MILILANI, Oahu, Hawaii -- Jeff Poirier and his family start their day at 4:45 a.m. in order to beat the traffic jam.

Poirier is a social worker at Kapiolani Medical Center. His wife, Josephine, is a physical therapist. They've been married for six years and have a daughter.

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The Poiriers bought a townhouse for $194,000 a couple of years ago.

At 5:15 a.m., he's off to town.

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"This is pretty much what I do. I just put on the radio and I just go into auto-pilot," Poirier said laughing. ''It's a lifestyle that is tough at times, but I've been doing this commute now for three years and the first year it was really tough. I was having a tough time accepting it. After the year went by, it became second nature and I've kind of accepted it."

He points out that if he would left 30 minutes later, he'd be stuck in traffic gridlock on the freeway.

Poirier said he and his wife have had to make some compromises to own a home in Hawaii.

"We've accepted the fact that we're not going to have a really large house. We're going to have a town home. I've accepted the fact that I'll leave early in the morning to get to work and when I go home I've accepted the fact that I won't be moving on the freeway," Poirier said.

Thirty minutes from home, he arrives at Kahala Mall to kill time before moving closer to work.

The family man who loves Mililani is mindful of those house and car payments.

"We're pretty well maxed out," he said. "It's the price you pay and right now, it's a price we're willing to pay."

Another half hour later, he moves a couple of miles closer to work. Poirier finds no-pay street parking spot. He then breaks out his motorized scooter to drive the last mile to work.

He brown bags his lunch four days of the week. He treats himself to lunch once a week. He'll store the scooter under his desk once he gets to work to save the monthly car park fee.

Like so many in Hawaii's housing market, the Poiriers are squeezing by. For now, they're willing to make the sacrifices.