Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Haircuts At Home - No You Won't Scalp Them

We have lots of hair at our house and we're healthy enough that it grows at a fast rate. The boys could easily get a haircut once a month while my daughter can go longer since her hair is intended to be long. It's those short haircuts that take more maintenance. For a good hairstylist at a high end salon we were paying $30 a head including tips.

For the kids alone that was $120 every 4-6 weeks. Not to mention $60 in cuts for Chris and I as wells as $80 every few months to keep my gray hairs under wraps.

We were sinking in hair expenses.

So we decided to cut back. My hair is long curly and forgiving so I put my years of watching my stylist to use, and held my hair at the same angles so I could layer it myself. Then I bought $3 boxes of self administered hair color. Not salon quality but it passed and didn't look like I was doing it myself. I went from $500 a year to $24 a year.

But the kids and Chris were another story.

Even at the quicky haircut places we were paying $60 total for the other 5 family members. It worked out to be about $500 a year in hair care. I knew I could do better.

So a while back, for about $35 dollars I bought a Wahl clipper set (see my right sidebar under "I Recommend" for the one we use) and armed with the how-to's that came with my set I learned how to cut the kids hair for free. The more I did it, the better I got and soon with the help of a little book called Scissor and Comb Haircutting (also in sidebar) I became brave enough to try the scissor and comb cuts.

So now that the book and the Wahl clippers have paid for themselves, it costs nothing but time to get haircuts. For the boys that like the clipper cuts, it's 5 - 7 minutes. For the people who like their hair longer with a scissor cut, it's about 10 minutes per head, and for my home cut and color, it's $3 and 45 minutes.

That's a serious savings!

Here's some before and afters from today's haircutting extravaganza.

Before



After



Before

After

Before

After



And did you know that you can compost the hair? Use it up, baby!

For more great tips go see WFMW.

29 comments:

penguinsandladybugs said...

Gayle: I didn't know where else to post this, but I would love to see more about your gardening. I am inspired to start a garden, yet I'm overwhelmed. I've gone through some of your posts, but I would love more "how-to's" and teaching from you :0)

Halfmoon Girl said...

good job on the haircuts, Gayle. I cut our boys hair too- I should probably read up a bit as the results are sometimes...interesting. I have been told that putting hair clippings on and around rose bushes helps keep the deer away. I am going to try it this year.

Marci @OvercomingBusy said...

I have friends who cut their boys and husbands hair. I just don't have the guts and my husband will not let me near his hair! My son's hair grow so fast that I'm about ready to try cutting his. Yikes! You make it sounds so easy!

Anonymous said...

I use the Flowbee to cut my own hair. They have a www. You can still get them. {new or used} Been using it for many years successfully. It is that hair cutting thing they advertised heavily on tv years ago to buy. You hook the cutter up to your own vaccume. It works for longer hair than a buzz cut,.. cutting your hair one overall length. You determine the length with the parts they give you., It is very easy and in 5 minutes or less my hair is cut. Thanks for all the encouragement and knowledge you have given us to save $ and do it with a smile. Jody

momstheword said...

I tried cutting my son's hair on my own but it looked awful. So we bought a Flowbee and have used it ever since.

It's that thing that you hook up to your vacuum and it cuts and sucks the hair up. It really does work well, honest!

Tara Broman said...

Thanks for this post. I am going to have to give it a try. By the way, I read your first post about haircuts and one of the links (cutting bangs, etc.) is not working. Do you know what that site was?

Also, any suggestions for saving money on toiletries? I would love to know where you get your hair color so cheap!

Thanks, again!

The Semi-single Mom said...

It can be expensive. I do color my own hair & my sister is a natural at cutting hair...self taught. She cuts mine & my husbands & sometimes my daughter's. I usually cut my daughters but if my sis is going to do 2 then 3 is no trouble. And the price??? An extra place at the dinner table & sometimes the hubster helps out at her house since she is single. We have saved a ton of money.

Rachel said...

We do our own hair here too. I have a set of Wahl clippers for DH and a nice pair of scissors for myself. I also do my own color. DH was getting his hair cut every 3 weeks at $20 per, and it was just getting ridiculous.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the post! Just today, I was debating whether to clip the boys or take them to a friend's salon and shell out big bucks?! You helped remind me WHY I bought those clippers in the first place!

Unknown said...

I too did my own coloring last time and it was fine! I'm trying to get the nerve up to do my own trim, as I'm wearing it longer these days. I have tried in the past to do my guys, but it looked so chopped up. I may invest in a better clipper as you suggested. I try to look at these news challenges as something fun, not a necessary evil! BWHAAA! Thanks for all your inspiration.

The Prudent Homemaker said...

My husband cuts my hair, and I usually cut everyone else's.

We used towels for a while, too, and then I finally bought 2 hair-cutting smocks; one child-sized one and one adult one. I love them so much more than the towels.

Anonymous said...

My husband has not had a pro cut his hair in 14 years. My son (now almost 10) has also never had a "real" hair cut. We LOVE our clippers. After you do a couple cuts, it's already paid for itself! I can trim up my girls' hair pretty well myself, but major jobs get done at supercuts (with a coupon, of course). I used to color my own hair as well, but finally broke down to have a pro do it. I only go twice per year though and do my own touch-ups on cut and color at home. I'm sure our family has saved hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on self done hair care (and hey, most of the time, you can't even tell). hehe Great suggestion Gayle!

Becky said...

I've been cutting my boys hair ever since they were little. At first my husband wouldn't let me touch his, but after awhile he decided to give it a try. For a year or two we'd alternate between me and the salon, but he hasn't set foot in one for 20 years now. It sure does save a lot of money!

Kelli @ writing the waves said...

Wow! I'm impressed, especially that you cut your own hair too. I've been resorting the the home hair color as well, but it's about $9 a box. Where did you find one for $3?

Hoosier Homemade said...

I wish I would have started cutting my boys hair yrs ago, they are teenagers now and won't let me touch it. :(
Thanks for sharing!
~Liz

Anonymous said...

I have been cutting my 10 year olds hair for the past two years, it's just too easy to do! My daughter on the other hand....she has a unique cut, I can trim her, but that's about it, your post has made me want to try her now as well, so I plan on it.

Jackie R said...

Wow, looks great! I have recently started on the "cutting my own hair" adventure, but I have been cutting my son's hair for years. Love those clippers!

Clean and Classic Interiors said...

I love it! The before and afters are great! I cut my boys hair too and I love how it saves me money and relieves the stress of how they will react to the hairdresser. A fun tv show for my 4 year old to watch is all he needs to distract him.

Michelle @ Give a Girl a Fig said...

I would love to do this but my boys (13 adn 11) don't trust me! My husband trusts me...so I cut his hair which is nice and saves about $25 every 4-6 weeks. I tried to cut my own hair...just in the front...and it was a bit of a wash. But I'm getting ready to give it another shot. Wish my luck!

Anonymous said...

Ths biggest issue with home hair coloring is most forget to do just the roots on the touch ups (after the first time you color). If you use a peroxide based product on the whole head each time the ends tend to grab the color and get darker or lighter if you are using bleach or a very light blonde. Just make sure you do the roots for all but the last 3 - 5 minutes. Pull color through the whole head for those last 3 - 5 minutes.

Georgi said...

I grew up in a family that did home haircuts and treatments (I woke up one morning and my mom's hair was the color of a banana). So it is a natural to me for us to do our own hair, as the kids got older if they wanted to go to a salon, they had to pay for it, so. . .

Megan said...

Yep I cut my boys hair too. I'm still learning on the scissors thing. My 3 yr. old needs the scissor for now and my older 2 get the buzz. It really is easy!

I've always done it so I forget how much we're saving by doing them! Great post!

Katie said...

I cut my kids hair too. But I am a retired cosmetologist, so I guess I'd better. I hate cutting my own hair though. Its hard to get the back!

Unknown said...

Youtube has great tutorial videos on hair cutting & styling! ^-^ It's where I learned to cut and style my own bangs since everyone else kept getting it WRONG from what I wanted.

Unknown said...

My husband has insanely curly/wavy hair that only looks good cut really short. Shortly before we got married he got tired of me nagging him to get a hair cut and bought a set of clippers. I've been buzzing his hair for the past 9 years, and have only screwed up twice. Luckily he's not vain about his hair, so I just buzzed it super short and waited for it to grow out.

My 3 year old has straight hair with a little wave to it, so I am having to learn how to cut it right. I seem to screw his hair up every other time, but I'm getting better. I figure he's too young to care what it looks like. : )

Carrie said...

i'm 25 and had my mom cut my hair just a couple months ago. i haven't been able to find a stylist i like for years and wasn't willing to pay for one i don't like.

DESJ and Company said...

I'm SOLD!
Going to pick it up tomorrow...haircuts on Sunday!
But I cannot find the "I recommend" link to figure out which one to get...

Anonymous said...

My husband is a little lite on top so it is real easy to just buzz his. I also do my sons' hair, I need to get brave to try and do my 2 daughters.

Anonymous said...

Chris gave Moses a home hair cut the other day... he looked just like Dwight from the Office, no joke. I started laughing, Moses started crying. "I don't wanna look like Dwipe". Took him to get it professionally fixed the next day. ~Karlie (who is too lazy to sign in)