Perks for pennies

headchef

amosworks wrote:

It was *extremely* nice but I gave that up and now get my OH to run over me with the clippers every now and again for free lol.

I guess there's the rub! Not sure us girlies would look good with a number 2
I do my OH hair with clippers too but I haven't taken him up in his offer of a return cut. Wonder why

climbgirl

themaccas wrote:

Hi amosworks, don't worry that's a fair comment and this site regularly makes me justify my spending and examine what I am doing with our money. I am finding some things very difficult to change ie my haircut and others very easy, ie entertainment spending - cinemas, eating out. The way I have been justifying it is if there is something I want for the family or myself that is an extravegance (my haircut and colour or a family holiday for example) then I/we have to earn it over and above of our normal salary. I went in to work on Saturday to pay for it, if I had not booked my haircut I would not have worked, getting up at 5.30 on a dark cold saturday morning is not easy for me! The college will do the job just fine I am sure and I have used them before but... well I don't know, I have 'earned' this haircut.
I feel really bad though now! A couple of weeks ago I wrote on here how I had booked a family holiday to Cornwall in the summer and some mse'rs wrote to ask if I was really serious about my lightbulb moment. It made me and DH really look at our plans and we cancelled our arrangements just before I sent off the cheque and have now booked a cornwall holiday at a campsite costing around £80 for the week.
I'm not changing my hair arrangements though...yet!

I don't mean to be harsh (or hijack the thread!) but I actually wondered to myself if you'd really had the lightbulb moment as well...

I see what you're saying about earning the money over and above normal salaries and that's good! But surely with debts of £30K+ any extra income would be better off going straight to the debts? £85 is a hell of a lot to spend on a haircut, even if you're debt-free! And maybe that's the kind of thinking that got you into debt in the first place? (I don't want to make any assumptions here, of course.)

One haircut will pay for your entire campsite for the week - that's crazy!

themaccas

Yes it was this kind of spending that got us into this trouble. But i have earned this and the appointment stays. I understand your comments though and with this much critisism I will definately think about my next haircut and where I go for that. I haven't paid any less off of our debts though to fund this and in fact this month we will have been able to reduce these debts by nearly 2k.

magentadreamer

Well done themaccas for getting up at 5.30am on a Saturday to go to work. I bet the old you would have just put it on the plastic, I know I would have done. I've cut back on every thing but my £70 every 9 weeks hair bill stays - it used to be £70 every 6 weeks. I've done the trainee nights at the college and wasn't impressed, I've done cheap £10 hair cuts and have had hellish cuts. I too use overtime money to pay for my hair cuts.

ms_london

If that is your only luxury then fair enough - some people smoke, some people drink, some people like going out, so if you like getting your hair done (and you have worked o/t in order to pay for it) then enjoy it!!
However, I wouldnt pay that much for a haircut & colour, but perhaps that's because I am tight :0)

themaccas

Magentadreamer writes I bet the old you would have just put it on the plastic,YES I would! This is where part of my change in the way I spend is coming from. If I want something and can't justify the expense from our normal budget then there has to be some pain to achieve it. 5.30am on Saturday morning was just that! DH and I would think nothing of spending a couple of hundred pounds on high street shopping every month and putting it on plastic. That has completely stopped and I'm proud of that.

jesster_2

I can sympathise with the £80 hair-do situation. I used to spend exactly that much, though "only" once every three months. I could easily justify it on a cost-per-wear basis, cus i wear my hair every day!

It took some teeth-gritting to book a cut and colour with a trainee in a salon... but at £10 instead of £80, i allowed myself to book a massage with a trainee on the beauty course for another £8... and that was enough of a treat to convert me!

Yes my hair looked pretty, but it still looks pretty - and it certainly wasn't £70 worth of difference!

Why don't you try it once, and see what you reckon?

climbgirl

themaccas wrote:

Yes it was this kind of spending that got us into this trouble. But i have earned this and the appointment stays. I understand your comments though and with this much critisism I will definately think about my next haircut and where I go for that. I haven't paid any less off of our debts though to fund this and in fact this month we will have been able to reduce these debts by nearly 2k.

At the end of the day, it's your call of course I think I was just rather shocked at the cost, I get mine cut in Covent Garden and think £48 is too much to pay! I understand about finding a good hairdresser, my hair is very curly and most hairdressers just don't know how to deal with it properly. So I follow mine around from salon to salon if he moves!

Try out a cheaper one, see if it's ok - chances are it will be. And try putting the £40 you could save by finding a cheaper one into the snowball calculator and see what a difference it makes to your debts over time... that might convince you

PaleScene

themaccas wrote:

Yes it was this kind of spending that got us into this trouble. But i have earned this and the appointment stays. I understand your comments though and with this much critisism I will definately think about my next haircut and where I go for that. I haven't paid any less off of our debts though to fund this and in fact this month we will have been able to reduce these debts by nearly 2k.

Enough justification for me, it's obvious that the light is on and you've thought through this choice.

I also try to make the best choices I can, but sometimes get what I really want - I've just bought a new mobile phone and chose one that cost £79.97 instead of the one I saw on offer at £19.99.

I think it's possible to have very serious intentions to clear your debt but to take a slightly slower route.

Going back to the original topic now -

Instead of having an overpriced piece of cake in a coffee shop I went off to the supermarket and bought a whole cake for a penny less.

I like playing the 'What can I treat myself to for £1/£2/£3?' game :cool:

Let yourself get talked into a makeover/facial product demo at one of the expensive counters but then stay strong afterwards - tell them you want to sleep on the results before you decide to buy the product.

Book internet time at the library rather than pay at a cafe. You can also get books there too

We also question every cd and dvd we fancy - the odd one we do buy straight away (and can usually fund with vouchers from surveys and clickthroughs as long as it is the odd one!), some we want to watch *now* but can wait to own, so check if friends and relatives have it or if not rent it, everything else goes on the birthday and Christmas lists.

We go to the cinema on a Weds night with a friend with an Orange phone (We split the offer so we each pay 2/3rds) or enter the competitions in the local paper (I got three free pairs of tickets before my name must have got too familiar.)

Oh and we only buy alcohol on special offer, reduced or when I've sent my parents abroad to source it cheaply :rotfl: (Admittedly we don't go through very much)

youngandreckless

Hi All,

Thanks for the great response! I understand what you're saying about the hair thing I'm very precious about it, I'm just lucky to know the girls at college well enough to be utterly blunt and say how I want my hair!!!
I still get my hairdresser (who comes to the house) to do my highlights once in a while and at £25 its still vvvv cheap.
Few tips that may help from my hairdressing experience so far:
Going to a college and nervous? Book into a level 3 class as they're 2 and a half years in and at an advanced level in terms of training.
Not convinced? Book in for a wash and blowdry or conditioning treatment. they're so cheap its hardly worth charging (£3 I think!) the results aren't permanent and you can suss out what the girls are like by watching them work and seeing other clients' results. At £3 its a very cheap treat if you're feeling in need of a spoiling regardless!
Be blatant, bring pics and ask the tutor if you're still not sure.
My college also does a whole host of beauty treatments so there is an opportunity to save on waxing, manicures and all sorts (although the boots manicure set is amazing).

At the end of the day as this thread shows, we all need a little something to enjoy that keeps us sane. As long as you're cutting back on as much as you can I reckon its a fair compromise to hang onto a well earned treat and I think most of us (women especially) feel that little bit better when we've had a nice pampering treat!

Keep em coming we need more perks for pennies!!!

Y&R x