Do you realise how much your regular trip to the hairdresser or barbers is costing you? Have you ever been tempted to cut your own hair at home? Well, it is easier than you think (especially for men). We show you how to cut your own hair at home and how much it could save you over the long-term.
Getting ripped off at the hairdressers
Dear readers. Before I demonstrate how to cut your own hair at home, and how you can save a significant amount of money by cutting doing so, let me share with you a terrible tale of woe. It was the morning before a friend’s wedding and I was staying in a hotel in town. After putting my suit on, I realised that my hair needed a bit of a trim. I had an hour and so I popped downstairs to the local hairdresser for a simple short back and sides.
Now, usually, with the help of my fiancée, I cut my own hair using clippers. I never go skinhead short, but with the longer guards on top and a bit shorter round the back and sides, it usually looks very presentable. And it is free.
The hairdresser asks me to take a seat and she’ll see me straight away. That’s good, I thought. In summary, 20 minutes later, my hair was shorter. Good. However, she had decided to add a moat between my hair and my ear. How can I best describe it? I think it is fair to say that she was about as good at cutting hair as I am at making illustrative drawings:
Oh well, no bother. At least it is shorter. Let’s pay and get out of here. I make my way to the desk, where I am greeted by another lady, who will “look after me”. Remind me never to be looked after by a hairdresser receptionist again:
“Thank you Sir – that will be £27”.
“Excuse me? I only had a trim”.
“Yes sir, gentlemen’s haircuts are £27”.
At this point she supplied proof via a price list that was nicely hidden under the desk. I needed to go, so I handed over £30. Now, here is where it got interesting.
“Would you like to leave a tip for your hairdresser?”
“No, thank you”.
What I wanted to say was:
“Yes, I have two tips for my hairdresser.
- My ears are not allergic to my hair. In fact, most peoples’ ears aren’t allergic to their hair. Therefore, there isn’t much need to keep them further apart from each other than someone doing Stoptober and the local pub!
- Set up your own business as for £27 for 20 minutes, you could earn £81 per hour, £648 per day, or about £150k a year.
Good day!”
How much could I save if I cut my own hair at home?
At £27 for each haircut, and 6 weeks between haircuts, this would amount to an annual bill of £234. If you do this for 25 years, and invest these savings at a return of 7% per annum, you’ll be looking at £14,800 as a long-term cost of getting your hair cut.
Alternatively, I could buy a pair of clippers once every three years, for about £20 and do it myself. The saving between those two options is hopefully very apparent.
So, the savings are tempting, but how exactly do I go about cutting my own hair? Well, the first thing to note is that it is usually easier (and safer) to get someone else to help you out (a parent, sibling, partner, friend, stranger off the street..). This way, they can see what they are doing at the back and ensure that you don’t take a great big chunk out of your own scalp.
How to cut your own hair at home – men
The easiest way to cut men’s hair is with clippers, and its remarkably easy. For my own hair, I use the fourth shortest option on top, then the third shortest for the top of the sides, the second shortest for the next part down and finally the shortest for the tips. Finish off with no guard on my neck and snip off any straggly parts around the ears or fringe with a pair of scissors. Obviously, which guard lengths you use this will depend on the style you are looking for.
This probably takes me about 10 minutes in total, but I get my darling fiancée to help with the shorter part of the back.
Need further guidance? There are plenty of videos out there on youtube, but here is one for men’s hair which is pretty good:
How to cut your own hair at home – women
Well, girls, you could just use clippers like the men. However, if you are looking to cut your hair and have it look a little more feminine than Britney after her breakdown, then there are also plenty of options out there for you too.
Cutting your own hair as a woman is a lot more difficult (and risky) than doing so as a man. However, on the flip side, it is usually a lot more expensive and so, if you can master it, you will be saving much more than you would be as a man.
How you will cut your hair will depend hugely on what type of hair you have and the style you desire. Have a bit of a search on youtube for someone who has similar hair to you and, if you are brave enough, give it a go. Worst case scenario, you’ll be heading down to your hairdressers to fix any errors you may have made.
It doesn’t even have to be a simple style. For example, this video shows how to cut side swept bangs yourself:
Remember, at first, “cut a little at a time” is very solid advice!! 😉
So, let me know. Have you cut your own hair before? Would you do it again?
[cunjo layout=”inline_buttons”]
Money Beagle says
I’ve thought about this for quite some time but have never tried it or gotten the stuff for it. I think part of the issue is that my wife is nervous about her role (she’d have to do my neck and such which can get quite messy for me), plus there’s the whole problem of the mess. Cleaning up little bits of hair is just no fun. Might consider it but still on the fence.
moneystepper says
Fair point. I do it on the bathroom floor and then just get the vacuum cleaner out and clean it all up. Its a tiny bit of effort, but its definitely worth while if you are paying £27 a time at the hairdressers!! :S
One Cent at a Time says
Once I tried cutting my hair, it didn’t work out. then i asked my wife to cut it for me. That too didn’t work out well and I ended up goign to hair cuttery to trim further.
May be I should try with a clipper this time. Thanks for the suggetsion.
moneystepper says
If you try to cut your own hair at home and start a little bit at a time, you can always go and get a fix at the hairdressers and you are no worse off financially. I’ve found with clippers and a bit of care, its difficult for men to go far wrong!
Nina @ RichLife.io says
My mom cut my hair for the longest time. She did it really well and we probably saved so much money at home thanks to that.
Now I throw 85 euros at my hairdresser every 7 weeks for dye + trim. I’ve considered looking at her pricelist to see if I can’t take a bit off that bill, I think I am paying extra to have it brush dried. I just feel super awkward about having to do that though because I’ve always been happy to pay that much and she’s a single business owner in a small town. I could find another hairdresser too but I actually love going there and talk to her about things. It is my only remaining extravagance in my budget. On the positive side I do have amazingly looking hair.
moneystepper says
Wow – €85 every month and a half is crazy! Its tough when you like the service and its a local place, but I guess that everyone has their limit!
dojo says
Husband is cutting his own hair, I still have to go to the hairdresser, since we need to also take a lot of it’s ‘thickness’. And it’s pretty costly, too. About 25 bucks.
moneystepper says
Yeah, it all adds up. When you are paying £25+ per haircut, learning how to cut your own hair at home can be a big saver for the whole family over the course of the year!
Mrs. Frugalwoods says
Yes to home haircuts! I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for several years now. Fortunately, he likes a short buzz cut, so it’s pretty easy. But, I did have to learn how to shape the hair around his ears and neck. I’ve gotten quite good at it, if I do say so myself, and people have asked him where he gets his hair cut (hopefully because they think it looks so awesome… and not because they think it looks terrible!).
moneystepper says
Haha – its all about the emphasis on the words in the sentence “where did you get that haircut”! Could mean very different things!
Yeah, learning how to cut your own hair (or other people in your family) can be a great saver and after a while you get just as good or better than the hairdresser because you know what you like and what looks good on you.
Cheryl says
you are right about how much it costs to get haircuts. I stopped going to the salon and taking my kids to the barber because of experiences like you mentioned, paying a lot for a bad haircut. These are the numbers I have come up with for what I am saving with at home haircuts. Two boys at $15 each plus $20 transportation costs every 5-6 weeks is about $550 a year. Mine trimmed every other month by my guy saves $50 plus $15 transportation costs is nearly $400 a year. Since he started coloring my hair with henna – $20 product every 3 months versus over $100 at the salon, that saves over $350. So I am saving over $1200 a year, I get compliments by my family on how nice the boys haircuts look and I had never gotten more than two haircuts in a row I was happy with in the salon. Now I have not had a bad haircut since going salon-free. And I don’t miss the hassle or time wasted waiting for and getting the haircut I am unhappy with. Last month I got a compliment on my hair color by a woman who owns a salon. When I told her it was henna done at home, she said she was glad that everyone doesn’t do it as it would kill her business.
bryan flake says
These “how to” videos are really helpful. I am tired of the bowl cut look I usually have. It would be nice to change up my hairstyle and go with something that is daring and a bit adventurous.
Peter says
I’d recommend Karmin
Team from Bound for Style says
I think for men this might work, but for ladies it’s a big no unless it’s just a trim.
Petunia Evans says
I know that I could save a lot of money by cutting my own hair, but I’m a bit afraid to do it. But I really appreciate the video you put of how to cut your own bangs. It doesn’t seem too hard, so I’ll give it a go!