How to Save Money on Haircuts
One personal finance area that can be hard to budget for is personal care. This category can greatly vary each month depending on personal needs.
One of these areas is haircuts. Many of us know getting a haircut at the salon can be costly. A simple haircut and blowout alone can eat away at your budget. Add in highlights and a new style, you can easily spend a small fortune.
How to save money on haircuts
Go to beauty school
Prior to moving to Seattle, I was a regular at my local beauty school. Going to beauty school is one of the best ways on how to save money on haircuts!
Appointments are generally required as students have specific hours they are in class or on the salon floor, so call first. Be prepared to spend almost double the time you would at a regular salon as students work at different paces.
All consultations and recommendations by your student have to be approved first by the student’s instructor. During the process, the instructor will work his or her way around the salon to monitor students and clients.
For a haircut, highlights and blowout, I would spend about 75% LESS than I would at a regular salon. My hair always looked great and no one could tell I had gotten my haircut at a beauty school.
Use a walk-in hair cuttery for a basic trim
If you just need your split ends or your bangs cut, walk into a lower end hair salon. For a quick trim and tip, I can generally be out the door for under $20. This is a great option if you just need maintenance.
Ask about a specials or a referral fee from your hairdresser
My hairdresser sends out a mass text message once a month about her monthly specials to all of her clients. This usually includes a free haircut for a referral from one of her current clients. She will also message specials that include a discount on a particular service, like a free eyebrow wax with hair cut.
Use a junior hairdresser
There are different levels of hairdressers at my salon. A senior hairdresser’s rates can be significantly higher than a junior hairdresser. When making a hair appointment at a new salon, be sure to ask about your hairdresser’s experience or classification. The pricing difference can be pretty significant!
Buy a Groupon or Living Social coupon
There are a number of hair salons that offer discounted promotions and sales through these websites. I like to see what coupons are available and then read salon reviews to make sure it’s a good fit. Be sure to read the fine print; sometimes there are rules and limitations with these coupons.
Skip the blowout
A blowout can definitely make the haircut and make you feel amazing afterwards. But if you have plans to go to the gym afterwards or know you need to shower later, skip the blowout and save money. I have done this a couple times and saved about $30 each visit.
Say no to coloring, highlights and lowlights
This is a huge money saving tip and a great way to have healthier hair! Embrace your natural hair color and be prepared to save hundreds of dollars a year. If you can’t fully commit, try going natural for a season or six months. You might end up liking your natural hair color more than you think and end up saving a lot of money in the process.
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Luckily, I like my natural hair color so I don’t spend money on that. And it’s short, so no blowouts! However…it’s short so it needs more maintenance cuts and I resist actually going and spending the $60 on them (cheap places don’t really work because they tend to screw it up; it’s a fairly complex cut.) I actually last got it cut over six months ago and while I had it done *really* short so it could grow out for a while, we’re now at the point where my bangs are falling in my eyes all the time and I need to suck it up and spend the $$ 🙂
Short cuts are so cute, but more maintenance than one would think! I’m all about the messy bun, ponytail and Katniss braid to hide my split ends 🙂
These are great tips! Thanks for sharing!! I used to spend over $100 every few months to get my hair highlighted. Now, I color it almost black that way I can do it myself and spend $3 haha. I get my haircut about once a year at Great Clips for $15. I have long, straight hair so luckily it doesn’t require much maintenance!!
Highlights are such a commitment, righ?! I actually had my hair dyed back to my natural color because I didn’t want to deal with maintaining highlights. I always feel like a boss when I walk out of Great Clips and have saved so much money!
Great tips! I’ve actually gone about a year without getting my haircut now, because I’ve been trying to avoid the expense. My mom has trimmed my hair and I did it once myself as well, but I’d like to get it styled again. I think I’ll be going the beauty school route. =)
Trims are definitely the way to go to save money! I have gone months between trims where I haven’t done anything to my hair. It usually ends up in a bun or a braid anyways 🙂