I vividly remember the first and only time my dad gave me a haircut. I was in elementary school, and he got the ambitious idea to save on haircuts by doing them himself. We got a stool and went outside, where he promptly destroyed my social life with a botched bull cut/bowl cut that reminded me of Ursula’s tentacles from The Little Mermaid.
My dad was left in the dust, when I stormed off to seek shelter from follicular destruction. Safety was a sidewalk where I pouted unmercilessly. Dad got the message. From then on, we went to a proper haircut place (Notice I didn’t say salon or barber? Not really sure what to call them). It always had clips in the title: “Sam’s Clips,” “Great Clips,” “Sports Clips.” You get the picture.
The haircuts were always mediocre, but at least they didn’t function as a new wave contraception device. Each time cost about $15-17 after tip. To stay fresh and fly, I would go every two months or so. Conservatively, that came to be about $90 per year — but likely more than that.
It wasn’t until college that I got the brilliantly simple idea of cutting my own hair. After wondering what could possibly be so complex about buzzing off the sides and leaving the top a little longer, I decided to try it out. The first thing I noticed was how inexpensive clippers/buzzers run. You shouldn’t expect to pay more than $20-25 for a complete set, which offers different sized clips, scissors, and sometimes a detailing tool. They require little to no maintenance; albeit, they recommend regularly oiling and cleaning. In one to two haircuts they pay for themselves.
I purchased a Conair set, and began weed-whacking through a bushel of hair. I used a 3 clip around the entirety of my head, which made it impossible to screw up. By the end of it, I had already saved $15, time getting to and from a shop, and had an innate sense of pride in accomplishing it.
It’s been about 4 to 5 years since that fateful haircut. Now, I almost exclusively cut my own hair and/or receive assistance from friends and family. The savings are incredible. If you calculate the it at $90-100 a year (in haircut alone, which doesn’t account for time and transportation costs), I’ve likely kept more than $450 in my pocket since the switch. More money in savings, to invest, and pay off debt — what could be better?
The one major downside is that it’s never perfect. I’m limited in styles and sizes. Cleaning up the little, tiny, microscopic hairs within crevices and in between floor tiles is monotonous. I can’t say I enjoy getting to know the difficulties of cleaning hair off of grout. Alas, these are all but minor inconveniences to the half a grand I’ve saved over the years.
To commemorate my latest haircut, I decided to film it using Instagram’s new app, Hyperlapse. Hope you enjoy and let it inspire you to cut your own hair soon!
Check out another article, which highlights 3 popular grooming mistakes that men make!
ooooh, I loved this post! Super video! (I left the following comment in Money Propeller’s blog, but it bore (beared?) repeating) I’ve been cutting my own hair for years now. I got tired of getting a good cut maybe 1 out of 4 times. I’d try different salons. I’d find a girl who was good at it, but then she’d quit for some reason (hope it wasn’t me, I”m paranoid that way). I got a girl for a while with bad PMS and I’d always seem to end up with my appointment at that time. I could commiserate with her, but it was painful watching her cutting my hair practically doubled over in pain (she left a long lock of hair that was under my cape one time and I didn’t see it until I got home). I went to one girl way too long – she’d wash my hair and hand me the comb and ask me to comb my hair afterwards. That’s WAY too comfortable. For her anyway. So with much trial and even more error, I taught myself how to cut my own hair. Sometimes it takes 3 days to tinker with it to get it just right, but I’m never unhappy with the results. And yes, I do layers! My fine hair requires them. And a good fluffing with hairspray to boot! My favorite part? It’s free! That makes happy the ‘frugally’ part of me. Nice cost cutting post. I love these. 🙂
I attempted to cut my bangs after watching a video on Pinterest. It looked so simple. I ended up going to the beautician the following day because I had done such an awful job. I leave my hair to the experts. For my husband, I will cut his hair if that is what he wants. If he wants something special, he goes to the professionals.
I’ve been cutting my own hair for nearly 2 years and honestly I’m just now getting really good at it.
One thing you may wanna do is throw a towel down before you start cutting. Just roll up the towel, take it outside (or over a trashcan) and shake it out. Then throw it in the laundry. Makes cleanup super fast.
The best part for me about cutting my own hair is it forces me to pay attention to what I want. I used to just walk into the haircut place and let them do the usual.
Will,
Well done, sir! Great to hear that someone else is cutting their own hair, too. Great tip using a towel. I tend to just sweep up the remains for an easy cleanup and no wash needed. 🙂
Thanks for the comment,
Sam
Remember that the Kate Salon is always open for a nice curl and poof.
Yeahhh… I may need to take a raincheck on that. Haha. Too much poof last time.
Yeah, my requirement for a wife was that she would be able to cut my hair. It saves us so much money it’s not even funny, plus it gives her a sense of power when I am at her mercy under her razor sharp scissors every couple weeks. 🙂
As a woman, I would be very careful about cutting it myself. If necessary, I will trim the bottom line or bangs ONLY AFTER having a very good base cut from a professional. I’ve found that if I have a good base cut, then I can trim it up myself very lightly along the bottom. Otherwise, I definitely DO NOT recommend doing it myself, because after a few months it will definitely look AWFUL!
My wife has cut my hair for 3 years. I don’t have a lot to cut, but we added up the cost and it was $780 in haircuts minus $35 for the hair cut kit (don’t go with the super cheap ones). Now my wife is teaching my daughter. It’s quick and easy and saves us a lot of money. It adds up over time.
Good job! I have never attempted to cut my own hair but I keep asking the fiancee to cut it for me. She’s terrified of doing it for some strange reason. I keep telling her that I don’t care if she messes up, but she just doesn’t feel like she can do it. I’ll just keep asking until she gives in.
I get my haircut by people training to be hairdressers about twice a year. It’s either free or $15 bucks a pop.
That’s an awesome idea! Wow. Wonder if there’s anything like that around here…
Oh yeah for home haircuts! I buzz Mr. FW’s hair and have gotten pretty good at it–I’ve only shaved a bald patch in once. I really need him to cut my hair though, which is NOT going to entail a buzz.
I’ve been cutting my daughter’s hair, especially her bangs. 🙂 It’s really quite expensive to bring your daughter into a salon and would only cut a small part of their hair.
Cool idea! I’m a convert already.
Cutting my own hair seems like it would be pretty difficult, especially since I am a woman. Not even going to attempt this.
I don’t cut my own hair, but I have a complex style that could get easily botched. Plus, I have to maintain a professional look for my FT job, but I wouldn’t be opposed to cutting my SO’s hair (if I had one) 🙂
Lol I dont have to cut my own hair thank god. I just just shave it all of when it gets a little bit. Even if you have a lot of hair it is easy to do if you are cutting short all around. Attach one clipper size and just go around with it.
I can’t understand why the girl you were on a date with said you should go to a barber (The urge to splurge post on becomingminimalist). You look great!
Thanks for reading and finding the “Hair” article! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it and that I’m doing okay in that department. Hah!
Been cutting my own hair for 10 years. I cut my hair every 3 weeks and at $20 a haircut i saved $3,000. Not including driving there commuting in traffic waiting in line etc.
Been cutting my own hair for 20 years. Right now I cut it twice a week so I don’t have to spend a lot of time on it. My savings so far in haircuts during all these years is probably at least $6,000.