I noticed it’s been almost exactly a year since my first post about letting my wife cutting my hair. Since then, I haven’t seen the inside of a barber shop. So let’s see, I used to cut my hair about once every 3 weeks, at about $15 including tip. 52 weeks/3 x $15 = $260. Subtract $10 for buying the clipper kit, and we’re $250 ahead!
In addition, I actually prefer my home haircut to a barber now. Practice makes perfect! And the convenience factor is great, no appointments necessary.
Since we’re on the topic of haircare, have you seen how much yuppie shampoo costs these days?! $25 for a small bottle of shampoo? Another $25 for conditioner? Certified organic babassu? What a scam. Let’s do a price comparison with what I use:
Aveda Damage Remedy Restructuring Shampoo+Cond.- $48 / 2×8.5 fl oz.
Pert Plus Shampoo+Cond.(Retail) – $3.49 / 13.5 fl oz.
I think this is best shown graphically:
I could wash my hair for half a decade before I spent fifty bucks on shampoo…
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Think how much you could save if your wife let you cut her hair.
I get those Suave kinds from Target/Walmart. They’re dirt cheap… I definitely miss the days of free haircuts.
I should get married so I can save money on haircut expenses too!
Anon – Yeah, but think of how much I’d have to pay in doctor bills after my wife maims me 🙂
Cap – You should! Think of the great romantic stories you could tell your kids… “So I was walking along, asking every girl I met if they owned hair clippers…”
That’s great! I cut my own hair at home w/ my $20 hair clipper. I’ve been doing it since the beginning of highschool…roughly 10 years now!
One haircut every three weeks = 173.3 haircuts (over 10 years)
$15 per haircut = $2,600
Minus $20 for my hair clippers (same set for the whole decade) = $2,580 saved
That’s not entirely accurate though because in basic training they make you pay to get your head shaved…$8/week for 9 weeks = $72.
I wish I could shave my head. But I trade keeping hair for my wife not wearing too much makeup (I hate makeup). That way, I wouldn’t have to pay for hair gel or shampoo at all! Less morning prep time as well. Ah well.
do what i do…get a haricut for $13 every six months. i get to see the insides of a barbershop occasionally and also save over $200 a year (since I used to go every 2.5 weeks). I just bought an ipod to celebrate my savings!
This is what a high and tight is for. Looks great and no gel required, and you use less shampoo. Finding someone to cut it is hard to to, easy haircut, but make sure you do not end up with lines where it should be blended.
I gave in to the cutting my own hair too before my son was born… I paid about $20 for a set of clippers. My hair grows so fast that I was getting it cut every two weeks.. $20 a pop was adding up…
I figure I have saved about $5000 in hair cuts…
My wife cuts my hair too :). That’s cool. She’s been doing it for the past year, year and a half. When I was in college, my fraternity brothers would do it for me as well, so it’s been almost 6 years until I’ve been in a barbershop.
I notice no picture has been posted to verify that the amateur haircut looks as good as the professional!
I don’t know if I should admit this in public, but I’ve been cutting my hair for over 10 years with that old standby of the infomercial age, the Flowbee. It doesn’t work well with every type of hair style (I tried it on my son once and it looked awful), but it does great for me.
The kids think it’s funny when I vacuum my hair.
Funny that you wrote this, I was just about to post almost the exact same thing since I have now gone about 2 months just buzzing my own hair (ok, ok, my wife does it for me). I decided to do it because the place I was getting it cut at raised their prices, so I was up to about $17 every 3 weeks. It just isn’t worth it to me since it only takes about 10-15 minutes to cut my hair anyway.
Thank you! Cant wait to show this post to my wife. I have been cutting my own hair for the past 7 years ( got a wahl’s cutting machine from Walmart for $11 and got 100% return on investment with just the first 2 haricuts that cost $10 + $2 tips each), there are times when the wife refuses to go out with me if the haircut is really clumpy! Lately she has even let me cut her hair..so I guess my handiwork is getting better.
8 on the top, 4 on the sides, a little 6 to blend it in.
Vacuum, call the wife in to fix the back. 10 mintes and I’m done.
Saves $15 bucks and takes about 30 minutes of my life I’d not get back sitting in a stinky hair salon.
Frankly, I think being able to avoid the stinky hair salon is worth it all by itself.
I’m with Cap. I use the cheap Suave shampoo.
I get my hair cut at a barber/salon, but that I can’t skimp on that too much. I had traumatic experiences as a child when my dad would cut my hair. He used one of those straight-razor-comb things. I need a competant professional to cut my hair. Granted, I don’t go to the expensive salons at the mall, but I go to the mid-range ($10-$15) places. I don’t go to the < $10 places where they have cosmetology students cutting hair. However, I let my hair grow until it is so long that it gets annoying, or I look like a hippy. Then I get it cut short into something more professional.
Guys, guys, guys! When your hair is about 4 feet long, Pert is OK. Aveda is ridiculous, but Suave is *nasty*. I only use it to wash my wool sweaters because it’s cheaper than fancy wool washes. I’ve wrecked my hair with certain brands of drugstore shampoos. So it’s not for everyone.
I like the first comment. It’s so true. It doesn’t save much when men don’t go to the barber compared to when women don’t go to their stylists.
Now, we just need a picture of your hair to see the results! 🙂
I agree, haircut prices are rediculous. I paid $22 the other day for a simple cut. I need to find someone that knows how to cut hair… it doesn’t look all that hard. Although my hair dresser… she is pretty good looking 🙂
C’mon…I can see sticking it to the banks, but sticking it to the barbers? I’m just glad I didn’t see the word “Flowbee”.
My wife uses the crazy expensive kerastase that you can only get at like 3 salons in Dallas (the hair capital of the world). It’s about $30/bottle, but gets it on ebay for less than half.
Woah! Fun topic 🙂
After a year of doing this, I can honestly say I would rather go to my wife than a barber. She gets it just right. Initially, it might be a little off but I didn’t have to shave my head or anything. It’s all good now.
My haircut is a #1 guard on the sides and about 1-2 inches on the top. Pretty simple overall, would take 5-10 minutes in a barber shop.
Flowbee!! They still make those? =D
I’m not interested in ‘stickin-it’ to anyone, I’m only interested in sticking money in my pocket!
If you have to buy your shampoo on eBay, it’s too expensive 😉
Wow. I thought only I was the only one cheap enough to let his wife cut his hairs. For me home hair cut results look better than the $10 salon that I used to go to. And because my appearance is revolting in other ways, nobody really notices my hairstyle anyway.
Jonathan, you are spoiled. Pert is for rich folks. For me its Kirkland ( costco brand ), $5 for two huge bottles that last me a whole year.
A friend of mine is hooked on your site. Today, I checked it out for the first time. I’ve been married for ten years, owned several businesses, real-estate and have taken some crazy financial risks. My husband is an accountant that can think outside the box…:). We’ve been tight with money over the years but I never had to give him “home cuts”. What we do is get hair cuts by Jr. Hair stylists? at the most expensive salons in the city. Most salons have training or technique nights and all I have do is make an appointment as a model. Therefore, I can get a $100-$180 dollar hair cuts (they do color too) absolutely free at some of the best Salons in NYC.
Please pass this information on to others and spare us to look at bad heads.
Next time, maybe I?ll have more time to write you on how to travel in style for free or very little money?..:)
I went to one of those comsmetology schools once, and they cut my ear! Never again…
I’ve tried a lot of cheap shampoos, but this is the best one by far:
Pert Plus with Light Conditioner for Fine/Oily Hair (*not* the regular one). Really, try it! Even my wife finds it acceptable for occasional use.
See, that’s the thing. If you offer me a $200 haircut for $20, I’d still pass. I’m a simple guy, and personally just don’t see the value. My haircuit would STILL take 10 minutes at a top salon.
My wife actually has done the Jr. Hairstylist thing here too at top salons, but that in itself is risky too. She’s had good and bad results. It’s not worth hearing her complain about a bad haircuit.
I would be interested in travelling on the cheap though =)
This is crazy!
You guys are concerned about hair cut savings!?
It’s just too much, life is to be enjoyed because when you die I am sure if saved a lot of $$$ you will leave a lot of $$$ behind and that $$$ left behind could be enjoyed by someone who never saved $$$. Think about that!
Enjoy your $$$! Don’t let it control you!
To see true savings you have to have a wife who is as a thrifty as yourself, speaking as a wife. We actually do the opposite – I have my husband cut my hair, and he typically gets a quick clip every six weeks at a $13/cut place. I grew up with a mom who spent $100s/month on her hair, and from my infancy nearly, spent tons of time on my hair. I thought I was “cursed” with curly hair, and would get up for school an hour early to straighten it out like she had trained me. Then I moved away to college and smartened up… I let my bangs grow out and let it be naturally curly. My husband loves it this way, and with curls, you can’t tell if it’s cut even or not, so when I feel like there are dead ends, I comb it straight out and hold it while my hubby snips along with the scissors. I have been to a salon only twice in our four year marriage, and this last time the lady thought I had been getting proffessionally groomed because it was so even.
I also save a fortune not buying into this crap about needing to change my hair color or highlight it… a huge fortune and something that has to be maintained – CRAZY! (we’ll see what I say if I ever get any gray hair) People love my hair and I think part of it may be that it’s not overprocessed like every other woman I know!
One last tip – use the razor to trim up your long haired dog. Our shih tzu prefers the at home cut, and it saves us $40 a cut.
I went to a barber shop last time I argued with her.
I can’t believe what I am hearing. Cutting your own hair with a cheap $10 thing is just ridiculous, have you looked in the mirror lately? Do you guys actually care how you look like?
There is a limit to frugal living…
I go to a barber shop ever 3 weeks, cost me about $15. What’s the big deal? What’s the point of saving $250 a year but looking like a dork all the time? I wouldn’t be surprise of you actually loose money over your lifetime by not getting a job or a promotion, because the manager thinks you are just too goofy looking. LOL
I get 3 haircuts a year for about $10 each, so my potential savings isn’t all that much (also, I don’t have a wife).
Hey now! In defense of your wives who use expensive shampoo, it?s a whole different ball game if you have more than an inch of hair. Brcmapgirl is right. Suave can ruin your hair especially if your wives have highlights.
I spend $160 every two months for highlights and a cut and it?s totally worth it. But I make sacrifices elsewhere (I don?t have a TV, iPod, computer, cable, Internet, etc.) like I?m sure your wives do too. It?s just a matter of financial priorities.
Honestly I not big on how my hair looks. 75 % of the day I were a hard hat at work. That kills anythingyou do to your hair in the morning. When I don’t have the hard hat on I typically were a ball cap. Outside of work I spend almost all my free time staying home with my wife and 2 year old daughter.
I also have my wife cut my haiir because of the above. It’s not hard to do #2 on the sides and back and leave it an inch or so up top. Definatelly not worth $15 or more. That $250 I save a year goes into an account for my daughters education, clothes or even toys.
Yes, I agree, it’s all about priorities. (I certainly wouldn’t trade my high-speed internet for nicer hair.) My haircut is simple, and I would bet $100 that nobody could tell if I went to a salon or my bathroom to get a haircut. My wife goes to salons because her hair is hard, and that’s fine by me.
Interesting all the cracks on Suave though. All those commercials about how it’s high quality is all crap, eh?
Isn’t Pert a bit extravagant? VO5 Blushin’ Apple and Tangerine Tickle smell pretty good at $0.79/15 oz. on sale. Honest, my hair was gray BEFORE the VO5.
I don’t get hair cuts anymore. I’ve been growing an afro for the last 2 and a quarter years.
Before that my dad cut it. I got my hair cut once at a hair place. He cuts the whole family’s hair as well as his own.
Dave
I really like the graphics…I think that really illustrates the cost difference in that fancy stuff and normal people’s shampoo.
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This is crazy!
You guys are concerned about hair cut savings!?
It’s just too much, life is to be enjoyed because when you die I am sure if saved a lot of $$$ you will leave a lot of $$$ behind and that $$$ left behind could be enjoyed by someone who never saved $$$. Think about that!
Enjoy your $$$! Don’t let it control you!
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agreed, saving money seems to be an addction these days.
No Thanks.I still have nightmares about my father buying his first haircutting kit almost forty years ago.I was his first test case.I ended up with the most hideous crewcut imaginable.And no,he never did improve.
It’s me, without the leading ‘brc-‘ this time. I think these are some of the funniest comments I’ve read on your blog. People are so touchy and think you’re being cheap because you wanted to save money on a haircut. I don’t know what to tell them. I went 2 years without a haircut and cut my hair tonight for free by myself. Sure it’s not a great cut, but I wear a simple hairstyle where I can get away with some uneveness. I just have other things I’d rather spend my money on, like saving it up for retirement or really expensive shampoo. *winky*
It’s funny how such a small mundane thing like a haircut or shampoo turns into a huge argument.
Suave (or any crap) on guy’s hair = fine
Suave on female hair = no no
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This is crazy!
You guys are concerned about hair cut savings!?
It’s just too much, life is to be enjoyed because when you die I am sure if saved a lot of $$$ you will leave a lot of $$$ behind and that $$$ left behind could be enjoyed by someone who never saved $$$. Think about that!
Enjoy your $$$! Don’t let it control you!
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agreed, saving money seems to be an addction these days.
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If we truly enjoy saving money, then what harm is being done?? Personally, I get a huge thrill over saving money, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. If you like blowing your money, more power to ya!
I’ve been cutting my own hair for the past 8 years with a $30 clipper set. AND I use the same set to give haircuts to both my dogs (two small Maltese). For me, it saves about $12/month, and for them it’s a $48 savings every 6-8 weeks.
I’ll let ya’ll do the math! 😉
If you can rock a shaved head, like I can, go for it. All I have to pay for are razors…and I like it more that any other hairstyle I’ve had.
My wife has been cutting my hair for about 5 years now, using the Wahl hair clipper kit we bought from a local drug store for about $8. Maybe once a year we get so busy that she doesn’t have time to cut my hair and I must visit the local barber, but otherwise my wife cuts my hair for the most part. It has saved us a lot of money, but just as important, my wife now cuts my hair better than the barber shops. She already knows exactly how to cut my hair, so I don’t have to sit and explain what I want done, like at the barber shop. So I’ve never felt that I’m compromising or getting anything less by having my wife cut my hair, if anything, it’s better.
And to the comment about enjoying my $$’s? I don’t understand how paying for a haircut is enjoying my money. By paying for a haircut, I’m not enjoying it any more than when I get a free haircut from my wife, so I don’t understand the desire to pay money for it. There’s a lot of other things I’d rather do with that $14 that I’d enjoy a lot more than a haircut.
$14 per haircut * 10 haircuts per year * 5 years…hmm, looks like that $8 Wahl clipper kit has saved us about $700 so far!
I am an African American male and a college student. About three Christmas holidays ago, my dad got me a hair clipper set as a gift. I would have to say that this is the best Christmans present I have gotten yet, as it has save me so much money. I no longer go to the barber. I’m the kind of person who looks good bald and with low haircuts. Buy cutting my hair with a tenth of a cent worth of electricity and cleaning up with about two cents worth of water and soap, I have save hundreds.
I no longer need to go the barber or ask a friend or relative to cut my hair. With a wall mirror and the mirror on the medicine cabinet, I can do it myself with no problem.
With this extra saved money set aside, I have bought $100 worth of stock, upgraded the RAM on my 4-year-old computer, and bought school supplies.
This is indeed a really nifty idea!
You pay for shampoo?! I travel on business a lot and have this compulsion to grab the soaps, shampoo, and conditioner from my hotel stays. I have a drawer full of unused Aveda products from Kimpton Hotels, Neutrogena from Hilton Hotels, and the Heavenly bath products from Westin Hotels. I haven’t paid for soaps, shampoo, or conditioner in 10 years.
For those who are makin’ fun of us gettin our haircuts at home listen up!
It is one thing if it is just you and your spouse.
Try 3 kids! Get out those calculators!
My sons hair is cowlick possessed and has to be clippered every two weeks. My youngest daughters bangs have to be trimmed every two weeks as well. My oldest can go about every month between getting her ends cut.
Heres “our” savings breakdown:
Husband – shaves head bald every week – actual cost $30 a year
Wife gets a $10 cut by hairstylist friend 4 times a year – $40 a year
Oldest daughter monthly trim at home by mom – Free
Son haircut every two weeks – Free
Youngest daughter bang trim every two weeks – Free
Husbands cuts $8.00 x 52 weeks = $416
Wifes cuts $13.00 x 4 times a year = $52.00
Oldest daughter cuts $13.00 x 12 = $156.00
Sons cuts $8.00 x 26 weeks = $208.00
Youngest daughter cuts $8.00 x 26 weeks = $208.00
Total $1040 – $70 (what we actually pay) = $970.00
So the next time you make fun of people trying to save a dollar think outside the box for a moment and you might learn a bit.
$970 a year hmmm… that will do nicely in my Sharebuilder account thank you!
Please don’t respond with the whole “Sharebuilder fee”rantings; without Sharebuilder I would have NEVER learned how to invest and would have never gotten the SWEET Costco promotions that have given me plenty of FREE money!
I take it one step further, and handle my haircut every morning with my shave. It’s not for everybody, but for me a chrome dome will look better than any haircut. Saves money on shampoo, as well.
Thats great i do a high and tight i trim it up once a week. i also do my 3 roomates heads plus i cut all of our gfs hair, and even do my grandads, dads, and 2 roomates dads. so figure up the price savings there (all milatary) that part means a haircut is about 15 dollars apiece for us. and i do em all atleast once a month im the only one that doas it every week and thats just becuz i am trying to impress the crap otu of everyone and always look sharp. o and as for shampoo pert plus will do fine for a lady. my gf moved in and i told her straight forward how my house is kept and i dont like a bunch of stuff in my way in the shower, so she uses my pert plus, and trades good shampoo cond. for permission to have a cat in the house.
why try that stuff why dont you try my stuff its called styling hair and it has hair dye in it and everything so that you dont have to get all messy
My previous girlfriend was a hair dresser. She taught me to cut her hair, despite my protests, that I couldn’t do it. It is not rocket science. My wife of 25 plus years colors her hair at home, and I do the cutting every two to three months. Never a bad haircut, because I know she would tell me in a second, if she was not happy. At the prices the salons charge, not to mention paying for repair jobs, we have saved a bundle. My wife started putting her savings in a jar when we first started dating, and still calls it her haircut money. She spends it as she wants, and often tells me what a great deal on clothes, etc, she got with her haircut money. She often asks her friends what they paid, and has raised her haircut allowance over the years. She looks great and enjoys the savings shopping for things she may not have bought otherwise, but enjoys her special indulgences. have even given friends of hers a haircut. I don’t ask for money, but she tells them they can “tip” the jar for her haircut savings. After the first time I feared I would have her friends and acquaintances lined up, but she only asks when it is a close friend, and she only did it once. She can be really funny at times. It really keeps things interesting. I can’t imagine not cutting her hair for her. It may sound odd to you all, but I would feel like she was cheating on me if she told me she did not want me to do it for her and went to a salon.
i like the same i have desire my wife shaves my head weakly i think due to that my sexual desire increase
I have never seen a group of people more cheap than you guys (with the exception of Nate and Blue Raven). It’s a $20 haircut…so what! It’s called maintenance. Cutting your own hair…finding ways to penny pinch?!! Give me a break. Here’s an idea. Why don’t you spend time on methods to make more money. Getting more job training. Getting a better education. I just had a brainstorm…if you guys made a lot more money, then you don’t have to be so cheap.
Here’s another idea. Since you want to save money, and are nickel and diming everything. Why don’t you do that for everything? Lets not flush the toilet. You know it costs $.01 for every flush. And let’s say you have to use the bathroom 10 times in a 24 hour period. Let’s do the math here:
.01 x 10 flushes/day = $.10/day
$.10 x 7 days/week = $.70/week
$.70 x 50 weeks/year = $35/year
Now take $35 and multiply it by the average human lifespan for the US of 80 years. Oh my GOD! That’s $2800! And, don’t forget, in old age, because of incontinence and bladder problems, you could be using the bathroom even more!!!!!
People, stop being a bunch of cheapskates and morons. Live your LIVES!
OK, Slam you are busted!
Obviously you collect the $$s cutting hair and claim it is something no one can do at home, but that they must throw their hands up and come to your salon. And then you will belittle them for their at home efforts, even if they are better than your “professional” results. Why? Because that is how you make your living. At least be honest, and not rude. But I don’t think you can help it. The reason I started getting my hubby to trim my hair was not to save money, but I won’t complain about saving the $$s now for a more pleasant hair cutting experience. I would go to the salon, but I will not put up with being ridiculed about keeping my long hair, and told I needed to grow up and get a hair cut. While I firmly said, “just two inches, the “professionals” have jerked my head while she yanked my hair trying to comb it wet, because she did not know how to handle long hair, then hacked off several inches, leaving it uneven looking and chewed, even though I said, “No razors” , but she did anyways.
She told me the “problem” was my hair was too long, not her ignorance in handling long hair. Plus the overcharging for long hair. $150 for a trim and highlights? I could have done better myself at home. If you weren’t so rude, poorly trained and arrogant, you would not have lost my business. For the last three years, I have had my trusted husband do the trimming. He listens, doesn’t rip my hair out or belittle me. And he admires my beautiful, long hair, and he doesn’t insult me, like the so called “professionals” do. I get compliments on my hair. Slam, I suggest you gt a job to earn some honest money to pay your rent and stop your whining, and rude behavior. Try driving a trash pickup truck or long distance driving where you do not have to deal with people, as it is obvious you do not like anyone except yourself. You obviously didn’t learn to be nice or play well with others as you were growing up.
Michelle, you really let slam have it! There are trolls on the message boards as well as angry people who have an inflated sense of self worth. I have owned my own business for the last 12 years, and I know how important it is to:
1. treat your customer with respect, snide remarks send them packing
2. keep your customer happy, give them what they ask for, suggest new things on occasion, but NEVER suggest they are not smart enough to decide for themselves
3. referrals are my life blood, a new customer that I make happy spreads the word, but s does an unhappy one. I would prefer that my business be spoken of in high regard as customer friendly, versus “don’t go to…. they are so rude, have lousy service, merchandise, etc.”
You voted with your feet (and your long locks), and I am sure you did not recommend that stylist to any friends.
Wow. To Cheryl and Michelle. Do I really sound like a hair salon professional? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Nothing can be further from the truth. I guess you guys really let your imaginations take the good of you. I actually work in software. To be specific, I’m a Director of Engineering at a start-up. And, if you don’t believe me, you can ask me anything you want about software, UI design, requirements engineering, software architecture, etc.. I hold a degree in Cognitive Science (Artificial Intelligence) from Berkeley, and an engineering management MS. I wrote that blog because I’m pissed off at cheap people for not only haircuts, but other things in life (medicine, food, etc.). So, the next time you stake your claim on something that’s not true…THINK! In what way do I even sound like a hair professional? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
And, for my haircuts, I pay $15 and I tip well-over that because she does a great job. To tell you the truth, I feel $15 is almost a rip-off for her skills.
Wow. Just wow. I’m all about saving money, but there are certain things I will spend more money on – namely my health – and that includes good shampoo and healthy food. Is it REALLY a good deal if 10 to 20 years down the road your hair has thinned dramatically and you’re on the brink of a heart attack from eating out all the time? You’ll be spending a lot of money to fix that, probably more than you saved by using crappy shampoo and eating food with no substance.
This is coming from someone who used shampoos such as Suave and Pert Plus for YEARS, and after realizing my hair had thinned too much, researched all the ingredients online and found some pretty shocking stuff about how most shampoos (99%) are made of the same grease-cutting detergents used to wash your dishes. They also contain tons of silicones which coat your hair, making it look good temporarily BUT eventually make it dry and coarse till it breaks off. There are only a few shampoos out there that are relatively mild and lack silicones, and I’m not talking just Aveda. They do exist though. The information is out there, you just have to care enough to find out if you actually want to stay healthy.
Hi,please confirm to me if the item WAHL for human cutting machine is available in stuck and the price ?
Looking forward to hearing from you soonest..thanks