Honolulu inflation leads nation
Honolulu is seeing the nation’s highest rate of inflation, according to the latest Consumer Price Index figures from the U.S. Department of Labor. The index shows the cost of living in Honolulu jumped by 5.8 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to the same period last year, surpassing Miami’s 5.7 percent and Los Angeles’ 5.1 percent. Rising costs related to housing, transportation, and energy accounted for most of the increase. Housing costs alone rose 8.5 percent versus the first half of 2005. Department of Labor spokesman Charlotte Yee told the Star-Bulletin that excluding housing numbers, Honolulu’s inflation rate would be 4.2 percent, below the national average. Yee pointed out, though, that the cost of living is definitely rising faster than Hawaii wages, which increased by only 2.8 percent between 2004 and 2005. The news comes as Hawaii’s strong economy is already being tempered by a tight labor market and significant increases in the costs of doing business. In an interview with the Honolulu Advertiser, Bank of Hawaii economist Paul Brewbaker said, “This is bad news… We’re running as fast as we can to stay in the same place.” While more recent figures show inflation is slowing, Hawaii’s final inflation rate for 2006 may still surpass last year’s 3.8 percent — a 13-year high. Local inflation hit its lowest point in 1996, where the rate dipped below one percent.
While I urge our representatives to do whatever they can to stem the tide of inflation here in Hawaii and, in fact, to decrease the cost of living, here are my suggestions to the average citizen for cutting costs:
1. Get an annual bus pass and ride the bus to get where you’re going as much as possible.
2. Grow some of your own vegetables – you can even do this if all you have is a lanai. Do a search online for “container garden” and you will find ideas on growing veggies in containers.
3. Carpool
4. Cook from scratch as often as possible using inexpensive ingredients. i.e. instead of canned beans in your recipe, cook your own beans from dried beans.
5. Cut down on your utilities – turn off lights, use less water (you know the routine). Be diligent about it even if you do house rounds all day long to find unused lights burning, etc.
6. Let God water the grass and landscaping for you.
7. If convenience food is necessary (fast meals), use one day off to cook ahead of time for the whole week and freeze your meals to be heated up throughout the week.
8. Do some searches online for ways to SAVE and, above all, help your neighbors. We’re all going through this together!
All your ideas are very good I’m doing most of what you recommend in NY and riding my bicycle around, its a way to stay fit and I don’t have to pay for a membership to the gym, saves on transportation and at the fuel pump. Also being active in sports like volley ball and playing ping pong keeps the body tone and fit.
I am also planning to move to hawaii to put my theories in the test tube.