by Beks
Whew! My week is finally winding down. This morning I woke up early and went for a six mile run. I don’t usually run six miles but I was attempting to see if I could run a 10K in under 70 minutes. It sounded easy until I was three miles from home, tired, and in no mood to run 3 miles back in 35 minutes or less.
Lesson learned. Next time, I’ll run 1,584 laps in my driveway instead. If I feel like quitting at lap 792, I can simply go inside rather than what I did… which was sit in a 7-11 parking lot and consider asking a stranger for a ride home.
But I dragged my feet a bit and started home. Around mile four, I hit a second wind and ran the remaining two miles. Needless to say, thanks to my curbside pit stop and dragging feet, I didn’t make my goal in less than 70 minutes. Maybe next week.
After my run, I went to get a much needed hair cut. I’ve always been a bit of a thrifty nickel when it comes to my hair. I hardly wash it, and when I do, I use shampoo purchased with coupons. One time I bought atrocious children’s bubble gum scented shampoo because it was on sale – and I wasn’t even working to reduce debt at the time.
Thanks to our debt reduction plan and the accountability of this blog, I tend to get an overwhelming since of guilt when spending money on non-necessity items. This has only exaggerated my aversion to expensive hair care.
It should come to no surprise that I met my current stylist at… Super Cuts. Yup, I am the queen of the $13 hair cut.
Before you tell me that only professional pricey stylists understand hair, maybe you should give cheap haircuts a shot. The stylists are often young, hip, and up with the current styles. Sure, you could run the risk of 10 weeks of bad hair days BUT, if you find a good stylist (and trust me, there are some), you could save hundreds of dollars each year.
How much do I spend on haircuts each year? Including tips… $80.
Try it. You’ll like it…well…maybe.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
I don’t know if I’m brave enough to try the $13 hair cut because I like my stylist. But I have had expensive cuts that were bad. So I would agree that it’s the stylist and not the price that matters.
For folks trying to save a buck or two, buzz cuts are really simple to do at home. A salon may also charge less for a buzz cut because all they have to do is run the clippers. 🙂 It may not be the style for everyone, but it is cheap! Youtube also has tons of videos about how to cut your own hair at home for really brave souls.
I used to cut my children’s hair when they were young and got really good at it. I didn’t have the nerve to try anything except bangs on my own hair and I wasn’t about to let my husband do my hair.
Eventually, when I learned a lot of financial lessons the hard way, I tried Great Clips. The first stylist I had was amazing. She did much better than the many higher priced ones that I had through the years. Now I never go to anyone except her.
I usually get my haircut at Great Clips…and most of the time….only with the $5.99haircut coupon. 🙂
Check your area for a beauty or barber college. The one near me charges only $7 for a cut. Yes they are only students and the possibility of a bad cut goes way up, but they are supervised by a professional.
If you can, ask for someone closer to graduation to mediate the risks. 😉
I kind of have to agree. In the past I went to a lot of cheaper places and I have gotten some bad haircuts, but if you find someone who is good and keep requesting them, you can get a nice haircut.
We have come into quite a bit of money so for the past year I have been going to a high end salon because it’s fun, it’s relaxing, they massage your scalp and give you coffees, etc. but I have to admit my hair doesn’t look all that different and the red hair color I get doesn’t seem that much different from the boxes I used to use at home. I think I might go back to cheap because I have been spending $130 every two months and that is kinda ridiculous.
I think if you have an especially complex cut maybe err on the side of caution. But I just have long layers and am very happy with the work I’ve gotten at local beauty schools.
They have to discuss the cut with the instructor before beginning and the instructor comes and double-checks the work. Again, for something intricate, caution may be in order, but I have always been happy.
Plus, the eyebrow/lip waxing is so cheap that I pay under $20 (before tip) for the whole shebang.
I love it!
I’m a big fan of Super Cuts too. I like my hair simple and sleek and they do a fine job and the price is definitely unbeatable!
Another option for inexpensive haircuts is the fancy salon student training schools (Aveda, Paul Mitchell, etc.) If you are willing to be in the chair for a bit longer than normal, you can get a great cut for a LOT less than at the regular salon. I go to the Aveda training salon in Seattle, and get a great cut PLUS scalp massage for $23 (includes tip).
$80? What? I keep my hair long, only regularly trimming the hair just in front of my ears which is easy to do myself. For the rest I either berate the hubby into trimming it, or (and this work frighteningly well) with it wet from the shower, I tip my body forward, comb my hair backwards over my head so it dips over the trash can, and trim the ends off at a faint U shape. You’d be amazed what an even job of layering this little trick acheives. The hair closest to your neck is traveling the farthest to get to the scissors so it ends up longest, just as it should.
$80?? Try $0.
Great Idea on keeping the haircuts cheap. As Ponyryd mentioned try looking for a college with a program. We live right next to a local community college and my wife and i get our haircut there. Mine cost 2 dollars and hers costs there. I have been going there for almost 4 years and i have had maybe two bad cuts. We love going there for stuff. My wife gets eye waxes, and even did color once.
Wow. Apparently I take thrift to a whole new level, because it kiiiiiills me to have to spend $13 on a haircut!
I get my hair cut about once every two years as a result. *laugh* And I’m trying to work up the nerve to cut it myself, so I can keep it short!
I’m with Bob. I haven’t paid for a hair cut in 3 years… Thanks Buzz cut. I was killing an hour of time waiting for the hairdresser and walking around the mall and I saw clippers for less than the cost of the hair cut I was about to have… I thought it must have been a sign lol so I bought the clippers and haven’t looked back
I found this a little late but just my 2 cents – I have a lot of free time in the evenings so one night I decided to cut my own hair. I watched a few videos on YouTube and decided to go for it. Worst case scenario: I pay the $15 to get it fixed. Luckily, it’s worked for me. I have hair that goes about 6 inches past my shoulder. I layer it and it looks very nice.
Seriously, the first time I did it I came in to work and everyone raved at how nice my hair looked – I work with professionals that can afford $150 per month on their hair. I just laughed and told them I did it myself. Then at church someone asked about my haircut and I told her I got it for free – she was very excited and asked where I got it and I told her “In my bathroom!” LOL!
If you’re going to the salon anyway, why not give it a try. Just don’t go crazy, do a little at a time and see how it goes. Good luck!