Haircuts at Home

The cost of haircuts can add up. When you are a family of six they can add up rather quickly. At the barbershop, kids haircuts are $7, adults $12; the walk in salons, kids $10, adults $14. I don't even know how much a full service salon would be, but I'd guess around $30.

Just figuring on the low end, for six people to get haircuts every six weeks it adds up to about $500 a year. I have other things I'd like to spend that kind of money on.

Hair clipper sets start around $20. As you can see, they pay for themselves in just a couple of uses when you are cutting hair at home. Haircuts at home are not the only way to cut the costs. To be completely forthright, I must say, Tim and I pay someone else to cut our hair. I will explain about that in a minute.

We do cut the kids' hair at home. Tim is the resident barber for the boys. Nolan got a haircut last night. Kellen will probably get one tonight. Here Nolan is before the haircut.

During the cut. Ignore the paper bag. It was a make shift attempt at a cape. It yielded mixed results. An old sheet works better, but I probably should just buy a cape.




After the cut. It isn't perfect, but it looks pretty good. Honestly, the barbers never get much better results on the little kids!


Lydia's hair is all one length. I just trim it every now and then. Vivian, well, no need for a haircut yet!



What else can you do to save money on haircuts? Use a barber. They are almost always less expensive. Where I grew up barbers were strictly guys, cutting guys hair. Here, I've see women barbers and women getting haircuts in the barber shop.

Wear your hair in a simple style that grows out nicely. My hair grows quickly. When I was working, I wore it very short. Not a frugal move. I tried to wait six weeks between cuts, but at about four weeks, it started looking very shaggy. I should have had a longer cut that would look better between trips to the salon.

With a simpler style, you can feel more confident about a cut at a cheaper salon. I've had friends who would go to a nicer salon once a year, but keep the cut trimmed up at a walk in salon.

So, why don't Tim and I get haircuts at home? Tim has very coarse, thick hair. Years back I tried to cut it at home. I could never quite get it to look right. He has a hard time finding professionals that do a good job on it. He has found a barber who does a nice job. The price is reasonable. The cost is worth it!

I now wear my hair long. When it was all one length, Tim would trim it for me. I found though, that it looks better and is easier to manage with some long layers in it. Tim didn't want to try to cut the layers. So, I go to a walk in salon. I only go two or three times a year, so it doesn't add up to much.

I am going to a nice salon soon. It was a Christmas gift. I have a shorter style in mind, but this style would still grow out nicely. I may have to go a little more frequently than I do now though. I will post pictures when and if I actually go through with cutting it short.

If you don't already, I would encourage you try cutting hair at home. Especially, if you have kids. If you are feeling a little unsure about how to do it, there are resources available online. Since I haven't actually used any of them, I won't recommend specific sites. I did do a Google search for "cut your own hair" and it brought up a lot of sites that looked interesting. It does take practice, so keep trying if you are not happy with the results the first time. Let us know how it goes!