So my mom gave me $200 for food money, but I'm almost certain I won't need all of it before my financial aid kicks in next quarter. She told me to try and make the money stretch, but speaking of making it stretch... I have only dangerous binders. Ones with either no elastic, or not enough. They dig in, they press on my ribs, they're pretty awful even if they do make me feel less dysphoric. Woud it be awful of me to spend some of that on a GC2B binder? I don't need to bind every day. I do need to get something that won't cause me harm when I need to, though. My mom doesn't mind me being gender fluid, but I'm not particularly ready to start letting her know that parts of being gender fluid are expensive, since I'm already an expensive kid. Thoughts?
What I say is this-- get the binder, don't tell your mom, but if she asks be honest. One f the truest quotes I've ever heard is what someone doesn't know won't hurt them (usually) And if a binder helps you that much, and your others are dangerous AND she is okay with your gender identity I am sure she'd understand IF she does find out.
I partially agree with Tinuneth. You should be wearing safe binders and be comfortable with yourself, however, food is also a necessity and you don't want to starve yourself. So before you go making assumptions that "you're sure" the money will stretch, take a look at your cupboard and then make a list of what all you need. Make sure you can spare that extra money for a binder and still have food. I know making lists suck for some people, but they are productive and you don't really want to get cut off short. If you do, your mom will probably find out. And if you get a guilty conscience afterwards, just slip it into a conversation very casually later down the road. Remember: budgeting is a requirement for life. But otherwise, yeah, go for it!
I think you should get it. If you misestimate and it turns out you didn't have to money to spare, you just need to be honest with your mother. Tell her that this was something you needed because the way you were binding before could really injure you. If you really do have enough money, then it won't even need to be an issue.
200$ to last how long? Do you already have food? Can you even meal prep at your location? If you can't, consider doing what is safe until you have a stable way of buying it. If you like to go out, don't and use that to get appropriate bindings.
I would make sure that you have enough money to get by before you buy a binder. While safe binding is important, food is also important. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you don't have enough food to get by until your semester starts.
It isn't an issue really of the money running out, I'm not afraid of that at all. I'm not going to lay out my calculations here because talking about my eating habits in public is really not something I do, but that's not the part I'm concerned on. I just am kind of feeling bad because my mom is such a wonderful person and I don't want to treat her helping me out like it's just free money to spend indiscriminately. I just don't want to be shitty to her, since she cares so much about me.
You say expensive, but the amount a binder costs isn't really huge for the safety it would give you. Ribs are not one of those things you wanna mess with. I can admonish that with first-hand experience. Well, let's lay out the options. 1) Don't get the binder, continue using the ones you have already. 2) Get the binder but don't say anything. 3) Talk to your mom about it. Gonna add a fourth option 4) See if you can find one from a free binder giveaway. What are the pros and cons for each of those? What you're going to put down is entirely personal to you - we can't tell what things are most important and you value most. We also don't know your mom like you do. And to add one of my favourite quotes - "When there aren't any smart decisions, I guess you just have to pick the stupid decision you like best." -The Gate Thief (Orson Scott Card)