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| I Avoided a Fleecing at Sport Clips! |
After about 6 months and one more DIY haircut with the buzzers at home, I was ready to go to a professional again. They can do things in the barbershop with scissors that I can't do myself with the #8 buzzers.
Ready for another sharp haircut, I went to the nearest shop- a Sport Clips- and gave my information at the counter to get in line for a haircut. While waiting, I remembered that waiting was one thing I didn't like about getting a haircut at a barbershop.
Next, I spotted the price board. The lowest cost haircut was $18. This was before a tip. Since this was a pretty fancy shop, I am sure a pretty fancy tip would be expected. This would put the total damage north of $20.
Plus, since this was a sports-themed shop, I imagined that the barber would try to make small talk about sports during the haircut. This would be rough since I don't get many TV channels and don't really keep up on sports.
Enough was enough. I fled.
I quietly gathered my coat from the coat rack and slipped out the door. I figured they would simply call the next person waiting a few minutes early. No harm done, and I would save $20+ dollars and most of my lunch break.
This experience got me thinking... How much money would I need to have right now to get haircuts for life? Let's say I get a haircut once every 3 months at $15 per haircut and I plan to get haircuts for 40 years. That works out to $2400. If I had $2400 in a "haircut envelope", I could get haircuts for the next 40 years.
What if I put the money in something with a better rate of return than an envelope? Let's say I were to put a sum of cash into a fund that averages a 4% rate of return. How much cash would I need now to get haircuts for life? The answer is provided using a annuity calculator. I used an annuity calculator from bankrate.com. The total works out to $1191.69.
Of course no one knows what the rate of return will be over the next 40 years. Plus, the price of haircuts is likely to go up over time due to inflation. As a matter of fact, the price at my local barbershop went up 50 cents after the first of the year.
Looking at big numbers like $2400 and even $1200 for haircuts makes me think I should stay on course and keep using the buzzers at home for free.
I am not sure if I will cut my hair at home every time, but I am pretty sure I won't go back to Sport Clips.
Dont blame you, i have been getting my hair cut by my husband for the last few years. My aunt invited me to go to the salon for a girls day and i cringed at what it would cost and also the thought of someone else cutting my hair except my husband. I had too many bad haircuts at the salon and i have him trained to do my hair as i want. And it is free, so i agree with you 100%. His cutting my hair saves me hundreds each year.
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