Get your hair cut at a hair cutting school
All my life, I’ve gone to regular haircutters that charge about $15 per cut (plus about $3 to $5 in tips). Not to be dramatic, but my hair gets unmanageable when it’s longer, so I was getting my hair cut every four weeks.
In other words, I was spending roughly $234 a year on haircuts I didn’t particularly like that much.
About two years ago, though, I realized something: haircutters have to learn their trade somewhere, and they need someone to learn it on.
That’s right: I now get my hair cut at a hair cutting academy.
A quick Google search revealed there were many hair cutting academies in my area: barber shop academies, stylist academies, and more. The prices for each one varied, but there was one constant: they were all cheap. Very cheap.
One barbershop academy I found was $2 per cut. I’ve heard of others in cheaper areas being completely free. I could go from $234 a year in cuts, to paying just tips — about $60 per year.
I actually ended up settling on a stylist’s academy in my area that costs the same as my old barber did ($15/cut), but I get amazing haircuts that rival $60 cuts from professional stylists. I actually go less frequently than every four weeks now, because stylists are better-trained and can cut my hair in a way that lets it grow back out better than it ever did before.
I know one big worry about these haircutting schools is that you’re getting your hair cut by amateurs. That should not be a worry, though, for a number of reasons.
All the hair cuts are supervised by trained professionals. The woman who supervises the classes at the stylist academy I go to charges over $100 per haircut! Since she is teaching the classes, she ends up cutting half my hair in order to show students certain techniques.
Many students also are already trained cutters, but are simply going back for a brief school session in order to be kept up-to-date on the latest styles.
And if all else fails, hair grows back. But so far, in two years, this has not been a worry for me.
Search around for hair cutting academies in your area and be ready to save a couple hundred bucks a year and, in cases like mine, receive the best haircuts you’ve had in your life!
