Changing yourself is not a personal thing only. Hair removal, facial feminization, going to doctors ,and specialists of all kinds. Not everything you can do yourself and it all costs money.
How do you do that ? Do you skip all the other expenses and live like a monk to save money ? Do you have rich parents ? Did you win the lottery ? Or do you have some other strategy ?
Should there be a self-help group for this on this forum ?
And what was your budget for those who went all the way already ? How much did it all cost if you kept track of it.
Parents. If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't be post-op today.
I bought a house and fixed it up then refinanced it three times (for "transition" money). Now I rent it out to pay the mortgage.
Doing that I was able to borrow the money for SRS, FFS, BAS, laser, electrolysis, even the money I used to see a therapist and to get letters.
I borrowed money and then was able to borrow again about five years later when house values went up more. Then more recently for FFS and BAS I failed to qualify for a re-finance but my bank gave me a line of credit based upon my home equity.
If I could have seen into the future or if I had been more brave I would not have wasted the money I borrowed during the first refinance and I would have been able to go to Dr. Ousterhout.
Very rich and accomodating parents I fear... (sadly now both long since passed away) :'(
I started working part time in high school and full time after. I am not very good at saving money so I bought things that would either appreciate in value or at least hold their own. Ten years later, the chance for SRS came up so I sold everything I owned and went for it.
So far it's been to work like crazy and deprive myself of other things. It would certainly be nice to have a wealthy benefactor, but I'd rather not wait for miracles.
One of the things that makes me most conscious of not coming out at work until I'm presenting well enough - I can't afford to lose the job. It's financing the transition as well as food, clothing, & shelter.
First it came for my job, but now it is coming from unemployment. I have applied for disability, so maybe it will come from that.
A few hundred dollars a month? Yes, I have that much room in my budget, thought things are rather tight. I don't have anything saved up for surgury yet, though. That will take some creativity -- perhaps borrowing against retirement? I should be able to get a decent salary in a few years, i.e., after I graduate. At least, compared to the grad school stipend I get now.
Oh I just noticed the bit about budget... This is where having it done so long ago really helped. Total cost to date is less than £10,000 (about $15000) and I spent about a third of that only very recently on an optional minor revision.
So the original total cost including the small amount of electrolysis that I needed was well less than £7000 ($10,000) ALL INCLUSIVE.
One of the very few advantages of being old enough to have taken advantage of pre inflation prices... With today's costs I don't know how people manage.
I was a Draftsperson (drawing and designing roads and drawing bridges), which is a technical trade and using this skill I was able to pay for all my living and medical costs and have spending money throw in to boot. While I was changing my life around my job paid for my operation and my new lease on life.
Kind regards
Sarah B
Good question
My best friend lent me the money for my SRS and first Boob job now since paid back. Everything else I've paid cash for myself (electrolysis, FFS and second boob job last year in Chicago.)
Altogether must be around 60 thousand Dollars I've spent. But worth every penny, cos I'm so happy with everything
Saved up money ;D
My mom also helps me out a lot.
I paid $6/7 for gas for years and paid $240 p.a for privilege of owning a television...and so when i needed to transition the money was there waiting in the government's coffers...
I inherited a little and saved a lot. I had a job that paid well, and I was married to someone who had one too. We lived like we weren't being paid very well, saving for our retirement. She died and left me with her share.
An advantage(?) of putting it off for 25 years was that I was able to sock away enough to pay for it all. There's enough slack in my monthly budget to pay for hair removal. My insurance is paying almost all of my doctor, therapist and pharmacy bills. Even including hair removal and a whole new wardrobe, I doubt that it will cost me more than $50K altogether, but I have no plans for FFS or BA.
I will have to live frugally, but I'll be living frugally as a woman. ;D
- Kate
I sold my life savings/investment/college funds.
got alot of non transition stuff, but that's what happens when I was in a "shell" trying to make everything "go away" for the last decade. :P
(I'm all the better for it since I'm not buying cool useless junk that I'll never touch not less use anymore)
edit: insurance via the state helped alot, I wouldn't be at the stage where I am, ready for surgery, without good cheap insurance to cover doctors visits, therapy and eye surgery.
Also... before I transitioned, I started my own home business. This way I not only had the money, I had the freedom from stress, etc.
I paid for my electro and laser from earnings while I owned my business. Money for FFS,BA and GRS came from proceeds following the sale of my business. If I'm ever to get hair transplants or other minor things like this, it will have to come from new earnings once I get my career back on track. Personally, I think I might rather go on a cruise or warm weather vacation with Julie someday!
BTW, there are some large U.S. companies that will pay for your SRS. Just look up the Human rights campaign website. They have something called the corporate equality index. It lists companies that are GLBT friendly. Look for the part that talks about trans benefits. Those that will pay for SRS have a * in the health care section. Good luck!
I worked and saved money like a squirrel waiting for a 3 year winter. It was stressful not being able to spend that money and not going out to relax.
No doubt it has taken a toll on me, but I am able to do a lot of things now because of that. In terms of doctor's visits, it is covered by health care by the government.
some years of personal savings "for the future". By the time my surgery and hair removal is complete I will have spent at least 40K. "downstairs" electrolysis alone has cost me over $3500 so far but thankfully that's practically finished now. :-\
Oh well who needs to save for retirement anyway if you can't enjoy your life in the meantime?
I worked and saved heaps before starting anything and it was when I lost my job that I questioned EVERYTHING and just did it, went to a doctor and got the ball rolling.
I used my savings to cover doctor bills, clothes, laser etc and I was also on benefits which helped to cover living costs..but not enough to really enjoy myself but that was fine with me. Now I'm seven months into HRT running low on savings and on the cusp of finding a new job, now that I'm ready, am I ready?? I hope so. Then I'll save money like crazy for a good 18months and hopefully have enough to cover basic SRS, I'd say there is a good chance my parents will chip in to fill in any extra gaps that appear around the time I book. I'm not sure how many extra costs crop up on you when you're on your way to get SRS, hopefully nothing too painful.
12-18months is a long time to wait, but it will be worth it!! ^_^ I also want to avoid banks as much as pos.
Stayed with my family for way too long after I became an adult. That allowed me to pay my gender therapist bills out of pocket, and then likewise my hormones and legal paperwork. After I went fulltime I got a job I could support myself on, and then started saving up for surgery. It took a lot longer than I had hoped.
I decided to save money for a couple years before starting anything transition related. I guess I'm lucky to have a job with decent pay in an area with a low cost of living, but it also helps that my family was incredibly thrifty while I was growing up. It's just a habit now to save money unless I find something I really want. So here I am, 26 years old with enough in the bank to easily cover FFS or SRS with a good safety cushion in case of job loss or whatever might happen.
I started transitioning in college. The perfect time for my parents to disown me and leave me with no income, no credit history, no job history, blah blah, blah. The perfect time to lose touch with all friends. I had a rough few years. I won't bore you with the details. But my main problem was that I refused to live or work as male, I refused to be "out," I could not stay employed due to the driver's license having an M on it, and the law prevented change of the gender marker until after surgery. After a few desperate years, I finally managed to borrow enough money to go get the cheapest SRS possible. Once the gender marker was changed, I was fine. Law school. Career. That sort of thing. I've been able to finance additional procedures from my now very high income. Also, I paid back that loan my first year out of law school, with interest.
My mother is helping me...
saved up money. my parents helped me out too.
EDIT: total expenses: $50,000. being complete: priceless.
Work hard and save hard
Stardust
Employment & personal assets. YMMV I've had "the works", so my expenses are greater than those of other people..reaching the 6-figure mark in American dollars as we speak.
I am cashing out my IRA. What is the point of retiring when you are not the gender you want to be. I wish I had done it before the market tanked. I would have had twice as much money. Now I only have enough to get my upper forehead/eyes, adams apple and boobies done. I am hoping my ex-wife sells our house in the next couple of years and I will be set for the SRS with my share of the proceeds.
I have been concerned about this. I have a very supportive middle-class family, and I'm provided with college funds and health insurance from Kaiser Permanente (a good choice for trans people, or as good as HMOs get at any rate), but the money's not infinite. If I decide to pursue surgery, I don't know where I'm going to get it from. My hypogonadotropism (hormonal condition) has ended up being my saving grace, in that it's spared me from needing electrolysis, facial feminization, and so on. However, it may end up making any potential surgery more difficult (and possibly more expensive,) in that I have very little genital tissue to work with. We shall see.
Quote from: PanoramaIsland on February 21, 2010, 10:40:20 PM
I have been concerned about this. I have a very supportive middle-class family, and I'm provided with college funds and health insurance from Kaiser Permanente (a good choice for trans people, or as good as HMOs get at any rate), but the money's not infinite. If I decide to pursue surgery, I don't know where I'm going to get it from. My hypogonadotropism (hormonal condition) has ended up being my saving grace, in that it's spared me from needing electrolysis, facial feminization, and so on. However, it may end up making any potential surgery more difficult (and possibly more expensive,) in that I have very little genital tissue to work with. We shall see.
I really wouldn't worry about the SRS too much. From personal experience there are a few surgeons around who can work miracles with very little material. Just choose your surgeon with care when the time comes, and don't necessarily follow the crowd, because getting the maximum from the starting material is a bit of a specialist skill. I know several people who had similar problems. No one had to resort to the dreaded colon op!
Quote from: rejennyrated on February 22, 2010, 03:27:36 AM
I really wouldn't worry about the SRS too much. From personal experience there are a few surgeons around who can work miracles with very little material. Just choose your surgeon with care when the time comes, and don't necessarily follow the crowd, because getting the maximum from the starting material is a bit of a specialist skill. I know several people who had similar problems. No one had to resort to the dreaded colon op!
Well, we'll see. I can work hard, but I'm an artist, not a banker. Living as myself is of course my goal, but my self is not just gender-variant; my art is just as important to me. The money I have right now is going to art school, and for good reason; I am very serious about pursuing my craft. Of course, that makes things complicated - I'm not training as a commercial artist, and I don't expect to make much of a living from my work (not for a while, at any rate). My father makes a good living as a professional writer and speaker, so I know it can be done - but he turned to doing money-making nonfiction work decades ago. I want to stick to my guns, but that may mean long periods of very lean resources. How I can possibly afford surgery... I don't know. I'm increasingly aware that I'm living on the fat of the land right now. Once I get my degree in illustration, once my funds run out, that's it - I'm a transgender artist with a day job and no special qualifications. I'll have to get an ordinary job - working in an art store, maybe. Something like that.
I may be stuck with the genitals I've got for a good long while.
Thank you for your encouragement, though, and for your advice. I really appreciate it.
Being a girl is surely an expensive thing..Isnt it?
Quote from: Anisha on February 22, 2010, 07:06:09 AM
Being a girl is surely an expensive thing..Isnt it?
*nods profusely*.
Quote from: JessicaF1971 on February 21, 2010, 09:05:59 PM
I am cashing out my IRA. What is the point of retiring when you are not the gender you want to be. I wish I had done it before the market tanked. I would have had twice as much money. Now I only have enough to get my upper forehead/eyes, adams apple and boobies done. I am hoping my ex-wife sells our house in the next couple of years and I will be set for the SRS with my share of the proceeds.
I've thought of that too. Ideally, borrowing against it would be a better path if you can swing it (since you don't take a huge penalty for early withdrawal). And I can't take it out right now anyway (according to the terms).
I worked hard for close to ten years making a lot of money. I put a lot away in investments including a house and stocks and a retirement account, not nearly as much as I should have, but enough. I basically sold stuff, lightened my load and just liquidated. I had about $170K when I was done with my lightening, lol. I was used to making a lot of $ so it took about a year of getting used to making no money. I got FFS, about $16K in electro, paid for my meds out of pocket, and I've got about $28K left and that's for SRS when I'm ready for that, probably next year.
I make a lot less now but I'm happy. I don't know what I would have done without the $ but I know I spent ten years basically working 60-90 hours a week but I'm glad I did because it helped me to get to where I am today :) Meghan
I live at home and worked part time while going to school full time. For a while, I saved really well because I didn't have a life or friends. Then I got those, and my expenses went way up, but it facilitated me transitioning...
Now, on HRT and about to go full time, my money goes to medical expenses not covered by insurance, like bloodwork, therapy, certain meds, laser/electro.
I cashed out a few thousand dollars of bonds that I'd received for my college education - I should have checked which ones were high interest and kept those, but oh well - and I spent most of my saved money on full body laser before HRT. I was trying SO HARD to avoid transition. I knew what I needed to do, but... I lacked the courage. So I blew several thousand that I wish I hadn't (full body laser before HRT = largely a waste), but I had to.
My costs are in the $15-16k range right now counting black market hormones, full body laser, years of face laser, electro, legit hormones, therapy, and other uncovered costs.
I was denied a better job because of my appearance last year, but the employer I've been with for a few years now has been as good to me as it is to anyone, realistically. I've been afraid to job search and try to move on for fear of firing/discrimination/getting 'established' too much before going FT, etc.
My father has covered excessive years of community college education (read: complete ->-bleeped-<-ing waste), but before I started HRT, I was a barely functioning straight A student who didn't care about anything and couldn't learn anything.
Parents, Student Loans, and Work.
Quote from: Anisha on February 22, 2010, 07:06:09 AM
Being a girl is surely an expensive thing..Isnt it?
You have no idea. Aside from the mones & laser, I've only had GRS but I've spent almost U$ 35000
Re: Where do you get the money from to transform ?Mum & dad helped. They've got their own business & I work for them so I'm lucky in that regard. I can't get fired or laid off & I save a lot. Our business has grown dramatically in recent years too. But yea sometimes I ask myself the same question. Where go people get the money to transition?