Short back and sides

I had my hair cut yesterday by this REALLY hot chick for FREE!!! And its not the first time she’s cut my hair.

In fact, Mrs Chaos has been cutting my hair for the last 3 years.

Why on earth would I let my wife cut my hair?

My hair needs cut once a month. It takes about two hours for me to get a haircut from a barber. That includes travel time, waiting for the haircut and the haircut itself. My wife takes about half an hour. That’s a 90 minute saving every month – or 18 hours per year. That’s an extra a day a year of ‘awake time’! If she keeps doing this for the next 30 years, I’ll have an extra month of free time. Though once she gets to her 60s, I’m not sure I should let her wave a razor anywhere close to my head. This also assumes I’ll have hair to cut in 30 years.

Its not just time that I save. I also save $15 on every haircut – that’s $180 a year, or $5,400 over the next 30 years! And what if I invest that money on the stock market (instead of spending it on Lego) to make use of the magic of compounding interest? That would be another $11,600. So $17,000 in total. I’m sure I can find a mobility scooter in my mid 70s that can do 0 to 60mph in 3 seconds for that sort of cash. Start this when you’re 20 and you’ll have over $50,000 by the time you’re 65 to upgrade to a Harley!

So I save a month of time and nearly $20,000, but don’t forget the Leprechaun points. Leprechaun points?!? This is what the Irish get instead of brownie points. I’ve no experience with brownie points, but Leprechaun points are virtually impossible to win and often just vanish into thin air. Anyway, if I leave my wife alone for 2 hours with 4 kids while I go to cut my hair, I use a year’s supply of Leprechaun points.

What about kids?

Mrs Chaos also cuts all four of our kids’ hair. No more having to load them into a car, watch them chase each other around the hairdressers with scissors whilst waiting (they didn’t often do this), or listen to them screaming because their hairdresser is using a red comb whilst their brother’s hairdresser is using the green comb…

Now they watch a movie on a tablet while they have their hair cut. We used to give them suckers (suckers = lollipops for any British readers) during their haircut to further distract them – but quickly discovered that sticky hands, arms, face, chest and suckers don’t mix all that well with falling hair. Now the sucker is the reward after the haircut is finished. Actually, the sucker is such a highly prized incentive in this family, that the minions frequently harass Mrs Chaos for a haircut.

The case for home haircuts is even more compelling for kids – there is no waiting time, no public meltdowns (Mrs Chaos’ nephew once refused to let a barber complete a half finished haircut…), and you save a LOT of money.

Any downsides to letting my wife cut my hair?

Sometimes. Like yesterday when Mrs Chaos took the buzzer to the top of my head, exclaimed ‘whooops’ and started laughing so hard she could barely breathe. The kind of laughter she normally reserves for her own jokes. Let’s just say my latest haircut is a little shorter than normal. A professional hairdresser may be able to see the difference, but my haircut looks as good as any standard barber shop cut.

What are the practicalities?

Mrs Chaos watched a couple of YouTube videos and we bought this set of clippers.

They’re cordless, the combs are color coded and its less than $30. Two haircuts are you’re breaking even!

I also made sure that the first time she cut my hair was right before a vacation. It’s not that I didn’t trust her abilities, but I wanted to give my hair a chance to recover before returning to work just in case things didn’t go to plan….

Any reasons not to do this?

Yes – if you get real value and enjoyment from having your hair cut professionally then keep doing that. I’m all about cutting costs on things you don’t value so you can spend on things you do value. So I don’t spend on haircuts, BUT I spend a lot on coffee. If haircuts are your coffee, then stop reading (if you haven’t already).

If you don’t have someone that can cut your hair for you, and you want to save some time, there are often hairdressers willing to come to your house. We did this once in the UK for our four kids, and this would be my back up if neither parent feels up to the hair cutting challenge. The cost was pretty much the same as taking them to a hair dresser.

Any more advice for those considering asking their wives to cut their hair?

Never, I mean NEVER, ask your wife to cut your hair when she is annoyed with you. If you need me to explain, you’re going to have to learn the hard way (and please send pictures).

Always take the time to look at the haircut in the mirror and express appreciation to your wife for the excellent job she’s done. I didn’t do this the first time my wife cut my hair and years of Leprechaun points vanished into thin air.

And in case this is not obvious, NEVER offer to cut your wife’s hair. I think this one is worth repeating – NEVER offer to cut your wife’s hair.

To sum up

This post is not about haircuts. It’s about evaluating the things we really value in life and spending on them. It’s about thinking creatively around things we don’t get value from and cutting our costs on these drastically. Who says we can’t cut hair, fix washing machines, or build bookshelves.

There has never been an easier time to learn new skills for free with resources like YouTube and Google. And if we can get rid of our limiting beliefs, we can save ourselves time and money, and take a lot of satisfaction in having some new skills under our belts.

Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.

Les Brown