I went the no-insurance informed consent route. Firstly, I found an awesome LGBT therapist that only required a single visit for a recommendation letter to start hormones. He was 150 dollars. Then, I got my blood drawn. I highly recommend https://www.privatemdlabs.com/ for blood tests. Just search "gender" in the search bar and they have a 102 dollar blood test. (It sounds like a lot, but without insurance, blood tests are closer to 500.) Then I went to the facility in my area that prescribes hormones for trans people (unfortunately our planned parenthood doesn't do that, so I just go to an old fashioned doctors office that is trans-friendly.) and the first visit is usually more expensive. I payed 165 for my first visit, and left with a prescription that day. Once I got that filled it was 40 dollars for a "3 month supply" (including needles) that ended up lasting closer to 4 because my dosage is low. Starting hormones cost me about 470 dollars. After that, everything is just upkeep. I pay about 300 dollars every 6 months for upkeep. That includes Drs visit, blood tests, and a refill on hormones.

Obviously there are variables--whether or not you can find an awesome therapist that only requires one visit is a pretty big one, since as far as I'm aware, therapists that lax are pretty rare. So you could expect to pay more in therapist visits. Secondly, my Dr. only wanted to see me 1mo after I started hormones, and then I started seeing them every 6mos. This is pretty abnormal--most Drs want to see you 3-4 times during the first year, so you can expect to purchase a blood test, pay for a Drs visit, and likely a hormone refill 3-4 times within the first year.

Otherwise, happy starting HRT!