Good Hair on a Budget: Making Things Work

Hi there Seedlings! This is Megs, and I'm here today to talk about a very touchy subject: budgeting and hair care.  Now, first I must confess.  There are few things that frighten me in this world, but one of them was the day that I found (gasp!) gray hair on my head.  I will never forget that day.  I've never given too much thought to my hair, and would typically let it grow months at a time until it finally drove me nuts enough to get a hair cut.  But one day, on my way to work with freshly showered/clean hair, I noticed what appeared to be a concentrated section of white right at my hairline (in the middle of my bangs, of course).  I thought it might be dandruff, so I brushed at it.  It soon dawned on me that this. was. GRAY HAIR.  I used to think, "Gray hair is totally going to look great on me; I'll age gracefully."  I don't know what I was thinking.  Gray looks TERRIBLE on me; I am washed out, tired looking and just plain...plain.  So, I attempted my usual dye it myself at home thing with....not great results (if you've never used ash brown dye...don't.  Just don't.).  I received a groupon gift from my sister to try a new salon for a cut and color, so I took it.

I walked into the salon feeling meh and walked out feeling like me, but like "fantastic" me.  The color was perfect. Luminous, natural looking, and with hair that felt soft.  The cut was just right.  AND they made an espresso for me while I relaxed in the chair getting my hair done.  It was BLISS!  It was mid-to-high range in terms of price (for my cheap self, LOL), but the quality made it worthwhile. Now that I was gray, I realized I needed to maintain this color (my new fake/natural color, hehe).  I wasn't sure how we would fit it into the budget.  I thought, "Maybe I can do it myself and save money."  However, I realized several things:

1. My hair is very thick and unruly.  It takes 3 boxes of hair dye, a helper, and I still don't end up with the right color no matter how many different varieties I buy.
2. I typically end up dissatisfied with the results and try a different color soon after, which is more money lost.  And, several times in the past, I've had hair color DIY disasters that needed salon repair...and that was NOT CHEAP (once was a bleaching/orange disaster, and another was an unfortunate incident with ash brown hair dye that turned GREEN on my hair).  
3. I work in an environment where I need to maintain a certain level of professionalism in dress.  Having my hair the way I like it goes a long way to helping me feel polished.
4. On the same note, when I have my hair done I feel like a million bucks :)

So what did I do?  Well, I think this is where the budget varies according to household/needs/personality/etc.  My husband pointed out that he gets his hair cut about three times as often as I get my hair done, and that adds up to about the same (slightly more).  We decided it was a reasonable priority to work into the budget and slashed the areas of discretional spending for me, and lowered the grocery budget (via use of couponing and other strategies that I will share in another post) to accommodate my hair into the budget.  There are other ways you can keep costs down, too.  I only do a full color every other time, with a touch up in between to save money.  I also don't get a hair cut each time; I keep my hair longer, which looks nice and allows me more flexibility between haircuts if it is a tight month.  You can also sign up with your salon's email list and check the paper for coupons/etc.  If you aren't brand/salon loyal, check out groupon or your local equivalent (that is how I discovered my salon!).  Also, I only got my hair done once at the beginning of summer to help stretch out the budget (I only work part time and in a more casual setting in the summer, so this works for me).  When I go to the salon, I also get ideas for styling and some valuable "mommy time" to myself; going to get my hair done isn't a chore, it's something I look forward to!  So, in that way, it's kind of a two-in-one.  And in case you're thinking, what's the big deal?  I will show you a before/after:

2 days before getting my hair done (eek!)
I get bonus points for the Doctor Who shirt, right? ;)

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...and after! LOVE IT!

So in conclusion, I think it depends on what you are willing to give up in order to make it work...but sometimes building in something like getting your hair done into the budget can make a HUGE difference.  For some people, that might be a date night or mini vacations.  It just depends on what works for you and your family :)

p.s. for locals wondering what salon and stylist I love so much that I was willing to make sacrifices in other areas...I go to Salon Bellissima to see Ellie, and I bet anyone there would be fantastic.  They often offer specials if you are on the email list.  And they didn't pay me anything to write this nor did I get any freebies, LOL.  I just love Ellie's work :)