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The Cost of Food

Hawaii is very expensive, especially in the smaller towns  – a loaf of bread is $9.59 in the local grocery stores.  There are tricks to make your stay more affordable.  Stock up as much as you can at the larger stores in the bigger cities – Costco and Walmart, for the lower prices.  Get all your staples there, and higher priced items; things like condiments, cheese, cream and coffee, meats, etc.  You don’t want to pay a premium price for ketchup that is the same quality everywhere.  At the local smaller grocery stores, sign up for their loyalty points with your phone number at the cashier, and you get instant coupons at check out plus discounts on future purchases. Buy things on sale there.  KTA gave me $5 just for signing up and then adding an email address. 

   

    

   

     

  

    

  

     

If you aren’t inclined to cook full meals, or you don’t have access to a proper kitchen, you can still eat on a budget, by picking up hot food at a grocery store. We had a decent lunch for 2 of orange chicken and rice for $10.99 (cutlery provided.)  ps no, we didn't buy the Fried Chicken Skins - I've never seen anything like it!

    

 

If you are staying in a residential area, walk around the neighbourhood.  Ask the neighbours about their fruit trees.  Often they will be happy to share some with you if anything is ripe, because they tend to get a LOT of whatever it is all at once.  In fact, many of them put a bowl or basket out on their stone fence at the street with a bunch of fruits in it to share with the neighbours.  I was able to bring home a lot of grapefruits and limes just from my daily walks!  One neighbour puts out a little fruit cart with a teapot for people to donate whatever amount you would like and have some fresh fruit.  That was my favourite spot!  I was able to get some giant papaya - a variety from India - which tasted like nothing I had ever tried before.  I also was lucky to get some oranges that had to be peeled over a bowl, they were so juicy.  I knocked on the door one day to see if I could have a tour of the garden, and was lucky to see avocados growing (like hanging hand grenades!), as well as a whole lot of other fruits and vegetables.  Very cool.

  

I had been admiring a little lemon tree on my walks for the first couple of weeks, and then I saw the owner out, and told her I had been watching her tree.  She sent me over to pick some, so I was able to get 3 giant lemons.  I ended up squeezing them and got 1.5 cups of juice, about as much as 8 lemons at home.  Then I spent $2.79 for a mini box of sugar to make lemonade (it made 9.5 cups!)  And I have every intention to let her know how good it was next time I see her in the garden.  

We also had some fruits in our own garden - mangos and bananas mmmmmm!

 

If you need to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, check out the local farmers markets.  We found that things like tomatoes and avocados were cheaper and fresher when sourced at the local farmers market than at the grocery stores.  In some cases when you are buying the ones which are ripe right now (like avocados), they will put an extra one in the bag for you, since they know they won’t keep long.  I did buy one avocado that felt as big as a bowling ball, for $4.  It had 4 times as much fruit in it than the regular ones, and the skin was really thick and hard like a husk. 

 

I also had to try some of the local fruits I hadn't had before - like the red rambutan that you cut open and eat the grape-like inside(which looks a bit like an eyeball to me!), and the similar light brown longan.  They were delicious, BUT I had to take an antihistamine right after eating each type when my lips and mouth started to feel funny pretty quickly!

       

I also tried a lilikoi, (about the size of a large kiwi), which is the Hawaiian name for passionfruit.  It was not my fave...  The starfruit was great though.

If you are at a restaurant share a meal.  Some places which are known for larger portions have a meal splitting fee, but you can avoid that just by ordering an extra side dish, which is a fraction of the cost of another entree.   Skip the restaurant dessert and grab a piece of cake or carton of ice cream at the grocery store for a fraction of the cost.

If you know you will be eating at restaurants in a certain area, look up all the restaurants with happy hour food specials (ie 3 to 6pm half price apps or pizzas) and choose those places instead of others.  Try to eat at the places the locals go for dinner, not the places where the tourists go.  Prices are more reasonable.

Ps places in Hawaii don’t do anything special for your birthday.  No free dessert, no coupons.  Maybe if you were eating at franchises they may have an email club where they send you a coupon, but we prefer to eat at places which are unique, so we were out of luck.

Take a picnic to the beach.  It doesn’t cost much to make a couple of egg sandwiches and bring some fresh fruit.  Pick up a case of soft drinks at the grocery store and stock your fridge (and buy an ice pack).  Make use of the hibachi grills everywhere if you are looking to make a hot meal.  Bring an insulated bag.

Don’t forget you can bring certain groceries to Hawaii with you in your suitcase  - prepared foods like cereal, pancake mix, maple syrup, bagels.  Your favourite steak spice or BBQ sauce.  Nuts.  Protein or fibre bars.  Just remember no dairy or meats or fruits or vegetables.  Although things like raisins and prunes are from fruits, they count as processed foods, so you can bring those too.