You might have noticed how expensive haircuts can be this day and age. Well, if you are a family of 7 like us, this is a HUGE expense – at least it could be….
But it can also be a low expense. When we shared our budget, we shared how we only set aside $10 a month for haircuts.
This is because, I cut the boy’s and daddy’s hair at home, and I cut the girls bangs at home. I do get nervous about doing an actual trim on my girls as they have such gorgeous long hair. So how I and our three girls get cuts is from the local beauty college. We set aside $10 a month, because we go in about every 3 months to get a trim. This gives us $30, which is more than enough for a cut at the beauty college and tips for our student beauticians. Sometimes we have a little extra for a color or highlight. In the end, we figure that we average a 70% savings at the beauty college over a regular salon, not to mention more than 70% savings compared to high end salons.
We have also found that the beauty colleges in our area, use high end products and have a high end experience. Yes, we know that they are students and that you sign a waiver and something could go wrong, but I have personally been going to the beauty college for 11 years (about the time we started our $100K debt payoff as salon services were too astronomical). In that time, I have never had a bad experience, or a cut or service go badly. Our oldest daughter is 10, and I started taking her when she was a few years old and then added the other two thrifty princesses later. All four of us go and have a good experience. But, there is a risk that your cut/style/color, etc. can go badly and hair is unforgiving. But it is a risk I am willing to take to save 70% average! You can see our before and after results HERE as well as more details on how this can save you loads of money.
Now when it comes to cutting hair at home, I have no previous experience with cutting hair. But I bought a simple kit from Amazon and these are very user friendly, even for the unexperienced. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of it for giving the boys a cut. In fact, I have been cutting Alex and our sons’ hair for over 5 years now! I use to cut all one length, but now I use two or three different levels on the boys and three levels on Alex for a more professional looking cut!
The great thing is that in our day and age, you can get information at your finger tips. The first several times, use your computer, tablet or smart phone and watch some YouTube videos on how to cut boy’s or men’s hair. You can even play it along side while you are cutting for the first few times while you get the hang of it!
Here’s a quick video showing how to cut men/boys hair in 5 steps:
Buying a kit is nearly the cost of a salon cut one time! So basically, in lieu of a cut this month, get a kit and get cutting at home! We recommend this very affordable kit from Wahl that is also user friendly for the at home novice!
Wahl haircutting kit for men and boys that is very user friendly, even for novices. You can consistently get this for under $20 HERE.
Like I said, I also cut our girl’s bangs. This is a bit harder compared to cutting boys hair. It requires more precision and skill. But once you do it a few times, it will become easy too! My girls’ bangs have to be cut about every 2 weeks before they start getting in their eyes. Just a bang trim at a place like Great Clips ( a budget salon) cost $5 in our area – this alone would be $30 a month! So again, pulling up YouTube and cutting bangs at home can be a huge savings!
Here’s a GREAT video on how to cut bangs!
By the way, the scissors included in the above kit are great for cutting bangs too! So it is your multipurpose kit!
So for cheap cuts, consider cutting hair at home, especially for the boys, and then using a beauty college for the rest and potentially save hundreds per year!
Have you cut hair at home and do you have any tips for others?
See more Frugal Living Tips and Articles HERE
Susan
I started cutting my husband’s hair just in the last year. It took me a long time the first time, like an hour. I used both scissors and the ‘buzzer’. I was careful not to cut too much off at once because you can always cut more off, but you can’t put it back! Each time I did it, I got a little better at it and it takes less time and I’m happier with the results.
Recently, I got brave and decided to cut my own hair. It was a little longer than shoulder length, with bangs and straight with grown out layers. I have a mirror that you can put around your neck and adjust so you can see the back hands free that I got at a beauty supply store. Now I have watched a good number of hair cutting videos on YouTube and have studied what the pros do when I get my hair cut, so I kinda knew some basics. I took my time and cut carefully, again a little at a time until I was fairly satisfied. I did have my husband even up the bottom in the center back for me. The next day I wound up cutting more off and I must say, I actually did a decent job! It is layered and in a bob style. I can’t tell you how pleased this makes me, not only to save the money but I don’t have to be unhappy with what someone else did to my hair! If I mess it up I only have myself to blame. And that’s so much better than being upset over a bad haircut that I had to PAY money for!
Julie
I have cut my husband and son’s hair for 22 years. One Christmas season, I splurged on a haircut for my son as gift to myself! It was a horrible cut. The stylist kept saying his hair was like cutting wood. We went home and I had to recut it as it looked like a woman’s cut. The experience made me feel good about my abilities at least. I only trim my daughter’s hair. I have gotten yearly haircuts at thrifty salons but the last few years I’ve just trimmed my own. Last week though, I decided I wanted to have a much shorter haircut and my daughter and I watched some Youtube videos. We proceeded with the cut, frequently referring back to the video and my daughter gave me a great short layered cut! I think we’ll be doing our own from now on.
Tiffany
I bought a creaclip and it’s really easy to use to trim my hair and both of my daughter’s hair. I started cutting my son’s hair about 6 months ago and I’m getting pretty good 🙂
Carolyn
At home haircuts can save a lot of money. The cost of the haircut, tip, travel and time all add up. I started cutting my boys hair after two bad haircuts at the barber in a row. Bought a good Wahl clipper set and my boyfriend who cuts my hair got me though the boys’ first at home haircuts by me. Better than what they got at the barbershop. I figure between what I paid for the boys, plus getting mine trimmed by my boyfriend every other month., I am saving over $900 a year and the results are better than I got at the salon as well 🙂