Um... money?

Having been refused by the NHS once I figured my only option is to go private. through a bit of research I figured Dr Frati would probably be a good option... and it turns out he also works at Rubicon Medical, who do transauxillary implants (which I'll need, I scar ridiculously easily ><) for about £3600. Comments on the net seem to imply that the quality of service isn't compromised too much with the price cut, so I figured I'd go for them.

But either way, unless surgery goes into 3 digits, I still can't afford it :( getting a job has proved to be a real challenge for me and I'm still looking after 3 years (though I'll admit I've only really been trying properly this past year or so. Still quite a while) but I have an interview soon and I think I'm in with a good chance for this one, fingers crossed! :good: but whatever happens, I'm still technically a full-time student. Also I'm still stuck at college... believe me, if I'd been at uni and had a grant/loan, I would have boobs by now -_-; I could handle living on next-to-nothing if it meant I could feel better about myself...

If I get this job, it's pretty well-paid and I'll be able to contribute towards bills at home, have a life and still pay back up to £200 a month. Most finance plans seem to be less than that. Which is really ironic because I know I could easily pay back double that but they don't seem to want to lend to anyone who doesn't work full-time I don't think I could find a guarantor to sign for me... I considered it, but for various reasons I don't think I could find anyone suitable.

Guuurrrr I want it so bad! When I get this job (okay I shouldn't count my chickens yet, but if I don't get this one I'm still going to be looking for another one) I'm going to be looking into borrowing £4k (gotta pay for bras, transport, healing supplies etc as well, can't forget about that lot, money goes fast =\ ) but I've seen some places where they charge 50% interest for people with bad credit histories/don't own their own home/don't work full time. The sad thing is I might actually take it if it's my only option.

But essentially, my essay comes down to the following: how did you guys pay for it? Please note I'm not going to be taking my clothes off - I don't want to launch an argument about whether it's right or wrong, but it's not for me. Is my only option right now to just save forever? Do you know of anyone who lends to people in my situation? Any help would be much appreciated, and rest assured I'm going to buy another lottery ticket tomorrow...

Oh my gosh, me and my essays >.<

ahhh its difficult.
Id just save save save as much as you can. if youre determined it will happen!
Its certainly an expensive procedure and one that women often take years to be able to afford, but good luck with the job interview

I would advise to save up once you have a job rather than get credit if they are going to be charging you something ridiculous in interest rates!

Some ladies on here have taken then scenic route to their BA and saved for a year or more before having the op - there's lots of support here for pre-op ladies and it doesn't matter how long you are going to be pre-op, you don't have to be imminently having a BA to be a member here.

If I were in your position, I would wait until I had a full time job, open up a special savings account with my bank, set up a standing order each month from my pay check straight into my savings account and then on the months where you have more left over at the ends of the month, top it up with extra funds if you can. Also, a lot of ladies on here have done ebay clearouts and the like - you can raise hundreds this way!

Good luck with the job interview.

Great advise from Abbie and Jessica... Take your time and save up. It is much easier to take the time and save than it is to struggle and make repayments with a high interest rate.

I understand what its like to want them and have to wait, I wanted mine since my first baby but waited until after my second (and last) so I waited 4 years, and looking back now the time flys.

good luck with the job interview!!

I had savings for mine but i had work done prevously wit the hospital group and they were really good they let me book it a deposit and let me pay the rest weekly before my op, it took me 11 months to pay off the 6 grand they were great and i couldnt of done it without them, no finance or credit just bit by bit. they also do gift vouchers so friends and family can get you those on birthdays maybe? theres not always an easy road but ther are usualy options, they want your money and you want the op good luck with interview hun xxx

I too would hesitate before taking out a loan - at interest rates like that you would probably end up paying £20,000 for your op. Jessica has offered you great advice and that is the route I would recommend for you too
xx

I just bought a house and put an extra 4k on my mortgage (really low interest rate!)

There was a post on here a few days ago about a girl who bid 3.50 pounds on some online auction site! lol

You should definately wait till you have a job and a way to pay/repay your BA though!

ISA's have a high interest rate, but the interest only gets paid once a year in march... you have to be really careful about applying for a loan because if you get refused it affects your credit history in the future.

I read a post on here a couple of weeks ago which had a really useful idea in it... I can't remember it off the top of my head, but it had something to do with an account where, if you put in, say, £1000, they'll loan you 3 times that or something... erm... it's for people who can't afford it otherwise. Don't take my word on that completely at the moment.. I'll do a bit of digging and see if I can find the post... unless anyone else knows what on earth I'm talking about!?

LL
x

Yes, it was via Credit Union if I remember correctly LL -see this link for more information.
xx

Thanks Carol!!

I couldn't find the post anywhere, so glad you know what I was talking about...

I have no idea if that's of any use to you whatsoever Pixie, as I know nothing about it, but I know someone mentioned it on here before as a way of raising money so might be an idea to have a look into...

Sorry not to be more helpful. I'm a student, and I get about 9k a year from my grants and loans combined (to cover living expenses and childcare etc) but I've managed to raise the money fairly quickly by budgeting and watching every penny, which has freed up some of my loan to go towards the op.

It's horrible having to wait, but the more you can squeeze your budget to put aside each month, the quicker you'll get there! If you have anything to sell, then sell it... but definitely try and avoid going into debt over it, because it makes it far more expensive due to the interest, and also being at college yourself you don't want to be in a position where you can't afford to pay it back and get bad credit history.

Best of luck hun

LL
x

I took the easy way.. I got credit. I could have saved but I am very impatient.

I initially put £500 deposit upfront to get a date & then a few weeks later I put £1000 more down.

I have credit for the rest. & Im paying it back over 12 months its 0% interest. Works out about £230 a month which is easy. Its the same as I would have been putting by to save for it anyway so made no sense for me to wait.

I was in my last year of uni when I got mine done, but was also working part time aswell. What I did was use some of my student loan/grant and money saved from working for the most. Then mya gave me a loan for the rest which I paid back interest free over a year. I had to put down £2500 first though.

I was the same as you couldnt get a loan or credit card, had no guarantor. I even thought about selling my car. I would try and save as much as you can over say the next 6months and then try different companys and see if they can give you money off or late space deals. You could also try what I did with the 0% loan. Its not nice having to wait but if you want it that much you will get there in the end. x

Pinkbabe... do you own your own home? It's just I've heard that the plastic surgery companies such as MYA, Transform, Mybreast etc, don't offer loans to anybody unless they are working full time and own their own home... basically the people who can already afford it anyway I guess??

Mybreast offered to let me apply for the loan if I wanted to, but there was absolutely no chance I was ever going to get it!

LL
x

I had to put down £2500 first and then mya lent me the remainding £1250. I dont have my own home, I still live with my parents. They never did a credit search either cos I checked my credit file. Most of the finance mya, transform ect do is credit checked and yes you do have to have your own home and be working full time. Not sure if Mya are doing it now but worth finding out. x

Lol altbarbie, I'm the same! Some people might say it's because I'm an Aries ;) I know it's not the end of the world if I have to save up myself, but I just don't want to spend any longer hating my figure. Sooner is better than later =\

Lindylou22 - yes exactly! It's so irritating, people who don't have the money to buy houses and cars are the ones who need the loans :rant:

Essentially with a 50% interest rate I'd be paying back £6k, which to be honest isn't something I'd mind doing. What I wouldn't do is borrow £6k and pay back £9k - that's a bit much ha. But with Rubicon's prices being the way they are, I wouldn't mind paying £6k to the loan companies to do that. It's another year and a half til I'll have a student loan for uni and I know what I'm like - I'll take a job somewhere else (ie when I move away from home) and scrimp and save for my living costs, just so I can blow the loan on my BA ha.

Having said that, I'm not going to do that if I can find a better option. I can't pay for it at all until I get a job of some kind, but I'm going to be studying for another 4 1/2 years so waiting til I'm working full-time isn't an option - I could save up the money from a part-time job quicker than that anyway! I have a few options if I get this job or something on a similar wage, for what to do with the extra money - I could save for a car, move to a house with my mum (we're in a flat at the moment and it's nice but we want a house), get a dog (one that'll get along with my 3 cats!) or move out by myself and rent a room. Like I said, I'm a full-time student technically, but my timetable only takes 2-3 days a week so I'm free to work the equivalent of full-time as well if I wanted to!

But anyway yeah, when I do get a job I'm going to be putting aside about £200 a month anyway while I decide what to do. That way when the time comes I can offer a deposit at least, but I think what I might do is go for a free consultation and ask whet their options are. They might tell me to wait a few months til I've saved a grand and let me pay off the rest in instalments, or they might tell me to go away til I've got the whole lot myself, but at least then I'd know what I'm doing...

I'm having health issues right now so I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to assume I can have it that soon. But sometime this year would be good - I'll have time to save some anyway. I like to get everything planned early though!

I saved up for mine when I got refused a loan. I was only 23 at the time and my bank said no. I'm glad now because i didn't get into debt. But alt_barbie does make a good point. I managed to discipline myself into putting in atleast £300 a month from my wages into ISA. This of coarse means I have had to wait until the end when I have accumulated the right amount of funds. (Plus eat sausages and rice for aaaaages just to budget, and no new clothes or shoes :tears:)The way alt_barbie suggests it is like a reverse. You get a loan and then put money aside for them each month. But you have your boobs pretty much straight away.

The only draw backs are; being eligible for a loan in the first place. I wasn't and others won't be either. This won't just be for banks and external lenders but for the companies that offer finance as well.

The other drawback is this. My boob job is costing me £4,250 and that is all I'm paying. With a loan you have interest rates so you could end up paying a hell of a lot more for your boobs in the end just to get them sooner. But maybe you think that is worth it.

And another thing, you never know what might happen. What if you have an accident or something unplanned happens, which means that you can't make the payments that month or it become s a lot harder to meet them. It's an extra burden looming over your head for probably well over a year. But that's the case with all loans.

I don't like being it debt. I had to pay off my credit card so I didn't want another loan. So I've been living like a pauper for a year and a half but I can tell you it is sooooo worth it! Coz now I'm gonna get boobies and I flippin well deserve them!

Hay Pixie,

I'm still saving myself and it feels like the op is going to be ages away.
I've just bought my own home so don't have that kind of money sitting around, saying that I have saved a good lot of the money but it takes time only putting £200 odd away a month.

I put what ever I have at the end of the month away into my boobie account and any Birthday or Christmas money I get.

Maybe you should get a savings ticker like mine to show your progress (see below)

Loans are not an option for me, You never know what's going to happen and could end up in financial trouble. I would seek advice before taking anything out as you could end up paying ALOT more than 4 grand. But if this is the option for you then make sure you shop around for the best deal and make sure you can comfortably afford the re payments.

At least you've not got your own home to loose if you was to get into trouble.

Good luck with what you decide to do and hope you get your health issues sorted.

x

Good luck with getting that job Pixie!! Let us know how you get on!

LL
x

My finanical situation is and has been very hard. What I did was Save and Majorly go without. It was a hard slog but I did it x

I got a loan too, I went onto a comparison web site and came up with Zopa loans. You get an instant decision with them. Not sure what they call it but you say how much you want to borrow and then some of their members agree to lend you so much, so I wanted £4k and they had probably 15 or so lenders agreeing to lend me a certain amount of the laon, some lending £200, others perhaps £500, until they have enough members to lend me the full amount. The interest rates are low too, I pay £85 month (fixed) over 5 years, although I can overpay or pay in full early without any penalties. I applied and then had the money in my account the next day

Wow, Zopa sounds really good! Either way, I realise people probably say this all the time, but I'm not an idiot - I've been running my family since I was 13 and my mother became ill, I generally don't make stupid decisions. But it's really about time I did something for myself, you know? Getting into debt isn't a massive problem for me as long as I can pay it off, which I trust that I can - as long as I get this job, I'll then finally have some experience that'll make applying for other jobs much easier. I'm always told that I give great interviews, and my CV is very impressive, except for the fact that I have no experience. So I don't doubt that I'll be able to get jobs in future, once I've got the first one down.

I also own shares in a family business; it's not millions, but in the end it means that whatever happens, I could at least pay off a chunk of the loans once or twice a year from that. The only way that'd stop is if the whole business was sold, and then I'd be able to pay it off all at once instead, or put the money aside for that purpose if the lenders won't let me overpay.

What I wouldn't do is take out another loan before this one is finished, with the exception of student loans. I'd make sure I pay this off before I look into getting a loan for a car or house, for example, and really I don't think I'd get a loan for a car anyway; I'd save up £1-2k for a second hand one and then look into saving more if I wanted something more expensive, but then I'd have something to get me around in the meantime so that'd be fine. Then when it comes to buying my own home (crikey, I'll be 24/25 before I can do that...) I'll be shopping around for a place I know I'll want to stay in so that the mortgage is worth it, the best deals, etc.

I know that doesn't have much to do with boobs lol but I guess it'd give you an idea of what I'm like with money. The boobs are really the only thing I'm being impatient with; the rest of it's fine as long as I know I have the money to put away for it. I'm pretty good at budgeting when I have money to budget with! So as soon as I get the job (because I will ;) ) and know what hours I have etc (I'm also going to take Sundays if I can, and that might be double pay, which would definitely help!) I'll start saving and figuring out what to do. But I really don't fancy saving for another year -_- I'd much rather save for a few months, make sure I'm in good health, then just pay the balance off over the rest of the year...

...I have no idea how I always find so much to say

Would your parents be willing to help you, perhaps they could loan you the money and you pay them back monthly, then you wouldnt have to wait or pay interest?

Lindylou it was me that said about the loan where they do x3 your savings as a loan. It's called a credit union, hope this helps.
xxxxx