Lucky We Live Louisville...

As I look outside my window at our beautiful yet treacherous Winter Wonderland I am reminded of a popular phrase we used quite a bit when I lived on both Oahu and Maui back in the day: "Lucky We Live Hawaii"...but after viewing these Maui grocery prices...I can honestly say...Lucky We Live Louisville...

Grocery Prices in Maui (Pics)

BTW, Maui is scheduled to open their first Whole Foods Market this month...One can only imagine the sticker shock in that particular store location...

$3.49 for a Totino's Pizza? Yikes!

I'll never complain about Milk prices again...

$8.50-$10.00 PER GALLON.

...yes, but it IS Maui.

But, if you live there you would have to worry about shoveling or driving through this lovely winter wonderland we are experiencing. There are tradeoffs......

But, if you live there you would have to worry about shoveling or driving through this lovely winter wonderland we are experiencing. There are tradeoffs......

Hmmm...a house in Kula, high on the slopes of Haleakala...with a commanding view of Maui and the Pacific...OR, shoveling and driving through this winter wond-....nevermind, when does the flight for Maui leave?!

Yes, it's largely due to having to ship /fly everyything in. In the case of Totino's- in frozen storage.

This reminds me of my trip to Bermuda in the 1980's. I went to the local grocery store just to pickup a few staples. You know how the prices for potato chips are pre-marked on the bag? Well, the $1.79 for a bag of Ruffles was crossed out, and with a pen, written as $4.00! Oh, and the good butter from England was CHEAPER than I could buy butter in the US. ( That's what dairy price supports will do to you... )

Deb

I guess if you can afford the house in Kula, you wouldn't have to worry too much about grocery prices. THAT would be sweet!

The so called "Paradise Tax" is a beast...$7.29 for a carton of orange juice?!...and that's the sale price?!...are you $$$$ kiddin' me?!...Mo Bettah I find wild guava tree and make my own citrus juice...Got mo vitamin C than an orange anyway...Pardon my Pidgin English...It just comes out when I get fired up...lol...

Those prices are rather high, but you also have to consider estimated median household income is significantly higher there then here. Example Honolulu 60,531-Hawaii 67,214. Louisville 34,116-Kentucky 41,538,figure from citydata. Still, eight bucks for half a gallon of OJ is tough. I had a friend who was a cab driver there and lived a pretty simple lifestyle and got by just fine on meager wages. A big perk of that gig was ability to surf whenever the waves looked good.

I have a friend who bought a beach house on Oahu back in the late 70's for the ungodly price of 75K. The home had two deeded acres (something I understand is unheard of now) and 10 years later he was turning down offers in the million dollar range for this property...He eventually sold the place in the mid-90s...no idea of the selling price...but he does now own outright a 240 acre horse farm in east/central Virginia. Talk about shrewd investments.

But, if you live there you would have to worry about shoveling or driving through this lovely winter wonderland we are experiencing. There are tradeoffs......

Hmmm...a house in Kula, high on the slopes of Haleakala...with a commanding view of Maui and the Pacific...OR, shoveling and driving through this winter wond-....nevermind, when does the flight for Maui leave?!

If I'm not mistaken they actually got direct flights from Kentucky albeit Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to Maui...

Kula is beautiful and serene but it can drop into the 50's at night...But then again a 50 degree night would be a nice little break from these single digit nights...Plus the humpback whales are in town as well...Hmm...I think it's time to reserve my usual room in the Maui Coast Hotel...

Also, it has to be said that we're lucky to live in Louisville because of the great Bourbon selection. When the Jim Beam and tequila are practically neighbors on the shelf, you know that your choice is severely limited.

Nearly the same story...

I was visiting family in Germany , 2000?, and brought two bottles of Blantons; one to each uncle. You'd think I just gave them the Holy Grail when they laid their eyes on those bottles.

This reminds me of my trip to Bermuda in the 1980's. I went to the local grocery store just to pickup a few staples. You know how the prices for potato chips are pre-marked on the bag? Well, the $1.79 for a bag of Ruffles was crossed out, and with a pen, written as $4.00! Oh, and the good butter from England was CHEAPER than I could buy butter in the US. ( That's what dairy price supports will do to you... )

Deb

Ditto. We went to Bermuda for our honeymoon a few years ago, and it was the same way. Most items were more expensive, especially items from the West Coast of the US. For example, French wines were much less than California wines, simply because it cost less to get the French wines to Bermuda. At least in Hawaii they grow a lot of things--in Bermuda, which has very little agricultural land and products, nearly EVERYTHING has to be shipped in.