Ways I Save Money: Skip the Professional Haircuts

The last time my husband and I received a professional hair cut was in May of 2004. It cost us $18.00 each. So, if my husband received a hair cut once a month (probably realistic for a male, right?) that means we’ve saved $216.00/year on his haircuts.

For me, I’m not sure what is realistic for the visit frequency for a female, but I’ll guess once every three months. Total savings from me – $72.00/year.

Grand total possibly saved = $288/year

WeÂ bought a good pair of hair cutting scissors for $7.00. I cut my husband’s hair and he helps cut mine. For my hair, I start it by cutting it to the length that I want. Then, my husband comes in and evens out my cut. I’m getting better at making it even first try so eventually he may not even have to help. I should note that we both have straight hair and receive straight cuts. Nothing fancy with our haircuts.

As for my son, he’s never had a professional cut. His hair is cut by mommy. I have no idea what the going rate is for a child’s haircut so I didn’t factor that into the savings. I’m sure it would put us at saving over $300/year.

I also have been my natural hair color for some time now.Â I used to dye it blonde but it really wasn’t worth it to upkeep the color.Â Plus, after abusing my hair for a while I’ve come to appreciate it’s natural state (it has blonde, light brown and red in it).Â So I guess that would put the savings up a little bit more

Posted by Tricia on September 7, 2006 at 1:45 PM in Ways I Save Money | 8 Comments »
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jim responded:
Posted: September 9th, 2006 at 11:07 am
How about some photos?
Tricia responded:
Posted: September 10th, 2006 at 9:33 am
Man, you are always looking for photos, aren’t you? LOL. Maybe some time in the future I’ll give a teaser photo
Frugal Momma responded:
Posted: September 11th, 2006 at 5:15 am
Your brave cutting your own hair. My husband and 3 boys get homemade hair cuts but for my I would be too worried. I tend to go long times and go to the cheap place down the street-$12 and let it air dry.
sidimustafa responded:
Posted: October 2nd, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Hello Tricia,

first of all nice site, and i adore how your publish your finances publicly, i don’t think i can do that..

Anyway, after reading your hair cut situation, and your emergency funds, i would love to ad a tip..

personally when ever i can get a McDonald i don’t darly refuse it..

A co-worker (finance expert) told me since i must go to the McDonald, i must kinda see that as a mandory expense, and i must try not to go, and the money i would have spent at the Mc’s just put it on a savings…

Maybe if you see haircuts as a must, the money you would have spent there u should allocate some of it to the emergency funds, but just don’t put it in piggy bank @home, dump it @ some bank, where u get some interest for it…

I just find your website, has some good tips/tricks, i’m still reading up on your adventures in personal finance mines so bad, i’m working hard at getting it fix, but i’m happy to say, i thuaght mines were bad, until i came around these type of blogs. where i see other folks are worst of than me.

Next tip, you can alway see your persanal savings as a BILL also, what i do sometimes, i skip a bill one month, and put that money on a savings, and the next month hope for a miricle to happen, to catch up, sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t but at the end of the year, i still do have what on my savings (emergency fund)
i beg to differ with your opinion of using the CC for emergency.

but keep up the fight, we’ll all make our goal one day..
carembear responded:
Posted: March 6th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
depending on where you live, you can check out craig’s list for free haircuts. a lot of student stylists need models for their training. i’ve done it before at a high-end salon in midtown New York, and it came out great. the master stylists always watch the students, and the masters do the final trim to make sure everything’s the way it should be. it took two hours of my time (b/c it’s a learning process for the students), and a $10 tip (figured i’d help the students out a little). a master haircut normally costs close to $200, so this was a great deal.
Jim responded:
Posted: March 13th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I’m enjoying reading your blog very much. My wife started cutting my hair in college. We invested $20 in a clippers and have saved a lot of money on haircuts. Every now and then we do break down and I have a ‘professional’ do it when we have pictures taken or something where I need a real clean cut.
February 2007 - Here’s How Much We Made, and Here’s Where it Went : Blogging Away Debt responded:
Posted: March 17th, 2007 at 10:34 am
[...] like crazy when the price is right. We still are using shampoo/conditioner from years ago. We also cut our own hair and I am low maintenance gal. Plus, many free samples (like razors and shampoo) are usually [...]
msblue responded:
Posted: October 31st, 2007 at 1:53 am
I admire you and your hub for being able to do this!

The cheapest place I found costs me $30: That’s for a shampoo, cut, and a tip. I save $10 by leaving with a wet head instead of having them blow-dry it.

My hair is extremely thin and fine and a chin-length bob; it grows quickly & looks straggly every 4 weeks. I try go 6-7 weeks between cuts.

I use hair mascara to cover the gray; it costs $5 and lasts several months. Sometimes I don’t use it at all and just let my gray freak flag fly.

I buy shampoo only on sale at the drugstore, and stock up for large-ish bottles around $1 a pop. Ditto for styling products.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well … again, I admire anyone who has tackled the haircut problem and can do it themselves!