How do you finance your gender transition?

[Annaiyah]

I seriously want to start my surgical transition since i began my hormonal transition 8 months ago.

I would like to somehow acquire $100,000 so i can undergo my surgeries and other things. The $100,000 budget will cover a few major surgeries i plan to undergo, changing my name, buying a new wardrobe, buying my first car, changing my gender marker on government documents, more hormones, travel, etc.

I'm about to pull out a loan, and then when it's all said and done, i plan to find a job, start a business, and pay off the loan as quick as I
can.

How do you finance your transition? Do you take out loans? Just save money?

[mrs izzy]

I did mine va working.

Having a HSA savings account

Ira and investment accounts.

Paid for everything in my transition except my GCS that ended up funded by public insurance.

Can be done but you have to be vigilant on saving x every payday.

Pay yourself first.

Lots of luck.

[DanielleA]

I am saving the money I get from work  by rarely spending it on things I don't need. I also withdraw all my money from the bank as soon as I get it. It is easier to see were the money goes if you handle it rather than swipe a card.

[immortal gypsy]

$50 weekly automatic deposit into an account that pays me bonus intest when I deposit x amount in a month, and make no withdrawls.
Started two years ago with $50 and withdreww $1500 for a major emergencey. I am now up to around 25% for surgery covered.

[Mai]

just money from work, which working full time at walmart isnt much but its something.  i just have myself on a strict budget.

if you live on your own, consider picking up a roommate, or 2 of them to split the bills with, if you know anyone trustworthy.
figure out a financial plan, know approxamately how much money you spend on a daily basis on food, utilities, rent, gas, etc.  estimate your costs to be higher, and your income to be lower than it actually will be, and if you still end up positive then you know you will be good that month.

cut costs wherever possible...   do you need to leave that computer on while you go to sleep? do you need to take a super hot shower or can a warm one suffice?  do you really want to eat that mcdonalds?

mine is mostly financial planing and resisting the temptation to spend money.

6% of my income goes into 401k that walmart matches,   and 6% goes into a hsa that walmart also matches.  so even though insurance wont cover anything surgery wise, i still have 150-200$/month going into hsa that can be used for perscriptions and doctor visits when the time comes.

i still have 2 more months till i get to start hormones so, saving up as much as i possibly can.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

With a few bucks a month. At this point, all I need is the $3 for my 90 day script. Surgically, I'm done. (Even though I won't bother with GRS) I had my orchi, so I'm good.

[Natalie]

I took the money from one of my bank accounts and paid for it.

[big kim]

Went out 1 night a week instead of 7,took in a lodger,cut back on drinking and smoking,never ate out.That paid for clothes,hair and cosmetics.Sold my 64 Mercury Comet and used the money to pay for electrolysis,also used redundancy and money from house sale.Surgery by NHS paid by 20 years of taxes.

[AnonyMs]

I took the money from one of my bank accounts and paid for it.

I like the sound of that. Can I take it from your bank account to?

[Cindy]

Worked like Hell.

And applied for a $X credit card.

[Ariel Renée]

I actually quit my job and got a job that required traveling so i don't need to worry about a car and rent bills.  I hope it works out. Im hoping my student loans don't ask me to pay up or i'm screwed. 


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[AnonyMs]

Money has to be the only area where transitioning late can be an advantage.

How do you finance your transition? Do you take out loans? Just save money?

Saving is what you do when you're buying an apartment or house, at least before getting a loan to cover the rest of it. They also tend to be very expensive. I've found it helps to put money away in a separate account where you can't get to it without knowing consciously deciding to do it.

With a mortgage you don't have much choice about paying it off, and its amazing what you can out away when you have to. I've know people that think its better to invest the money, and while technically correct they tend not to do well. The return on investing may be better, but you need the discipline to put the money away, and few people have it. A mortgage forces you you to do it. The point being, make a plan and force yourself to stick to it, and if there's any mental tricks that help like separate accounts then use those as well.

If there's anything you can do to improve your ability to earn money then that's worth looking into. More education, or change jobs into a better paying area.

[PPatrice]

I worked very hard, and saved my money for 2 transition-related surgeries.  When I came up a $1,000 or so short (i.e., for the time-table I had set) for the second surgery, my fiance loaned me the money which I repaid promptly when I returned to work, status-post GRS.

I'm thinking that's likely why I'm a rather cool towards the notion/prospect of tax-payer funding for any sort of tg/ts related surgery.  Public funding for contra-gender hormone therapy &/or other medications, I can accept.

[FTMax]

As far as doctor's appointments, hormones, and therapy sessions - I do online work that pays for all of these. I have a breakdown of my expenses on my blog, not sure to the exact amount but I want to say it's around $500 that I've paid for all these things thus far, all through very low-paying online work like Amazon's MTurk.

Top surgery - I paid off all of my credit card debt earlier this year, so I'm throwing it on a card. With the extra money every month from the promotion I'm getting in the spring, I'll be able to pay off surgery and 1/4 of my student loan debt without altering my current monthly expenditures at all.

I also started a fairly aggressive savings plan ($200/week) to pay for emergency things. Like if my boss decides I can't work from home for the full recovery period after surgery and I run out of vacation time before I'm well enough to come back, I won't have to worry about dipping into money thats already allocated to other expenses.

Advice: Consolidate whatever existing debt you have. Cut out unnecessary spending from your budget. Don't carry more than one credit card with you on a daily basis, and only use it for emergencies if you do. Look at your budget and see what you can realistically save on pay day. Commit to saving that much or more if its available. Even if you do end up taking out the loan, you'll have a pile of saved money that you can use to pay it down or use on everyday expenses.

[LizMarie]

Saving from work.

[Biannafierce]

Working is the only feasible way nowadays you would literally have to be a aec trade worker from sun up to sundown. Unsafe

[ImagineKate]

I am blessed in that I have a job that pays extremely well and insurance that fully covers my medical care with a very small co-pay.

Surgeries will be covered by savings that I already have, but I can and will save more.

[Jenna Marie]

My wife took care of the savings aspect; as far as I'm concerned she's a wizard, since I have no idea how she does it. (We once saved a $20,000 down payment in two years when the two of us combined were earning $25K/year!) I also worked 2 freelance/part-time jobs for two years, with all the money going towards the surgery fund. We started saving in summer 2009 and I had surgery in summer 2012, as well as paying an extra $8000/year to our mortgage. Magic, I tell you.

A second mortgage would have been an option if we hadn't done that just the year before I transitioned, to pay for major home repairs.

Of course, my surgery cost about $20K and transition added another $5K or so; coming up with $100K is a much bigger challenge.

[Skyler]

I'm hoping I can afford top by next winter  only way it seems is massive work haul...especially when you're working a minimum wage job.

[bamar86]

Im in the same position.  I'm trying to save as much as possible to get my face ffs in Mexico with dr cardenas. Putting away a minimum of 400 a week. I don't think any surgeries are covered in australia unfortunately.  So ill be stuck saving. I've thought of going to live in the UK as I have a british passport, cause I've heard they cover more on male to female surgery. But not sure if thats accurate