Save A Penny: Home Hair Cuts

This thrifty tip may not be for everyone but if you're looking for ways to cut back on your monthly expenses you really should consider home hair cuts. This is an excellent way to save money on a regular basis. A simple haircut in an inexpensive salon usually cost about $20 for the haircut and tip. If your husband gets his hair cut just once per month and you opt to do it at home instead, that's a savings of $240/year. If you try home haircuts for your kids and yourself, you could easily be looking at savings of over $300-400. In the 9 years I have been cutting Phil's hair, we've saved approximately $2,000 on HIS haircuts alone!

When I was in college and dating Phil, he didn't have money to spend on haircuts on a regular basis. I volunteered to try cutting his hair. Yes, TRY. I had never cut hair before and I had probably seen my dad get his haircut approximately two times as a young child. I really had never even watched how they cut guys' hair. Phil was up for the adventure so we went to a local store and bought an inexpensive hair-cutting kit for about $15. We went back to the dorms and carefully, I followed Phil's instructions about cutting his hair. It took me forever; probably close to 45 minutes to 1 hour, but in the end, he had his hair cut and it didn't look bad. One time, I wasn't paying attention and cut one section of the front too short so the rest of the front had to be cut short as well. He was pretty bummed about that haircut. However, I can now cut his hair in about 15 minutes and do an amazing decent job.

When we had a little more expendable income when we were both graduated from college and working, Phil went back to getting his hair cut at the salon. However, after a haircut he didn't like from a stylist, he decided that I did a better more consistent job and it wasn't worth paying for a haircut if I could do just as good as a salon. Ever since, I have been cutting his hair. The only people who have ever noticed that he doesn't have a "professional" haircut are stylists themselves. They can tell that an untrained individual cut his hair but no one else has ever noticed.

I not only cut Phil's hair but also my daughter's. I have given Taeya all her haircuts since we started cutting her hair at about 6 months. It's usually a very simple trim. It has never been an overly difficult experience because she is comfortable with me and our home environment. I think, when she was younger, it would actually have been harder for her to have a stylist cut her hair. Kids hair is so easy to cut! When Brecken gets bigger, I'll definitely be cutting his hair as well.

I'm sure I've lost many of you by this point. Cut my family's hair? No way!! Seriously, you should give it a try! Not only do I cut my husband and children's hair, I also have actually cut my own. It's tough to do though and I wouldn't recommend it. However, I usually just ask a friend or family member to cut my hair when it needs it. I have very straight hair and have no desire for coloring or layers. I wear it long so it's really very simple to cut. Over Christmas, I asked my Mother-in-law to cut my hair and she did a fantastic job. I've paid to have my hair cut only two times in the last four years.


Tip: If you are willing to give home haircuts a try, make sure you spend a little more than $15 on a hair-cutting kit. The first one we purchased for $15 didn't last very long. I think we spent between $30-40 on our next kit and it's lasted a good 5 years and is still going strong.