Do you ever decide to pay someone to do something you would usually do yourself? Just to give yourself a break?
The kids desperately needed a haircut. Conner was the only one complaining, but I had ignored the little ones for too long, pun intended.
Wow, first the title, then this. Who knew I could be so… punny?
Normally I would pull out the scissors and just hack away at Olivia’s and Peter’s hair myself. And despite my choice of words I’m perfectly capable of cutting hair without it looking like a hack-job. But it does take me f o r e v e r. I did finally succumb to adolescent pressure several months ago and start regularly paying a professional for Conner’s haircuts: there was only so much his patience (and mine) could handle. But I still prefer to save money by cutting the little ones’ hair myself.
Until now. When I found myself talking to a friend about something completely unrelated, and she mentioned they were on their way to get haircuts that were on sale at a local national chain, I realized how much relief I felt and made an instant decision: I am going to cut myself a break.
The chain was about to close for the day, so I quickly hung up and yelled at the kids, “Go! Go! Go!” like the house was afire. Witnessing a mom on a mission is a sight indeed. Conner was slightly put out but not unimpressed. Besides, he was the one desperate for a haircut, so he could hardly complain about having his facebook time abruptly interrupted. (Oh, the travesty.) I had already made him wait an extra week to allow more healing time for his skin where he recently had a mole removed. (Yes, from his scalp.) (We’ve been having so much fun around here lately.) So he was more than willing to go, after a minute of getting over himself.
No picture of the teenager. Adolescent pressure. You gotta choose your battles.
Haircut Sale
- $6.99 / haircut
- $20.97 = three haircuts
- Total with tip: $26.97
Yes, I tip. Even at national chains.
- Have you cut yourself a break lately? And paid someone else to do something you would normally do yourself?
We all need that now and then, in my opinion. Can I get an amen?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
when we moved to Switz., I learned to cut my husbands hair before we left – 2 lessons from the young lady that had been doing it in IA. That saves us approx. $50 per hair cut which he needs every 5 -6 weeks, let’s say 10/year – saves $500 per year. I’ve cut the girls hair since they were little – straight, bangs, layering, long bob’s – no requests yet from either for a Salon cut (10 & 12 yrs old). We won’t talk about what it cost’s to get mom’s hair done in Switzerland (cut every 7 -8 wks; highlights every 4 months) – slightly more than if we lived in a major US metro city – and I push the highlights out in the summer to save some $$$.
Wonder if the Hub will request a new hair stylist when we move back?
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Amen! I won’t discuss all of our splurges since people get mean, lol, but we cut ourselves a break all the time. Sometimes it’s just worth it to pay someone else to do it!
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I quit dying my own hair when my daughter got her cosmetology license. HOWEVER, the salon in which she works treats me like family, which means that I’m put on the back burner while they work on “real” customers. So what takes me an hour an a half in another salon could (and usually does) take 3 or 4 hours in the freebie salon. So I have recently on occasion, when I can no longer stand to look at myself in the mirror, cut myself a break and gone elsewhere. The most recent time was an emergency situation: found myself in Pittsburgh for my nephew’s wedding-I went in blindly without having a clue what I’d be paying. Thankfully, it was within my means, a mere $75 ($60, plus $15 tip for color, cut & blowdry-and it was fabulous!) But I cut my son’s and my husband’s hair with clippers that have paid for themselves many times over. We’re on our third set of clippers.
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This is my kind of post! I will happily pay. Though not when it comes to food. Money spent on premade or restaurant food is nearly always regretted.
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Yes! We have so decided to cut ourselves a break lately. We’ve just been soo busy lately i decided to pay some one to do our yard work once a week. I have to say, not one regret. Totally worth the ten bucks.
It relieved soo much pressure 
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jolyn Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 7:59 am
And ten bucks a week for yard work is a very good price!
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Haircuts are so expensive where I live (even at the barber’s), that I used to cut all the children’s hair until the girls were 16 and until my son was 6. I did a passable but not great job of the boy cut (short back and sides, long bangs in front), and the girls had long hair I just trimmed straight across). The girls and I have just had long hair to save money. At one point, all of us had hair below our waists, and once every year or two I would go to my husband’s barber and have the ends trimed an inch or two to level them off. It would cost $15 (very expensive town). The same for the girls, after they were 16. Both girls rebelled around 18 and got their hair cut at their own expense. One immediately grew it out once she found out that trims would cost a minimum of $45 around here at a not so great hairdresser . All of our hair grows about twice as fast as most people’s, which is a mixed blessing. The middle girl got a really cute bob, with a kind of wedging at the back last year which looked adorable. Her college town has cheaper hairdressers, and she has so far spent about $200 total getting it trimmed about 5 times. But since she has to earn all her spending money and contribute to her tuition, she has decided that it is too much money to spend, and is going to grow her hair out to one length again. We are lucky that our hair is thick and looks okay really long, albeit a bit old fashioned.
But I totally relate to your post, as it was just when my kids were our kids ages that they were caring the most about looking like their peers (or I cared the most about it). Now my three are 18-21, none of us care what other people think and just suit ourselves…:) Also, I’ve found that years of working parttime made my kids stingy (when they were in high school we would never let them work more than 4 or at most 6 hours a week or it would hurt their academics): it made them assess each desired tech toy or item of clothing in terms of work units it would take to buy it…
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jolyn Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 8:00 am
I will say that at least our hair grows slower than the average bear’s… A friend and I used to take turns trimming each other’s hair in college. I guess I’ve never been too particular about haircuts and always pretty frugal.
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I actually was just pondering yesterday if I should schedule a haircut, when really I only need a trim and my bangs framed out. It costs me a whopping $28 for a haircut…soooo….it was voted (amongst my co-workers and I) that I would hold off on the cut until closer to Christmas and trim the ‘ol bangs myself
How do you like THAT for saving money?!! Eh… Eh?? Will you and your family be around for Thanksgiving or Christmas?
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jolyn Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Emily, that is sooo much casheesh just for a bang trim. Think of all the mocha lattes you could get for that.
I have seen places that offer bangs-only cuts for less? I’ve been trying to call you, though not about the holidays per se…
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My husband is a former Marine and still rocks a regulation haircut. He gets it cut every 2 weeks, and the cost of that quickly adds up. In an effort to cut back on spending, we bought a set of clippers and I tried to learn to do it myself. After a few months we both kind of gave up on the flat top and have just been working on getting everything faded properly. I’m not a DISASTER at it, but it’s not perfect, it takes forever, and my husband inevitably gets frustrated with me. I DREAD doing it because I know we’ll both just end up grumpy, and did I mention, he gets it done every 2 weeks??? We never talked about it, but gradually we’ve come to assume that he’ll alternate getting it cut at home and getting it done at the barbershop down the street. That way we’re still saving some money, but I only have to dread haircuts once a month
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jolyn Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Ha! Maybe you should tell him that this is why the bald look is in. I keep telling my husband, “Bald men are sexy,” but so far he’s not buying it.
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that’s a fantastic deal! my hair desperately needs help but with the holidays approaching, i have not yet deemed it a necessity (maybe before i see all my relatives at christmas!) haha
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