for any other stores. We had already located a bunch of grocery stores so I figured anything we really needed like diapers or wipes could be found there easily. Once we got to Kauai, we did find out that there was a Wal-Mart and a chain of drug stores called Long's. We mentally made a note and went on our merry way.
On our second day on the island, we were listening to the radio and heard that there was a restaurant opposite the Costco -- wait, hold the horses, COSTCO? It had never occurred to me to investigate whether a Costco was in the area. After all, it's a big warehouse store and Kauai is not a big place. We ended up locating the Costco and lo and behold, it had a gas station. At this point, I probably sound like a crazy person who has never seen a store before, but gasoline prices on the island were running around $4.50 to $4.60/gallon at the end of May 2013. Costco's gas station was $4.17/gallon. A pretty substantial savings, especially since we filled up a couple of times, including just before returning the car to the rental agency.
Inside the store, we found another surprise. All the same "tourist" products were available but at much less cost. For instance, we found a package of 12 Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts for $25, compared to an average price of $3 to $4/box at the grocery store. Kauai coffee was $15 for a 24 ounce bag of beans compared to the same price at the actual coffee plantation for a 14 ounce bag. We didn't check the price of produce there, but for dry goods, we found the prices were pretty comparable to the mainland. Of course, I think you'd have to spend A LOT of time in Hawaii to make it worth purchasing the 8-pound pack of pasta, but for certain products, it might very well be worth it.
So, that's the frugal tip of the day -- if you're going to Hawaii (or heck, any expensive place), check to see if there's a Costco or Sam's Club or BJ's available to save some bucks. Do note that you must be a member of those stores to shop there.
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