Last weekend my son and I got a haircut at our local Supercuts so that he could have a clean look before school started again. As I paid for the haircuts, I noticed that our “cheap” Supercuts haircut cost me $50 (including tip). A single haircut at Supercuts cost around $22 before tip – five years ago it felt like it was about $16 and I was working back then so it wasn’t something I worried about since I was usually getting a haircut the evening before flying out to a business trip of some sort. Today, managing my expenses is a little more important as I try to continue to grow my investments without having any meaningful earned income from a job. I want to cut expenses that are easy to cut and still continue to do the things I enjoy with my family.
I went home later that day and took a look at how much I spent on our haircuts last year. I have some fast growing hair and I get a haircut every 2-3 weeks. My son typically gets a haircut every 4-6 weeks. I saw that I spent close to $600 for my son and me to get haircuts in 2019. Wow, that’s a lot of money for basic haircuts.
My first thought was to go to our local barber that I know is a bit cheaper and he does a good job. However, there is typically a 30-45 minute wait and the barber shop is old school with no online appointments. It also still costs me close to $40 for my son and me to get a haircut, or over $400 per year.
My next step was to look online to see how much it would cost to purchase a set of commercial quality hair clippers – it was about $100 with attachments and, based on the product reviews, these clippers would last for at least five years while being used at a barber shop or salon.
Let’s assume they last five years for me and every year I buy $50 worth of replacement attachments. The difference in costs is significant:
| Supercuts | Do-It-Yourself Haircuts | |
| Year 1 | $600 | $100 |
| Year 2 | $600 | $50 |
| Year 3 | $600 | $50 |
| Year 4 | $600 | $50 |
| Year 5 | $600 | $50 |
| Total | $3,000 | $300 |
| Savings | $2,700 |
It seems like a no-brainer to buy the clippers and cut my own hair at home but I haven’t made the purchase yet. If you type in “people cutting their own hair” on YouTube you will get tutorials on how to cut your own hair and you will also find some disastrous results. I discussed the idea of cutting my son’s hair with him and his reaction bordered on trepidation and curiosity.
I am not trying to convince everyone to cut their own hair and my wife and daughter will continue to pay for professional assistance for their hair. Instead, I realized while paying for my latest haircut that there are some things I overlook that are costing me a lot of money every year. I could do these things a little differently and save some meaningful money. For everyone trying to achieve financial independence, you might want to think about the things you do that can add up financially over time and ask yourself if there is a cheaper, still pretty convenient, way for you to do it. By doing this you might find some additional savings that you can invest on your journey to achieving financial independence.
