Hey everyone,
So I currently have a part time job that pays 10.50 an hour but am hoping to get a new job that pays 12. I also have been investing about 600 dollars a month for my future. I understand that transitioning is going to be extremely expensive. So how should I go about starting my transition financially?

There is usually little choice for most but to plan and budget for what you can afford when you can afford it. Electrolysis, for example, is very expensive but also takes place over many, many months if not years. So pace yourself and try to start saving up for things that may be many years away.

It's just like budgeting for anything else in life.  You plan ahead, save as much as you can, earn as much as you can, and wait.

• You can think of budgeting for laser hair removal as being similar to budgeting for a major auto maintenance or repair expense.
• You can think of budgeting for HRT as being similar to budgeting for an additional monthly cell phone plan.
• You can think of budgeting for FFS, BA, and/or SRS surgeries as being similar to budgeting for a 20% down payment on a $100,000 house. (or a bigger house, or multiple homes, depending on how many surgeries!)

Everyone else in this world, including cis people, has to figure out a way to pay for major expenses by managing their finances wisely.  This is something that you, as a young trans woman, will need to learn faster and sooner than others.  Read up and learn from books, articles, other people, and various other resources about how to save and budget for your future.  Saving and budgeting for your transition is just like saving and budgeting for other expenses in life.

I looked at this similar to Emily. Rather than purchase a latte in the morning I brewed my coffee at home, pretty much stopped eating out except for special occasions. I would shop for things I needed rather than wanted.

So brewing coffee at home was 120 USD saving a month which adds up, other things did the same so you need to look at things over time.

I had to pay out of pocket for everything except prescriptions and managed to do this in two years to pay for bottom and top surgeries along with a trachea shave. Hair removal was done 10 years ago so that does not fit into the plans for surgeries. 

I figure my transition ran between $30,000 and $40,000 and I started with $10.000 in savings. My income at the time was $22,000 a year. Now remember the inflation rate between then and now is 3-4 times the amount so my total cost would have been as much as $120,000 in todays dollars. The way I was able to pay for this was to purchase only what I needed. My entertainment mostly consisted of a newspaper, one magazine and broadcast TV. All meals were home cooked with the exception of one hamburger stand visit a week and I have a number of ways to prepare ground beef as that was the cheapest cut of meat available. Car trips where limited to work, doctor visits and food when needed. I would constantly rerun the budget to make sure there was no excessive spending.

As I could, I would add what was needed with therapy first, HRT, hair removal, nose and adams apple and finally GCS. I did this even with a 6 month layoff in the middle that delayed GCS a year.

By the way, in those days, weekly therapy was required so I was paying $60 a week for therapy and $120 a week for two hours of hair removal. I didn't have a roommate so I was paying for a one bedroom apartment which range between $300 a month to $600 a month and without meat which I bought separately, a grocery store visit for two weeks would cost about $50.

I'm so bad at budgeting, but as a former 40 a day smoker (now down considerably), with a regular eighth of weed on the side (cut out completely), pretty much anything costs less if you compare those, and you think ok, roughly £10 for a 20 pack, x7 - £70 a week is two hours of electrolysis.

I have savings as well, but I'd rather not race them into the ground, and I have a limit that I cannot go below - which is the cost of surrogacy - so if it went anywhere near that, I'd have to stop, because being able to afford that is at least as high a priority for me. I own my home outright, and there are only two things I'd sell or remortgage it for - surrogacy, or to pay off my uncle for his claim on my grandparents house. The problem with the latter is, my mother lives in that house now, so I'd have to move back in with her - and we get on great, IF we don't live together.

Zero housing costs is quite empowering as a thought, considering I'm part of 'generation rent' - it gives me spending leeway that is generally only for people much older. Do you own? If you rent, can you move to a cheaper part of town? Or if you own, can you rent your living room out? There are many ways to make money stretch if you aren't already on the floor. Perversely, it's easier to make more if you already have some.

For instance, I could either go abroad for SRS and pay, or wait for the NHS. I'd rather do the latter if there looked to be a seriously dwindling amount leftover. I already booked and cancelled a nose job because it's for vanity rather than necessity, and I actually don't mind it being a little bent - it's hardly rugby player style squashed, and my mother has pretty much the same nose but without the break, so it's not out of female bounds.

I don't know if you're a student or a graduate, or which country you're in, but my bank gives a £10,000 interest free loan to anyone employed, within a decade of their graduation date, with no stipulation of what it can be used for. That would pay for a decent amount of stuff if you are able to access something similar. Might be worth finding out. I really do understand your predicament - a few years ago I was virtually bankrupt, had lost a great career, and could barely function because of PTSD, but just don't give in to it. Keep going, and it'll turn round.

This is superficial and somewhat mercenary - but if you're young, of course you'll want nights out and holidays. My advice, tried and tested, is instead of budgeting for a whole night out somewhere mediocre, budget for buying one or two great drinks somewhere you're likely to meet interesting cosmopolitan people who will pay for the rest - go to the most expensive district, and you'll actually save money. But don't be a taker - honestly give your friendship and anything else you've got in return. A great positive of this is you'll end up with a very diverse and international group of friends, the kind of people who don't care about trans stuff, let alone being prejudiced...

They might have a great place to stay when you go abroad. In return I'm happy to put their student kids up at my flat if they want to use it as a base for the UK and Europe. There's a way to do everything, and it doesn't need to include taking advantage of people or denying yourself a lifestyle right now.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! This really does help a girl out!


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