Frugal Friday: Salon Savings

My mom is a beautician and until we moved to Ohio I had only gone to get my hair done at the salon a total of a few times in my whole life. (Thank you, mom!) But, since we moved to Ohio we don't get home as often (sometimes only once every few months) and because I had a short hairstyle for awhile after my chemo I really had little choice but to go to the salon. I soon realized that this can get really expensive! But, there are ways to make it less expensive (and still look good and feel good about yourself)...

1. Longer hairstyles allow you to go for quite awhile without a haircut. Even with shorter styles, stretch the length in between cuts. Stretching your haircuts from every 6 weeks to every 8 weeks saves you two visits every year.
2. Check out the local beauty school. Even if you only go there every other cut, or just for services like manicures, it could save you a good deal of money in the long run. It's worth a try.
3. If you use salon products, buy them somewhere else. Super Walmart, CVS and other drug stores carry many of the salon products at lower prices. Or, look on eBay...I bought 4 jars of Bed Head Mastermind hair product for the same price I would have paid for 1 in the salon!
4. Ask for gift certficates to your favorite salon as a Christmas gift.
5. Invest in hair clippers and cut your husband's hair yourself. I was a little bit scared at first, but it's really not that hard.
6. Learn to do your own manicures or pedicures.
7. Learn to cut your own bangs and your children's hair.
8. Donate your hair to Locks of Love.

Going to the salon is more important to some women than others (and that is not necessarily wrong), so my challenge to you is this...

• Add up how much you spent last year on haircuts and all the other salon services, including hair care products for the whole family...multiply that times 20...Is 20 years of going to the salon worth that amount of money?? My point is that (just like cable TV and other things) a small amount each month adds up over a number of years. Conversely, pinching pennies to save a couple hundred dollars in a few different areas in the budget also adds up over the years as well!
• And secondly, examine your heart...is this area one that you have given control over to God? The Bible tells us that we should be more concerned about inner beauty than outer beauty...

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

I Timothy 2:6

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.

Matthew 23:27

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

I Peter 3:3-5

I am not saying that going to the beauty salon or even having a day of pampering is sinful...we should be good stewards and take care of our bodies which also includes eating healthy & exercising...but, even each of these can become sinful (ie: an idol) if our hearts are not right...just as being rich is not in itself sinful, the love of money is sinful...

So, besides being costly monetarily, we may have fallen into believing the lie (which permeates our culture) that physical beauty matters more than inner beauty...

The fact is, if we devote our time and energy to staying fit, trim, glamorous and youthful looking, we may achieve those objectives--for awhile. But the day will come when we will regret having neglected to cultivate that inner beauty, character, and radiance that are pleasing to God and last forever.

(quoted from "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, p. 82)

Now on to other Frugal Friday news...Here are some valuable printable coupons...

Oikos organic greek yogurt (free)

Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers

(Walmart $1.27 - $1 coupon here = $.27)

$1 off 2 Old El Paso products

(this works well with the refried beans or the taco seasonings)

$1 off Bertolli Premium Sauce

($1.78 at Walmart - $1 coupon = $.78)

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