With eight people in our family, the cost of hair cuts quickly adds up. Here are a few tips to save money on hair care for your family.
Learn to cut hair.
This is probably the most obvious and difficult tip. Learning to cut hair is something people go to school for, it takes practice.
It does not take much practice to give a little boy a buzz cut. Since it is summertime now is a great time to practice. A good set of clippers costs under $40. My favorite are Wahl clippers, but any hair clippers will do. These will pay for themselves in a few months depending on how many boys you have in your family.
Learn to trim / cut bangs.
If you really don’t feel comfortable giving haircuts, how about a trim? When we first started saving money on haircuts I could not cut hair at all.
My boys had buzz cuts all the time. We then realized that I could do a pretty good job of trimming the hair around their ears and the back of their neck. While this didn’t eliminate the need for haircuts, it did extend the time between haircuts.
Wear a longer style.
If you are not opposed to this, let your boy wear a longer style. I personally prefer shorter hair on boys, but a longer style will lengthen your time between trips to the barber.
All of my boys (adults) have longer hair now. When they were little the buzz cuts were fine, but now they would prefer to not get it cut at all. About once a year they buzz it all off and start over.
Works for me!
Avoid Bangs at ALL COSTS.
If you have a little girl, avoid bangs. Bangs need constant trimming in order to look nice. Invest in some pretty clips or headbands to keep the hair out of their eyes.
I could fill this post with photos of my attempts to cut bangs on my girls when they were younger. Now I’ve banned them. 🙂
Skip the Overpriced Kid’s Shampoo
Teach your kids to close their eyes. We have been using adult shampoo on our kids since they were old enough to keep their eyes closed while we wash their hair.
Kids shampoo is expensive and once your children can keep their eyes closed for 20 seconds you don’t need to use it.
Wear a Simple Style
For moms, get a hairstyle that doesn’t need constant maintenance. There are many styles today that will allow you to go for 3 to 4 months before getting a trim.
I typically get a trim every six months. My hair is styled in long layers so it doesn’t need a lot of maintenance.
Donate Your Hair
Many salons will cut your hair for free if you are donating it to Locks of Love or another similar organization.
Color Your Own Hair
Boxed colors have come a long way. There are even DIY coloring kits that have multidimensional tones to get the salon look at a fraction of the price.
Embrace the Gray
This isn’t for everyone! But if you are ready to embrace those roots stop coloring your hair altogether. It will save you a lot of money.
Wash Your Hair Every Other Day
I wash my hair once a week in the winter. During the summer it’s more frequent, but I don’t wash my hair every day. This works best if you have textured hair (like me) however most people I know can go an extra day between washings.
Compare Shampoos & Conditioners
Many people use a certain product out of habit or because someone recommended it to them. Try a less expensive brand sometime and see you if you can tell the difference.
Don’t Follow the Advice on the Bottle
Does anyone actually shampoo their hair twice in one shower. I see this as a total waste of time and money.
Scroll down and read the comments section for many great frugal hair care tips from my readers. Thanks ladies!
Kelsey says
Thanks so much for the tips!
Lawanda says
The only one I do not do is color my own hair. BTDT, never again 😉 haha Oh and forget natural. Too much grey. I am only 34 for goodness sake 😉 LOL
I actually go to the local Beauty College to get mine colored. Which might be a good tip for others. If you have a beauty school in your area, they don’t charge much, and they rarely mess up since they are getting graded! 🙂 And if they do feel ill at ease, they call their instructor over to do it for them, anyway 🙂
I use Suave shampoo on my kids. We haven’t used baby shampoo in forever.
Steph says
Before I daughter was born I used a salon shampoo that cost $30 a bottle… what a joke! I switched to Suave (about $1.50) and guess what? No difference!!
I actually do wash my hair twice in one shower, but I only wash my hair once or twice a week so I need to. Thanks for the tips!
TheHappyHousewife says
Lawanda-
Great tip about using a Beauty College, I know many people who do this with great results.
Steph-
Great point about washing twice but only washing a few times a week, that would definitely save me time in the morning.
Thanks for sharing ladies!
Toni
Frugal Urbanite says
I have a simple bob that I can cut myself (with a little help from Mr. Frugal Urbanite.) Since it’s so short and simple I need very little shampoo and I very rarely need to use any styling product at all.
I find the biggest money waster is using too much product. People want to use a whole palm full of shampoo and conditioner when all you need is about a quarter sized dollop for all but the longest and driest of hair. The bottles all the hair care stuff comes in is made to dump a ton of product at one time, so I grabbed some pump bottles from the dollar store and pour my shampoo in them instead.
BarbaraLee Malikowski says
I get a perm for my hair but b/c it holds so nicely I only need to do it 1 1/2 times a yr. I usually have to do the top again. But it is a simply style.
Shampoo I get the family size and use the pump. That helps control the amount used.
I use to cut the boys hair until they learned about girls. At lest one of them. They don’t like long hair that goodness.
Dd donated her hair once. She felt so proud.
Niki says
great ideas!
i’m a little too scared to cut my own hair but i do my own coloring
🙂
Tracy says
The one thing I will not skimp on is haircuts and coloring. That is my luxury. And yeah bangs are lame anyway 🙂
Carolyn says
We have been doing haircuts at home for years. My two teen boys get their haircuts (not buzzed) every three weeks and I get my long hair trimmed every couple months. My husband does all the haircuts and he is quite proficient with the clippers and the shears. He invested in good quality tools and supplies, and it makes a big difference. Given the cost of haircuts in my area, plus how frequent my boys want haircuts, I figure I save over $1200 a year, plus transportation costs and time. It is so convenient, no making appointments, waiting a long time for your turn, and never a worry about getting bad haircuts like I did at the salon, plus terrible haircuts for my boys at the barbershop. Definitely a great money saving skill to learn and I stopped coloring my hair. I was using henna, and the nice thing is that the henna fades, as my silver strands become more numerous.