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?