Credits: Social Media
I’ve saved $1,750 on haircuts using this not-so-sophisticated hack
Thats an approximate figure, but based on a brief calculation, I can proudly say Ive probably saved somewhere between $1,200 and $2,000 on haircuts over the last six and a half years. How? With grit and determination. Blood, sweat, and tears. Elbow grease, a hamster wheel, and a modicum of assiduity.
Well, sort of. More like a $12 beard trimmer and quite a forgiving hairstyle and, yes, reasonable expectations about the level of neatness, uniformity, and overall professionalism one can achieve with a handheld mirror. And a $12 beard trimmer. Anyway, heres how I did it.
Cutting your hair yourself can save you thousands
And thats no joke with the Cozzy Livs thats what we in Britain call the Cost of Living Crisis.
In 2018, the average price of a mens haircut in the UK was �12.17 (about $16). Thats the price Ive been working with when calculating how much money Ive not spent on haircuts over the last six and a half years.�
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I could adjust the figure for inflation over the intervening years, but the maths would become needlessly complicated, and thats not the point.�
I started cutting my own hair in early 2018, shortly before setting off on a 6,800-mile bicycle trip. Id gone down the road to the local barbershop only to find that, for some reason, it was closed. Or maybe there was a queue. Either way, it was a no-go.
But I didn’t let that stop me. Illegitimi non carborundum. I went home, borrowed my dad’s beard trimmer, and got creative.
Choose a hairstyle you can realistically maintain yourself
I wanted a hairstyle I could keep up myself, and one that would be appropriate for spending weeks at a time cycling in hot weather: short on the sides.�
But I didnt want to cut everything off, because I wanted something to play with. Im a bit of a fidgeter. Without hair to twiddle, I dont know what to do with my hands.
Fades are tricky if you cant see what youre doing. Sure, it takes bravery, experience, or foolhardiness, to shave (or, in my case, trim back) a sharp line down your head, but once you get the hang of it, you realize its easier than it looks.�
So for these reasons, I cut in a mohawk something like a cross between a mohican and a mullet.�I’ll be the first to admit that my first swing of the hammer wasn’t a roaring success. It takes time to work out where the lines are when you can’t see them.
When I went to work that evening in a local pub, the landlord said: What have you done with your hair?
When I saw a friend the following day, he said: You missed a bit. �
Missing bits and confusing your boss are occupational hazards when you start on this journey. Do not be discouraged. You will save money, and you will never have to book a slot at the barbershop at an inconvenient time again.
Doing the sums
During the six and a half years Ive cut my own hair, Ive probably trimmed it on average once every three weeks.�I like to keep the sides short.
That means I might have cut it 113 times. Multiply that by the average cost of a basic mens haircut in the UK ($16), and you get $1,808. Subtract the cost of the two trimmers I purchased during the test period at a combined cost of $58, and my total theoretical savings equal a round, and rather satisfying, $1,750.
A mathematical caveat: During those six and a half years, I spent six months on a bicycle traveling from France to Azerbaijan and back again; nearly a year in Sri Lanka; about two years in the Philippines; and another 10 months cycling from France to Thailand. Youd therefore be forgiven for saying my plucking the figure of $16 from the Internets statistical backwaters is arbitrary. Haircuts are cheaper in South Asia. Cheaper, too, in Luzon.�
Sometimes, the devils in the details. And often, its better the devil that you know.
The point is to highlight the potential savings. On a national level, according to one Chicago salon, the average cost of a men’s haircut in the United States is�$28. Thats almost double the cost in the UK and almost double the potential savings for our American readers.
So, what are you waiting for? DIY remedies are all the rage in the TikTok era. Be the change you want to see in your hair.
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