Fill the Bank: Ways to Raise Money for Fertility Treatments

The average cost of one fresh cycle of IVF is $8,158. Doesn't seem too bad right? Maybe not at first, but this is a very deceiving number. This doesn't include the cost of your water ultrasounds, cryopreservation, labs, anesthesia, medications, and some other costs. These can add over $10,000 to your costs bringing your total to over $18,000! The first time I saw how much IVF cost I was beyond overwhelmed. When we first looked into IVF we were literally making about $12,000 per year, not what we were putting into savings, that was literally all we were making for the entire year. Obviously saving almost $20,000 at that rate was going to take forever and it seemed impossible, it would have been impossible. We were so blessed to find out that our insurance covered most of our costs for our first 3 cycles of IVF, and we were then blessed to have our sweet baby Isla. Now that we're looking into having another baby though, we are without fertility coverage and trying to figure out how we'll get there on a medical student budget. It is going to be a challenge, it has been a challenge, but we are determined to get there! These are some of the ways that we are fundraising for our next round of IVF and some other suggestions on how to cut some of the costs of fertility treatments.

Right now we are focused on 4 different ways to raise money.
1- Cutting down our monthly budget.
2- Moccasin sales
3- GiveForward fundraiser
4- 5k Fun Run

The first thing we did when trying to save money for another baby was cut down our monthly budget as much as we can. We switched to cloth diapers (which you can read about here), cut out date night money, and did our best to cut out any unnecessary spending. When you look at your monthly spending it is amazing to see how much you save by not going to dinner a couple times a month or cutting out $60 of diapers and wipes. These were two of our more major changes but they have made the biggest impact. Getting rid of date money doesn't mean getting rid of dates though! Always, always date your spouse! We have found so many things to do for free and it has been so great to go on a hike or a bike ride instead of sitting in a noisy restaurant together. Occasionally we still splurge on a couple ice-cream cones from Chick-Fil-A for our family date nights though and those sweet dates with our little family are the best $3 I've ever spent. Every penny really does add up. Eliminating a few "wants" from your budget each month can help you get a little closer to your goal.

Next up, my mocc shop! I have been selling baby moccasins and we put 100% of our profits directly towards our baby fund. Now I don't expect you all to start pumping out baby moccasins, in fact please don't! That just means less people buy mine... Try to use a talent you have to bring a little extra income into your home or if you're already working, do what you can to get more hours or get a second, extremely part time job if possible. Since I consider taking care of Isla as my full time job, and school is James' full time job, making and selling moccasins has been my part time gig and I'm loving it. It's something I can do from home and put as much effort into it as I can that day. If you're interested in purchasing a pair for your little one follow my InstaShop on Instagram @isla_and_i They are all genuine leather and each pair is handmade by me, they are $30 per pair.

We are also holding an actual online fundraiser through GiveForward. There are many websites like GiveForward that help you get donations for your cause from family and friends. We chose this particular site because it charges the least amount of fees from the sites we compared. To be honest, this has been the hardest fundraiser for me. Never did I imagine myself virtually panhandling for money from friends and family. Then again, never did I imagine that James would get cancer or that we would have to go through all of this for a baby. It definitely made me humble myself and I have realized it is more than ok to let people know you need help. Those that can't or aren't interested in donating won't and that's ok. I've realized that those people usually aren't secretly judging you, they're praying for you and hoping that those who can donate will. I've learned throughout our journey that there are a lot of people that genuinely care for the people around them. People want you to succeed, they want you to be happy, and when they can, they help make that possible. It is ok to ask for help.

Our last project that we're trying to get rolling is a 5k fun run. There are so many website such as active.com that will help you with all of the organization. We're trying to make our race as big as possible and have a few ideas in the works that hopefully turn into reality soon! I'll keep you all updated! It doesn't have to be big though. You can make it as simple as possible. Set a time, date, place, tell your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors and have an open donation for people that want to participate. You may only raise a little bit of money but it's a little more than you had before and it's a great way to bring people together for a little exercise.

Now some ways to cut back on your overall costs. These ideas are ones that I have found through my own experience with our clinic and may not be available at other facilities.

Ask about discount programs. The fertility center we're going to offers varying discounts for military, returning patients, and grants for low income families. Check with your clinic to see if they offer anything like this. It may only save 10% but that's better than nothing!

After our fresh cycle I had quite a few medications left over that I knew I wouldn't ever use. They expired within a certain amount of time and I knew that we wouldn't be doing another fresh cycle within that time frame. I gave our fertility clinic those extra medications to give to other patients. This helped in my favor when I later needed a small dose of another medication. Instead of buying a whole prescription, I was given a dose for free from my office. Don't be afraid to ask for someone's excess medications, that one dose saved us over $100.

Pharmacy discount programs can also help save on your medications. It is not a form of insurance but it does help lower the cost of so many of your prescriptions, and you will have so many, trust me.

Search for grants offered in your state, I have found a few in the midwest especially. Yes it may be a one in a million chance, but it's a chance so take the time to apply. You never know what my happen!
Footsteps for Fertility is a program in Utah and Idaho that raffles off free cycles and grants at the end of a 5k run. If you live where you can participate, do it! Again, you never know what might happen!

Baby guarantee programs! This is most likely the route we're going. Our clinic is part of the Attain Network which offers multi cycle discounts and also offers live baby guarantees. If after the allotted number of cycles you do not go home with a live baby, they refund a large portion of your money. Since we had to do 3 cycles before we will most likely go with this program because it would be the most cost effective even if we only did 2 cycles this time.

Don't be overwhelmed with the initial cost of fertility treatments. It may seem impossible but if there is a will there is a way! It may be a long hard road but it's more than worth it.

Birthday on a Budget

Isla turned one almost a month ago and I'm just now posting about her party but better late than never! Every time I looked on Pinterest for ideas for her party I saw the craziest, over the top parties for A ONE YEAR OLD!!! To me, it seemed nuts to spend a ton of money on something they will not even remember! Really, it was just important to me that we had a great time with family and friends. Overall, I think the party turned out great and we didn't break the bank for it either. So here are my suggestions for a fun, decorative party, that is great for a first birthday.

Photography-
My first and probably most important suggestion is to have someone take pictures for you. It doesn't have to be a professional; but don't have it be you, your hubby, or the grandparents because you want them all in the pictures! We are lucky enough to have a good friend, Erika of EG Photography, that is a professional photographer and she took our pictures for free, as a gift to Isla (and us)! I'm so glad we did this because I wasn't worried about capturing every moment and getting my picture taken too, I was able to just enjoy the party.
If you live in the Phoenix area and are looking for a great photographer, I would highly suggest Erika. She does a great job and she has great specials! Be sure to check out her Facebook page!

Location-
Next order of business, the location! Location can be a huge factor in the overall look of your party. our tiny apartment was not going to cut it so we asked a friend if we could use their barn turned party area instead. Again, it was free so that was a bonus! There are so many places to have a party though that will cost you nothing. A park, a church, a friend/family's yard or house, your own place, pretty much anywhere. I have personally always been a fan of outdoor parties because you don't have to do much decorating, let the scenery be your decorations!

Food-
This can cost as little or a much as you want it to. We had a lot of people traveling about a half hour to get to our party and it was in the evening so everyone could make it, so we decided to do a meal so people did't have to eat before they came or fill up on only cake. Make it simple though, we stuck with hamburgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, fruit, and some desserts. If you want, ask your guests to bring a side, drinks, or dessert. If you're doing a barbecue you can even have people bring their own meat (since this is usually the most expensive part) and you provide the sides. Or you can just offer cake and a couple other small sides and dessert, just do what you feel fits your budget.

You can also download this free printable (here)

Invitations-
Make your own, have someone make them for you, or find a free printable online. There are so many adorable free printables for invitations online that you should only pay for what it costs to print them. There are many that you can even download and then customize on your computer instead of printing them and filling in information after. My wonderful sister did Isla's invitations because she wanted something to practice using her photoshop program. They turned out perfect and it only cost me a couple dollars for the card stock and envelopes.

Decorations-
These do not have to be extravagant! I purchased most of my items at Hobby Lobby and they were either on sale or I used a 40% coupon for everything. Don't buy anything full price since you'll most likely only use it once. Everything else I purchased at the dollar store, which means it only cost me a dollar. One of my best dollar store buys were my plates, utensils, napkins and platers.  Sometimes you can only get a pack of 5 or 10 plates for a dollar which is not a good deal, our DollarTree happened to carry theirs in packs of 20, so this was a great deal.

Party Favors-
This is one thing that if you don't have room in your budget for, cut it out. You don't need to send everyone home with something that costs you a ton and they're going to throw away anyway. Also, not every single person needs one. Do one per family or just the little kids, you don't need to give everyone a parting gift. We kept our simple, pink and white animal cookies in a paper bag. They were simple, cute, and people enjoyed them instead of tossing them.

Ignore the fact that I accidentally smashed the elephant, so it looks like it's be shot with a tranquilizer.
 I promise it was cute before that happened.

Isla was a little unsure about this cake smashing business. She really doesn't like being messy.

Cake-
Finally for the cake! Make you're own! I hear about people spending tons of money on a fancy cake from a bakery that is going to get smashed. Buy a cake mix and frosting and make it yourself. There are so many tutorials online for you to learn and practice before hand if you want a fancy cake. Since we did an animal theme I wanted to have animal cake toppers. These were another great dollar store find. I purchase two plastic animals, a giraffe and an elephant, and spray painted them gold. I think they turned out pretty cute and they were super cheap too, win win.

Once we got her a fork she was happy to dig in!

Pin the Tail on the Giraffe - Free printable (here)
I also made this"Pin the Tail on the Giraffe" poster. It's not fancy or professional by any means but you're welcome to it if you'd like! I had a 16x20 printed at Costco for around $7. For the tails I used strips of scrap material, but you could use ribbon, paper, or anything you'd like!

And there you have it! A fun, budget friendly party perfect for our little wild animal!

P.S. Isla's cute pants and headband were also a steal of a deal. Headband about $2 with coupon from H&M and her pants, less than $1 from Babies R Us thanks to a combination of coupons and clearance. They were the perfect combo for her animal themed party!