Orchid, thanks for sharing your story.
As a cis-female who has some experience with grooming, bras, and knitting, I have a few tips for you.
1. Laser hair removal works best on people with light skin and dark hair. The way it works is that the laser is tuned to zap melanin, the dark pigment in hair/skin. The more melanin in the hair shafts, the more the hair gets zapped. The more melanin in the skin, the more the skin gets zapped (ouch!). It sounds like you not only don't have much melanin in your hair, but you also have a low contrast between your hair and skin. In other words -- it would be major pain, minor gain if you even tried it. So don't worry about not being able to afford it -- it wouldn't be appropriate for you anyway.
2. If your sports bra chafes, it's the wrong size/cut for you. See if you can find a proper lingerie store that does fittings. (Check online to see if there are any that have reviews indicating if they're trans-friendly, and/or go with a friend or family member who has gone for many bra fittings herself and can make sure that it's tight in the right spots and looser in the right spots).
3. Definitely do take up knitting/crocheting! I find it stress-busting and a great way to fidget in a socially acceptable manner, especially in hospital waiting rooms. . .. Knitting groups also provide welcoming communities where it's fine to talk if you want to talk or just sit and listen if you feel like doing that. Many are explicitly LGBTQ-friendly. Also check out
ravelry.com -- the biggest online knitting/crocheting site -- it's free to join and there are tons of groups for any experience level, interest, location, etc., many of which are only marginally related to knitting, including groups devoted to finding the perfect bra (I'm not kidding at all).
Hope that all the hormones don't give you too much PMS!
Good luck!