Millennial Money: Living On $83K A Year In Hilo, Hawaii

Shalya Marie Ma-e, 28, and Matthew Piianaia-Ishii, 33, make a combined $83,000 per year as a child-care worker and a concrete foreman. The two live in Hilo, Hawaii and raise two twin daughters.

They started dating in 2012, and had their two daughters in 2017. Shayla had to pick up a job as a child-care worker in order to help send their daughters to school.

The family has a monthly budget of $4,392; however, they live paycheck-by-paycheck.

“We make enough to cover our expenses, and our bills, and our essentials,” Shayla said.

They typically save between $0-$1,500 per month.

“If something comes at us like a car needs to be fixed, or tires need to be replaced, then that comes right out of our savings,” Matthew said.

One of their biggest priorities is to take care of their daughters.

“Everything we pretty much do nowadays is based off of these two girls,” Matthew said. He hopes that they can grow up to have a “bright future and a better education.”

Although the media portrays Hawaii as a nice place, it is typically very difficult to live there. They hope to save enough money within the next five years to move out of Hawaii.