Not many guys like to spend money on haircuts. Girls on the other hand – it might be a different story. My Grandma goes to the hair beautician once a week, which my Grandpa says he doesn't mind if Grandma feels pretty. My wife typically goes once every three months or so. I generally go about every month. For every person, the frequency and the dollar amount they spend varies. You don't think by saving a few dollars on haircuts that it would add up, but add up those savings over a lifetime and you can save a lot of cash! Here are a few tips on how to save money on haircuts.
Lengthening time between visits – say person A typically goes to the salon once a month, and person B goes every six weeks instead. That is 12 visits per year for person A and 8.6667 visits per year for person B. Say for a girl that the average haircut is $15. In one year person A would spend $180 per year, and person B would spend $130. Small savings, but over 40 years and compounded at 9% interest that would equate to $19,557.22. Hard to believe how those small savings add up if you just lengthen the time between visits.
Cut your own hair – by cutting your own hair your savings will add up quickly. I cut all of my kids' hair (6 year old and 23 month old, but not my 9 month old yet), and the savings add up quickly. My kids get their hair cut about once every two months and it would cost about $15/kid. Figure we have three kids, and that is a savings of $270/year by doing it ourselves. By the time they turn 18 we'll have saved almost $5000 ($4860 to be exact) if we continue to cut it on our own. Also in researching for this post I found a few helpful YouTube videos on how to cut your hair yourself – female haircut link #1, and male haircut link #2.
Have a friend do it – if you don't trust yourself to cut your own hair then go in together with a friend and agree to cut each other's hair. However, always offer to go second! If they screw up on your hair then you can always get them back! :) Nah, seriously though if you have a good friend that has a little experience then why not give it a try?
Hair school salon – growing up in a small town (about 10,000) we had a great hair salon school that always offered cheap haircuts in exchange for training their students. My folks were always looking for a way to save a buck and who could beat $4.95 haircuts? Check out the area around you and see if there are any good hair salon schools that offer cheap haircuts.
Coupons – check out your local newspaper or salon websites for coupons or promotions. In March, Mark wrote about how Great Clips honors competitors coupons and I've taken advantage of this little fact. Also when you are in for haircut see if you can be added to any specials or promotions lists for coupons.
These are just a few of the ideas I use to save a few dollars on haircuts.
How do you save money on haircuts? What thrifty tips do you use to stretch your family's dollars?
2 Comments
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My husband cuts his own hair, and it works really well for him! I’ve tried going to places like Great Clips or a local salon school to get cheap haircuts and the results are terrible. So now I’m limiting myself to annual haircuts at my favorite salon. It costs about $50, but it’s a consistently great haircut, and a special annual treat.