Saving Money for Gender Reassignment Surgery
Money saving tips to prepare for the cost of transition. Saving money for gender reassignment by creating a budget and making smart financial choices.
The Cost of FTM Gender Reassignment
Money saving tips to prepare for the cost of transition. Saving money for gender reassignment by creating a budget and making smart financial choices.
Generally, insurance companies don’t cover sexual reassignment and doctors fees are extraordinarily high. With the help of my insurance company it took about $700 to just get me started on the hormones (including therapy). If you feel like you are at all financially unstable, beginning transition may need to wait.
Counseling will run anywhere from $25 to $150+ per session, and many counselors will require at least 3 months worth, as it is the guideline provided by the Standards of Care. Bilateral mastectomy or keyhole surgery can cost another $6,000 or more in the U.S.. Top that off with a hysterectomy in the next ten years–which may or may not be covered by insurance–and you’ve just run yourself out of car, shelter, and food.
Tips for Saving Money
- A savings account can be a helpful tool for saving money. Your bank may be able to offer you a savings account, that you can resolve to make no-touch except for transition needs and/or emergency funds. If the savings account is with the bank that carries your checking account, it should be easy to transfer funds to it. At the end of each month transfer any unnecessary funds from your checking to your savings account. This keeps cash from getting into your hands that may normally be spent at pool halls, etc because you've reserved it aside as temporarily unavailable.
- Consider giving up fast food, which is not only unhealthy, but expensive.
- Place a piggy bank by your bed to add your loose change to every night. Once it is full, package up the change and deposit it directly into your savings account.
- Write down where each exchange goes on your monthly bank statement--you may be surprised where the money goes.
- Cut down or out every unnecessary monthly expense. Rolling expenses are one of the largest money-vortexes there is. For instance, is cable television really necessary for $50 + a month? How about cable or DSL internet? You could pay $10 a month extra for a WiFi hotspot on your cell instead of a monthly home internet bill. It may not be ideal, but every dollar saved can really add up. Many of our expenses are luxuries that can temporarily be given up in order to save for transition.
- Sell old books on half.com, eBay unused items, and Craigslist old furniture. Cleaning out unused stuff not only brings in income, but if you sell enough, you could even opt for a smaller apartment, which is one of the biggest money saving strategies I can think of- it not only drops your monthly rent, but drops your bills as well.
- Set a goal for yourself that is reasonable and save for it.
- See Reducing the Cost of Hormone Replacement Therapy
- See Corbin's Transition Expenses for an itemized list of what Corbin has paid for gender reassignment
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How to Increase your Credit Score
This is more of a long-term money saving strategy. It has initial costs but it can lower the future interest rates you may be offered. You can increase your credit substantially by cycling the payment on your credit card. For example, carry a balance on the card every other month (Month 1: $500 balance; month 2: $0 balance; month 3 $500 balance; month 4 $0 balance). This creates an indicator on your credit report that you are able to pay off a credit card. If you pay off your credit card monthly in mid-month, your credit card statements will always show a balance. The credit reports are influenced more by what the statement shows every month, rather than what you’ve paid every month.
When I was just out of college and had little credit, I used this strategy in combination with paying all my bills on time. It worked….really, really well.
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Tips for Buying a Car from a Dealership
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s negotiating with car salesmen. Perhaps these unusual car buying tips may help you pay less for a new or used automobile.
- Know what car you want before going to the dealership. Find out what other dealerships offer, what the average cost of the car is, or what the blue book value is on a used car (the blue book seems to always overestimate the value, especially with the current economy).
- Carry a messenger bag on you. Keep all offers, trade-in appraisals, blue book print-outs, and a copy of your credit report in it, hidden so they don't know you have it until you make a counter-offer.
- If you're purchasing a used car from a dealership, attempt to find that car on Craigslist. Attempt to find the car you are seeking that is listed by a dealership that doesn't specialize in the brand. For instance, a Honda dealership that is selling a used Mitsubishi. The clientele that visit the Honda dealership will be looking for a Honda, not Mitsubishi's, so you will have less competition from other customers and it is a more difficult vehicle for them to sell.
- Before stepping into the dealership, sit outside in your car and observe the salesmen. There may be a group of them gathered at the front door. Avoid them. Find the guy that is apart from the group and target him. He may be new or inexperienced, thus, more likely to negotiate because he needs the sale. Plus, he is less likely to step away and go strategize with his buddies. It creates a more level playing field because it is you, him, and the manager negotiating the deal, rather than you, him, the manager, and his buddies.
- It may come off as unfriendly, but I don't schmooze with the salesman at all. Instead, I let them know from our interaction that my presence is strictly business. If they don't make me a great deal, I'm walking out. Period.
- If they ask how much you can pay a month- tell them that you will only negotiate the cost of the car first. Once they make a formal, written offer and beforeyou accept, is a better time to talk about your monthly payment.
- Here's how they make money: the car dealership wants to profit on both the cost of the car and the interest and payments on your loan. If you tell them you can pay a lot per month, they are going to increase the cost of the car because they will make less on a short-term loan verses a longer-term loan. It's a balancing act. If you take away one side of the scale as soon as you step foot in the dealership, then the scale is more likely to come out in your favor.
- It's likely that the salesman will tell you that car buying is not the way it used to be, that the industry has changed its practices, and that they're not the evil car salesmen sharks they once were. You can tell them you understand, but that their past practices are not relevant to your present negotiation. This is business, not personal, and your cold stance is simply a strategy to influence them to accept your counter-offer.
- The salesman will hand you a print-out of a formal written offer that itemizes the charges. Start going down the list and demand that everyextra charge be removed (other than the car, tax, title, and license). Those extras are all dollars in the dealerships pocket. (data-dot protection, tire coverage, free oil changes, etc).
- If it's a used car you can tell them you're not paying for extras like data-dot protection because you did not ask for it on the car, and you don't care whether the car has it or not. Basically, get the message across that the additional protection it offers has no meaning to you and that you're not going to pay for something that you don't need or want.
- Each of these charges will have to be negotiated out one-by-one. It will take time, and it will frustrate the car salesman because now he's realized that he has put a lot of time into you, and he's not going to walk away with a high commission.
- If they refuse to remove a charge, start gathering your belongings like you're about to leave. They'll do almost anything to keep you in the dealership.
- Negotiate the price of the car late at night, when the dealership is closing. The manager and the salesman will be tired and want to go home. They are more likely to flex in the negotiation to just get it over with. You can return in the morning to negotiate the loan payments and interest rate.
- If you have a trade-in, the credit for the trade-in will be on the offer. This is going to be a low-ball amount, the car dealership can, and will, pay more for the trade-in.
- Pull out a quote for your trade-in from Carmax. Tell them they must offer that amount or you will just go sell it at Carmax or elsewhere.
- If you're signing up for a negotiable loan rate, for example, when buying a car, you can negotiate a much lower rate than the minimum they offer. Ask the dealership or bank if you can make a significant up front payment, in lieu of the purchase, to lower the interest rate on the loan. This means the bank can lower the interest rate without losing a dime if you were to pay exactly the monthly amount. However, if you pay off your loan early, you'll save money, since they will not collect the interest on the last months that you would have otherwise had a loan payment.
- Dealerships act under a presumption that you don't know your credit rating. Know it before going in so that you can defend yourself if they make a misrepresentation about your credit rating. However, more than likely they'll be honest about your rating.