I am looking into financing for my surgery, and I was wondering how each of you chose to pay for the surgery.

My dad paid for it, otherwise I could not have done it.

Used my credit card.

We ended up refinancing our house with cash-out. It only increased our payment by a small amount, so it was well worth it.

I refinanced my condo

I am not a self pay (so I didn't vote), but I wanted to share a few things anyway... I hope that is okay.

If my insurance would not have covered it, I definitely WOULD have self-payed! I love my band :smile:

And, if I would have had to self pay, I would have charged it on one of those credit cards that gives you airline miles for every dollar you spend... so I could treat myself to a wonderful Caribbean vacation when I got skinny.... all compliments of the band (both physically and financially).

I met a girl who had been turned down for the band three times by her insurance company, and she had no financial means of paying for it herself, so she and some friends did a fundraiser to raise the money she needed for the surgery.

She raised enough to pay for the entire surgery by selling candy bars. We laughed about how candy bars had prevented her weight loss in the past, but now it was paying for it... lol

Ok, I LOVE the idea of putting it on a card that gets rewards and then paying the card off immediately. I only have one card and I'm not sure it's a reward card so I need to check on that. Also, I have to mention... I am paying in cash because I received a financial settlement recently. I never thought I would be litigious in all my life but I was done really wrong by a former employer and found the strength to stand up for myself and won. Long hard battle but it was worth it for so many reasons (hopefully my kids learned some good lessons from it!) This surgery is just a bonus and couldn't be more grateful for it.

Ok, I LOVE the idea of putting it on a card that gets rewards and then paying the card off immediately. I only have one card and I'm not sure it's a reward card so I need to check on that.

If you are wanting to pay it off immediately, I would suggest opening an account (just a regular checking) at Citibank.com. Make sure you get the AA Advantage Card, not the Thank You Card that comes with the account automatically (You have to pay $65 for the year for the Premium AA card, but it is WELL worth it! Get the Premium card, not the Basic... it will give you double the points)

You do not even have to go into a branch to do this. You can do it all online if you want to. Apply online, even make the initial deposit, and all other deposits.

You use the card like a regular credit card, but it is really a debit card so the funds come out immediately. Just make sure when you use it that you select CREDIT and not DEBIT on those little checkout machines in the stores. They have to be signature based transactions. Otherwise you do will get any points for that transaction.

I opened this type of account about 10 months ago because of their Reward Debit Card (no interest like a credit card). I use this account for everything (I never pay cash for anything). I even pay my bills with it. I figure I have to pay them anyway, might as well get something back. I am getting AA miles for EVERY dollar I spend. Going to Alaska this summer as a reward to myself for losing weight. And, I still have enough miles sitting there for another trip at a later date :cursing:

One more thing, after you get the card, make sure you check out AA.com. They have lots of other ways to earn extra miles. I switched to Reliant Energy because they were offering 40,000 bonus miles just for switching. You can also shop at hundreds of retailers directly from the AA.com website and get bonus miles for purchases you would be making anyway. Sometimes as much as 10 per $. I have even seen a few 25 per $. And these bonuses are on top of the miles you will already be getting for paying with this card.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask... I have become an expert on racking up AA miles... lol My daughter wants to go to the Olympics in London in a few years, and I want to get free flights!

I paid cash out of long term savings, but my husband and I made ourselves a 3 year repayment agreement by cutting some fun things out of our budget for the next few years.

One benefit of paying myself was that I feel a huge sense of responsibility to do everything in my power to make this succeed. That money could have been for our sons' college funds or for our retirement or for vacation, but we used it for my health. I don't feel guilty, but I do feel responsible to control my diet and excercise so that the band can do its job.

Don't get me wrong - I would have LOVED it if our insurance covered my band, but there is a silver lining of motivation in paying yourself.

One benefit of paying myself was that I feel a huge sense of responsibility to do everything in my power to make this succeed. That money could have been for our sons' college funds or for our retirement or for vacation, but we used it for my health. I don't feel guilty, but I do feel responsible to control my diet and excercise so that the band can do its job.

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That's the way I feel also--I closed out a mutual fund(that wasn't growing anyway--figured I should be the one losing instead of it!)

I have now paid $500 per pound I have lost! My goal is to get it to $80 per pound--or at least less than $100!!

We sold some stock that hopefully I will be able to make back in about a year (made about$1500 this week). I do wish I had thought about the miles card. That's a spectactular idea!!!! I plan on doing it when paying for my husband's dental surgery and my plastic surgery after I lose all my weight. Thanks so much for the info!

I refinanced my home for lesser years and got money back.

Paid By low interest credit Card then paid it off VERY quickly with cash from savings so at least it would help my credit history

I had enough money saved up to buy a new car-I thought a new car wouldnt make me happy,so I did the sensible thing-didnt buy the car and went and spent it on a gastric band op instead....which I have fitted on 29th this month! Cant wait,best choice I have made.Really looking forward to it!

I paid 4000 from savings, borrowed 4000 from my mom, and took out a loan for the rest.

That's the way I feel also--I closed out a mutual fund(that wasn't growing anyway--figured I should be the one losing instead of it!)

I have now paid $500 per pound I have lost! My goal is to get it to $80 per pound--or at least less than $100!!

HA! I do the same thing, mine is down to $64/pound. Worth every penny.

And to stay in line with the thread topic, I paid cash.