Could "pitch in clubs" be one way to fight Hawais' high cost of living?

[Ceteris Paribus]

One way to fight the high cost of eating out and groceries on Oahu might be the creation of "clubs" where people get together and each bring a dish. Nothing revolutionary here except these "pitch in" clubs would be more of an organized endeavor making use of cheap/free space in churches, schools and even member's homes and would be available to attend virtually if not every day (think of AA meetings, one of the things that amazed me in nursing school during my psyche. class was the fact that on ANY given night one could find anywhere from 10 to 20 AA meetings located in various parts of the city). Everyone would bring a dish and together a feast could be enjoyed that would rival the best dinner out at a fraction of the cost!

[Slobgob]

Money for gas.

Different tastes for food.

Allergies.

Busy Schedules.

Location restrictions.

... just to name a few.

Some "food" for thought, not exactly an easy idea in reality.

Is this an everyday thing? Cause I would think that home cooked ramen is alot cheaper. Is it a special going out thing to replace nice restaurants? Well, that might work.

Nice idea though.

[thekid]

we have a pack of 16 or so of us, mostly couples, some of us with kids too, once a month we get together and have a potluck..we all make or bring a dish..the expense is usually about 7 dollars per couple so that's pretty good. We end up having 3 different kinds of curry, side dishes, Malay dishes, a few desserts

I'm not sure how much money we are saving ..it's just one meal but we all go home with leftovers. None of us drink alcohol so that is one expense that is saved..and ramen , rice, noodles are pretty inexpensive. A few of our friends live near Chinatown and always pick up fresh produce for our parties. And we have a few friends back in Malaysia now, they are always sending us cheap goodies.

It would be kinda fun to have a nurse potluck at Kapiolani or something but yeah, schedules..

[Ceteris Paribus]

Going back to the AA example from school what impressed/amazed me was that there seemed to ALWAYS be a meeting somewhere! The way I envisioned this working you would join the organization and then you could attend ANY of the get togethers so long as you brought a dish. Also, like AA any money given beyond bringing the dish (to help pay expenses) would be strictly voluntary.

[koi310]

Most "pitch-in" clubs are centered around family.

If you and your spouse plan on relocating to Hawaii, then be prepared for some serious economizing, especially if you two don't have any economic support from family or some other reliable source. Most Locals have an extensive family/friend network to tap into whenever the need arises.

Have you ever been to Hawaii? If you haven't, then perhaps the best way to see if Hawaii is really for you is to become a travel nurse and work here for part of a year.