Saving money & time hack… learn to cut and dye hair.

Haircuts

OK, here we are in the age of YouTube. The amazing time when you really can learn to do anything thanks to online tutorials.. There are tutorials for just about everything you can think of, including haircuts. When you have a family of six like I do, I learned early on that learning to cut my own families hair was not only a huge timesaver, but a huge money saver as well. We had some fun during that initial time of the Covid lockdowns when I let my girls try their hand at cutting my hair and it wasn't bad. Here's that result...

I have always cut my own daughters hair, and not just the straight across simple trim. Whether it be just an end trim or a 3 inch cut with layers, you can totally do this yourself. Watch a couple YouTube videos and buy a good set of scissors.

These are the scissors that I have and they work great and they are under $10 bucks.

My girls when they were young would tell me how much they wanted to go to a salon, but if I was paying for five girls to go to the salon every eight weeks that would certainly cut into my budget and be a big time commitment. Now that my girls are getting older, even my daughter who is in college will come home and ask me for a haircut. Now if you have boys the same would apply.

I would invest in a good pair of clippers like we have for my husband that link is here.

If they don’t want something short, you can certainly look on YouTube for a quick tutorial for a men's haircut.

I am not saying that I have never gotten my hair done, but what I am saying is when you’re looking to cut back, then you should learn to have a new skill. This is certainly something that you will need to know how to do for your whole life, unless you plan on never cutting your hair. I am always trying to teach my girls to be self-sufficient and to learn how to do things on their own rather than to spend a bunch of money on someone else doing it for them. Here's my then 13 year old gaining the confidence and skill when she was trusted to cut my hair.

OK so beyond the haircut. The next step is hair dye.

Hair dye

For some of you this is a no way, but hear me out. I’m sure if you have blonde balayage going on in your hair that might be something only a professional can do. If you are like me and have brown hair, learn to do touch-ups and hair color on your own. No, I don’t buy the box from the grocery store. I do use products that are also used in a salon. It should be no shock to you that those things are all available online.

First, start out by buying things that you are going to need when you dye your hair. The mixing bowl, the applicator brush, and in my home I have a bathrobe that we know is the hair dyeing bathrobe. That is put on to protect my skin and not kill any towels or other clothing items when dying hair.

Here's the link to the kit you can buy for the inexpensive tools you need to dye your hair:

Now onto the color itself. Here are the items that I buy to dye my hair. You will need to pick your own color that you would like, but the essentials are the same. After looking at the different colors in a beauty supply store, I have simply written down the colors that I use and just re-order on Amazon.

Here's the link for the developer and color that I use. The ratio to use these is 2 parts developer to one part color:

Another tip is to store the colors that you use in your phone so that if you were in a pinch and don’t have the time to order on Amazon, you already know what products you use that you can pick up from the beauty supply store. Here’s an example of the note I keep in my phone. First, I have the colors that go on my hair. I also have a note saved for my daughter.

Then you mix two parts developer to one part color. Apply onto your hair and leave for 35 minutes. Look at your packaging on your product to make sure that you get their instructions for amount to use as well as time to be on the hair from them. DO NOT just do what I do or guess on this one. This is just me letting you know what works for me.

So that’s it. It really is so easy. If you get grays like I do, then learn how to touch it up yourself. Rather than spending a couple hundred bucks and a couple hours of your time, throw on your robe and apply some color, then get a few things done around your house, rinse and blow dry. It really is as easy as that. Trust me, I might have been there many times and I might know this.

Xo,

Mama