Sunday, February 17, 2013
A year of self-haircuts
It's been a year since I bought a Wahl clipper per Mr. Money Mustache's advice. In that time I shaved with a razor maybe half a dozen times, and I never went to a barber. I can confidently say that this has been one of the easiest and biggest wins for me during my time as a Mustachian.
In terms of pure numbers it's a no-brainer. I estimate that I used to get a haircut every six week or so. That's about 8 haircuts per year, rounding down. At $17 per haircut ($14 plus tip), that's $136 per year on haircuts. I usually shave every two to three days. Let's say I replace my Mach 3 Turbo blades every 3.4 weeks, to make the numbers convenient: that's 15 blades per year, which I can find on Amazon right now for $15.99 for a 5-pack or $28.99 for a 10-pack; let's take the lower $2.90/blade number and say that's $43.50 per year. Shaving cream is $1 per can, and let's say I go through one every six months, for $2 per year.
My Wahl clipper was $25 and saved me $181 in a year, which by my count is a 624% return on investment this year. Pretty good!
I saved a lot of time, too. A trip to the barber takes somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour and a half, including travel time and wait time. Cutting my own hair takes maybe fifteen minutes in the comfort of my own home. And the time saved is prime time: I visit the barber on the weekend, usually during the day when I could be doing anything else with my time; whereas I can (and do) cut my own hair on a random Tuesday evening. So I estimate I've traded 9 weekend hours for 2 weeknight hours, which is a pretty awesome trade.
Now, I don't want to pretend like it's all roses. The average quality of haircut I receive from a barber is noticeably higher than that which I give myself. I screwed up my sideburns once or twice while I was learning how to cut my hair, and I haven't even attempted the fancypants layering technique that the professionals can do. At best I've learned how to make my hair passably well-kept, which is good enough for me. If I were so inclined (which I'm not), I think I could pick up a technique or two approximate more closely the haircuts given out by professional barbers. That is time and effort that you may be willing to invest yourself.
It remains to be seen how long my clipper will last. It shows no noticeable signs of degradation, and I freely admit I have not been doing much to maintain it. Whenever it does decide to die, either tomorrow or in one or five or ten years, it will have paid for itself many many times over.
In conclusion, I highly recommend buying your very own Universal Men's Grooming Device (or clipper or trimmer or whatever you want to call it), and using it to maintain all your facial hair. I was skeptical at first and now I am a true believer. Worst case you spend a little more for a crappy haircut and go back to your life at the barber shop. Best case you save thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours over the course of your lifetime. Give it a shot!
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Nice savings. I bought a trimmer a few years ago and have sure gotten my money's worth out of it. I don't cut my own hair every time it needs a trim, but have cut my professional haircuts down from 10/year to 2-3.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I saw the title and thought we were going to see pictures of a year's worth of haircuts, probably gradually improving, getting more professional. Or maybe a time-lapse video...
ReplyDeleteOh well, still good stuff.
I use an electric shaver for what little facial hair growth I have, I'm on my third shaver in 30 years which works out at about 4 bucks a year - not bad. I'm not bad-ass enough to cut what still grows atop my head though - yet.
Nice work, man.
ReplyDeleteI bought an electric razor during my sophomore year in college, 16 years ago. I'm on my second one now. I haven't paid for a haircut or bought a razor since then.
Besides the monetary savings, I've also saved a ton of time. Rather than spending an hour going to a barber, I can trim my hair and beard in about 15 minutes right before I jump in the shower.
I will try once again try to persuade to do this. He likes the head massage he gets from his regular barber and the fact that he does not have to say a word and they know what to do since he is a regular customer.
ReplyDeleteI admit, head massages are nice. Maybe try the self-haircut at home for a few months, and then a retail hair cut is a special treat.
DeleteI think I would have to change my haircut if I wanted to DIY...or maybe teach Mrs. PoP how to wield the Wahl. Does the self-cut lok as good as the retail cut?
ReplyDeleteNo, a retail cut looks better than when I cut my own hair. But I think that can be improved by getting my girlfriend to cut my hair for me. We'll see how that goes :)
DeleteHave you asked your girlfriend if she would cut your hair for you? My wife has been cutting my hair with a UMGD for almost a decade now. She knows my hair better than I do, and certainly gives me a better haircut than I would be able to give myself.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the next step. I haven't brought it up in a while, so we'll see where that gets me :)
DeleteI cut my husbands hair every 3 weeks with a Wahl - hate doing it but the annual savings make it worth it :)
ReplyDeleteWell that's awful nice of you. I feel the same way about cleaning the bathrooms: I hate doing it, but otherwise I'd have to hire a cleaning service. No thanks!
DeleteVery interesting assessment! I need a haircut badly, the only thing that has kept me from running out to do it is my interest in trying it myself. Not sure the wife likes me to have a shorter cut either. Need to make a decision soon though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, very timely for me!
Hi, saw this post on www.studentloanrage.com. Good idea! Too bad Lady Mustachians can't really get in on this, but there are many very expensive salon/spa services that ladies can do at home. I think I will write about a year of self-waxes!
ReplyDelete