Hawaii has highest monthly household bills in the nation
This article originally appeared on Island News
HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV4) — Lisa Marie Cruz said rent eats up half of her household income every month.
It’s the highest monthly bill for her family at $2,000 for a three-bedroom apartment.
The Honolulu resident said that’s the reason her family of six is considering moving to the mainland, where cost of living is cheaper.
“That’s not including your electric, your cable, phones, all your necessities you gotta buy — groceries, gas for your car, car insurance,” she said. “Living here is expensive. … We pay to live in paradise.”
It’s so expensive she’s forced to work two jobs to supplement her husband’s income.
“Just to make it. It’s crazy,” Cruz added. “That’s why we have so many homeless to be honest. You know who wants to work for $10 an hour and then your rent is what 15 average just for a one bedroom, two bedroom — you ain’t gonna make it. You need two to three jobs sometimes.”
The average Hawaii household spends more than $2,900 per month on the ten most common household bills — including mortgage, auto and health insurance, according to the latest study of America’s Household Bills by payment processor Doxo.
That’s 45-percent higher than the national average.
“When you look at household income between Hawaii and other states, we look pretty good. But that’s because we have some of the biggest households in the nation,” said Nicole Woo of the Hawaii Children’s Action Network. “I think everyone who lives here in Hawaii knows how hard it is to make ends meet.”
Many Hawaii residents are having to make sacrifices in order to stay in paradise.
“We don’t eat out as much as we would like to, we don’t go out,” Cruz said. “We all make some kind of sacrifice, just so that we can have a roof over our head, shelter, electric.”
Lawmakers are considering ways to help the cost of living burden — including raising the minimum wage and increasing tax credits for working parents.