Mrs. 1500 and I are bringing back the Ask The Readers series. Here is how it works:
On most Mondays, I’ll post a question. Leave an answer, random thought, vulgar insult, dinosaur pic, mindless profanity, favorite vegetarian recipe, or bacon in the Comments section. I’ll post my favorite answers and insults the following week.
Loco For Buying Local?
Every time I see a local business go under, it makes me sad. Someone’s dream died.
I think about buying local more than most because of my upbringing. My dad insisted on buying American cars always. And they had to be American cars made in America; not Mexico or Canada.
We must support
our country!
My dad’s heart was in the right place, but this decision led to other problems. While American cars are quality machines now, the 1980s were dark days for Detroit. My dad spent many, many nights and weekends under the hood of the family Chevy Citation. Endless profanities streamed out of the garage as my dad worked on the heap of junk.
And I mostly agree with my dad’s point of view. All things being equal, I’d rather purchase a product made locally. If it’s made in my home country, great. It’s even better if it supports my community. The people who own and work at the brick and mortars on Main Street are my neighbors. Keeping the money local helps my community. Are there limits though?
Example 1: Cut Out The Haircutter?
One of our close neighbors cuts hair for a living. A couple of years ago, she suggested that Mrs. 1500 come to her salon for a cut and color. She also mentioned that she could cut our girls’ hair. Mrs. 1500 said Yes.
What we didn’t realize is that our neighbor works at a very, VERY FANCY salon. When
- Me: The haircut looks great! How did it go?
- Mrs.: Fine.
- Me: What’s going on? Why are you quiet?
- Mrs.: It cost more than I thought it would.
- Me: How much?
- Mrs.: I don’t want to tell you.
- Me: Oh, come on, now you have to tell me! Was it over $100?
- Mrs.: Yes
- Me.: $150?
- Mrs.: More.
- Me: $200?
- Mrs.: More.
- Me: What?!???
- Mrs.: With the tip, it was $250. I didn’t know that it was going to cost that much.
Maybe I’m ignorant or uninformed, but I had no idea it was possible to spend this kind of money to get your hair cut.
And that was just for the Mrs. The kids were $50. Each. Before the tip.
Before I go on, I readily admit that I’m anchored on cheap haircuts. I’ve spent $36 on two Wahl Shavers in the past 20 years. The first one works fine, but I had broken some of the guards. Since a set of guards costs about the same as the whole kit, I just bought another.
I cut my hair once per month, so for $36, I’ve given myself 240 haircuts. I’m going to throw in another $4 for electricity, so let’s say $40. So, my price per cut is a hair under seventeen cents. (see what I did there?)
Mrs. 1500’s hair care was $250, which comes out to 1,470 times what mine cost. Oof.
Of course, there are some caveats to this situation.
First, I don’t care that I look like a goof:
My philosophy on hair is this: Once it becomes long enough that I need to comb it, I cut it all off. Styling products? Ha! I don’t even own a brush or comb.
If all of my hair fell out tomorrow, I’d have one less thing to worry about.
Also:
- Mrs. 1500 got her hair colored too. I understand that part costs a lot more than a simple cut.
- Women’s styles are more complicated.
- Mrs. 1500 is a public figure and needs to look good.
- I don’t want our girls to feel bad about their hair.
What To Do?
Are we paying too much for haircuts? Should we ditch our neighbor in favor of the local beauty school? I did what any idiot would do; hit up Twitter for answers!
Just. Walk. Away. @retirein1500
— Karl Fisch (@karlfisch) February 19, 2019
My friend Karl is totally correct. These are dangerous waters to wade into. This probably won’t end well.
I trade babysitting for free haircuts from my stylist friend. But before I met her, I paid $65 for a haircut every 4 months or so.
— Bitches Get Riches (@BitchesGetRich) February 20, 2019
Side note: Bitches Get Riches is a great read. Check them out.
Wouldn’t pay more than $25 – haven’t cut in over a year (gross) – so who the heck am I to judge! Everyone has what is worth it to them! I spent $1700 on new skis ?!!
— catie lawrence (@lawrencester) February 19, 2019
Wow Catie, $25? That’s impressive! No idea what skis cost, but $1,700 seems like a lot. I’ll bet they bring you much joy.
My wife and two daughters have very curly hair. One daughter is Shirley Temple-like. $400 every 3-4 months, together. They look and feel good and it’s something I am NOT going to try to skimp on. I don’t even bring it up. #curlyhair #devacurl
— Future Fire Father (@FutureFireDad) February 19, 2019
I don’t go to the salon often (usually every 6 months due to hectic schedules). My appointment this weekend with cut, color, and eyebrows wax was $95 then I tipped her $20 because she’s awesome.
— Stephanie (@StephTheBlogger) February 19, 2019
Nice work Stephanie!
Lol, I was going to say “just a cut? Or a cut/color/style?”
— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) February 19, 2019
For just a cut, I’d rather pay a little more and get a better cut. So $50-$60 before tip if I find someone good. But my hair is really thick and it seems like very few know how to deal with it, so $30 for a “meh” cut.
My wife says she pays $55 for cut and color but that’s lower than normal and she tips well. She thinks $150 is high end
— Rogue Dad, M.D. (@RogueDadMD) February 19, 2019
Thanks Doctor Rogue. Mrs. 1500’s lady must be super ultra high-end then.
My cuts are $90 and bleach is like $250 when I need that. (I do the actual color at home.)
— Tanja Hester (@our_nextlife) February 19, 2019
If I’m just cutting it, I sometimes go to the beauty school for a $9 cut… at my stylist it would be ~$60. With color, all bets are off… somewhere around $150? Haven’t colored lately
— Kate (@onourwayworld) February 19, 2019
Haircut only is $50 and that includes a tip. My hair is thick and it has endured many a terrible cuts over the years, so I would pay more if I had to because I trust that my stylist will continue to do a great job like she has for nearly 10 years. ?
— Two Cup Camper ? (@twocuphouse) February 19, 2019
Thanks Two Cup! I get the trust thing. You don’t want to have to endure multiple bad cuts to find a good one.
That’s pretty normal for a quality cut &color in a city bc the color adds up. But honestly, I’d never recommend going based on price for color, bc I think that’s an area where you get what you pay for. Also most women get hair done less frequently so over a year it’s not that bad
— Ms. MoneyNerd (@MsMoneyNerd) February 19, 2019
Supporting @Mrs1500 on this. It’s hard to find a good stylist, and the good ones are able to charge big $$. If you can afford it, it’s a nice luxury and more than just a haircut ?
— Kristin D. Smith (@therosywanderer) February 19, 2019
$15 twice a year for me. PiC and JB go more often.
— Revanche (@RevAGSL) February 19, 2019
I spend $400 including tip for cut and color 4 times a year and $100 for just a cut in between, also 4 times for year. All told, about $2000 to be blonde and also not look like a lion. I slide $100 per paycheck into an account specifically designated for hair upkeep.
— dont wanna ☘️ (@dontwannatoday) February 19, 2019
The “not look a lion” comment cracks me up. I’m laughing with you; not at you! I say this because if I let my hair grow out, it turns into a bushy, wavy, lion-like mess too. I look even worse than usual:
The hubs and I have a deal: I do my own hair & he helps me with the dye on spots that I can’t reach. If for any reason it comes out looking bad I have free range to spend whatever is needed to fix it. We haven’t had an incident in almost 5 years and now he has sweet salon skills.
— MK Williams (@1mkwilliams) February 19, 2019
I love this line from MK:
We haven’t had an incident…
So ominous!
Despite the danger, I like this solution. It reminds me of Mrs. Frugalwood’s haircut adventures which have similarly turned out incident free.
And I’m Even Guiltier…
The Mrs. may spend $250 on a cut/color, but she only goes about once every nine months. I consume alcohol much more frequently and when I do, it’s really good beer. And by really good beer, I mean really expensive beer. Each of these 4-packs set me back $18:
My beer expenditure is more than $250 every 9 months. I don’t need to drink $18 four packs. Hell, I don’t need to drink beer at all. But hey, I’m supporting local business! At least that’s what I tell myself…
Where Do You Draw The Line?
I’ve been thinking a lot about where the Mrs. and I spend our easily earned dollars. Here are my completely random thoughts:
The haircut situation is a weird one: Fancy salon lady lives across the street. If
We are paying for luxury: Mrs. 1500 could get cheaper haircuts. I could buy cheaper beer. Or no beer. Neither of us would be splurging if we didn’t have a big nest egg. We’ve let lifestyle inflation creep in. Just a little.
Where does buying local end? More random thoughts:
- Market inefficiency: My dad bought lousy American cars even though he knew the Japanese alternatives were better. If everyone else did the same thing, Detroit would have kept on producing crap. Now, American cars are of high quality because Japan forced it.
- Community: At one end of the spectrum, we can buy stuff that our neighbors produce. At the other end, we can order stuff from Amazon and probably pay less and not have to leave the home. Is saving money always the right choice though? When a local business goes under, it’s not only the owner that suffers. People who work there lose their jobs. The landlord who owns the space suffers. I may pay a little more to support my neighbor, but I like to think that I’m making the town economically healthier.
- The future: But maybe Amazon is just the natural progression? Around 1900, most folks were farmers. Then, someone invented tractors and other machines that made farming much more efficient. Humans just moved on to other jobs.
- Robots will rule eventually: We’re rapidly approaching a tipping point where new technologies will end most jobs. It will be a while before robots cut hair, but they’re already making beer. So, this whole conversation will probably be moot in a couple of decades when there are no more jobs.
What do you think?
Do you go out of your way to buy local? Why or why not?
Where do you draw the line between saving money and supporting your community? What are your limits?
Do you think your job will be gone in 20 years? Hint: If you were trained to do your job, an AI
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I’m happy to buy local…..to a point. I do like to support my neighbors, but some things just aren’t worth it. I’m about to sign up for a gymnastics based gym close to home ($200/mo unlimited classes) and for a meat CSA share ($100/mo). I’ll be excited to work out and learn new skills AND I’ll be eating free range, grass fed, sustainable, organic local meat products from an area farmer. That being said, I’m still going to order a pack of underwear off Amazon.
“That being said, I’m still going to order a pack of underwear off Amazon.”
Haha! I think that I’ve found my next business! Locally sourced, organic, gluten-free, underwear produced from ethically raised sheep! Are you in Gwen? I could handle the guys’ line while you take the ladies!
.
$100/mo for a meat CSA share?! That is awesome! We don’t have a large rancher group here, so nothing like that’s available. Land is too expensive (though there used to be plenty of ranches way back in the day).
I agree, some things are worth it. some are not.
Cathleen Cooks Stuff recently posted…A most FI funeral
I’ll buy local when it is possible. Usually it is for produce and the like, but I won’t go out of my way to do so.
As for beer… I am going to splurge and go to Dark Lord Day this year, which is around $200, which gets you 5 bottles of beer (and a festival too i suppose)
Dark Lord Day! This is a bucket list item for me. Let me know if you need a copilot. Seriously.
We decided to buy our [very first] snowblower from a local mom’n pop shop instead of a big box store because in the increased price (it was only another $30-$50 if I recall correctly), they showed us how to use it, and we’re allowed to bring it in for any future tune-ups/repairs/issues (and we get put to the front of the line for same day service!). Also, we were *so* overwhelmed at Home Depot/etc, and the lady at the local shop took her time answering all (and I mean ALL) of our questions and worries. It was quiet, low-key, low pressure. We felt the value was very, very much worth it.
I understand the hair dilemma so I thought I’d chime in: For my entire adult life (32 now), I’ve grown my hair long (over 2 feet long) and then every 3.5 – 4 years, I get it cut somewhere where they are able to donate it to a cause (Wigs For Kids has been it for my past 2 or 3 cuttings). They do the haircut for free if you are donating the hair, so it’s just a $5-$10 tip and a bunch of warm fuzzies on the inside. I have them cut it to 1″ above my chin so they get as much as possible, and nothing fancier than a straight cut, then I let it go for another 4 years before I repeat. I have horse-tail thick hair so I can usually give double/two ponytails instead of one. 🙂 I will admit I probably go through more money in shampoo/conditioner as time goes on (and aggravation – let me tell you about getting your hair caught/pulled out in your closed door as you get into the car on a windy day!) but right now I feel it is the only way I can meaningfully contribute to a good cause. Last time I got my hair cut was June 2015 and I’m due – it’s down to my tailbone!
I have no idea how people with long hair do it! Huge props to you! I can’t even stand it when mine is 2″ long.
Be careful with that long hair. An acquaintance had super long, thick hair and she recently chopped it all off. I asked why and she mentioned the weight of the hair was giving her neck issues.
Nice work on the hair donations. My older daughter had donated hair twice already and if it gets much longer, will be on deck soon to do it a 3rd time.
I buzz my own hair too. We’ve been busy with moving and fixing stuff this month and I haven’t had time to do it. It’s a big mess. Nobody really cares, though.
I think my wife spends about $50 for a hair cut 2x per year. That seems reasonable to me. She’s still working so she needs to be presentable.
I buy local if it isn’t too much more expensive. rarely…
“Nobody really cares, though.”
Exactly right! Most are more worried about what you think about them than about you. I LOVE this post: https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/06/taming-mammoth-let-peoples-opinions-run-life.html
I very much shop local and go out to eat local. I shop and eat local primarily because I want to keep the $$ in my town. But there are other secondary reasons: the other communities around where I live have higher sales tax rates and the large city in the area has an additional restaurant tax added to the bill on top of sales tax – so I only eat in that large city 1 or 2x a year. I also save gas by not driving all over the metro area by shopping/eating local. Haircuts – well my sister cut hair for years so our family often received free haircuts from her, but I have not used her in about 10 years. I typically use Great Clips (located in my town) and will also use a coupon for Great Clips to save even more. I do tip extremely well when using the coupon, often like 100%+ since the cut was very inexpensive and I want to support the hair stylist directly. But, I have a pretty low maintenance approach to my hair and I typically get haircuts about every 2 to 3 months. I do know that my co-workers (who are also women) spend a lot more than me on their hair. I think it is very important to support local businesses and I tell people that I want keep those $$ in my community.
We use coupons too for stuff, but follow your lead on always tipping well when we do.
My wife spends $125 per month on a cut/color.
She says she has known her hair stylist (female) 4 years longer than she’s known me. She picks the hair stylist.
I also have a $20 Wahl and have not paid for a hair cut in ~10 years. I did mine this morning with a #2 all over, side trimmers for Left/Right and #1 on the back and sideburns. ~5 minutes.
I guess our average haircut/color is then ~62.50/month. We also have 3 daughters with long hair. Gulp.
$125 is much more digestable than $250, but we live in a lower COL area. No win scenario. Just walk away.
“No win scenario. Just walk away.”
LOL! Why do I do this to myself???!?
Tell me more about that brownie batter stout…because I may be drooling on my keyboard
Oh my, Weldwerks is one of my favorite breweries in the world! When are you making a trip to Colorado?
I used to be fairly anti-localist.
And I suppose that in my heart of hearts, I’m still a globalist. People abroad really benefit from the process, and I see nothing wrong with some places specializing in making some things, while the US specializes in others.
But I’m coming around to the arguments for buying local. Local first AZ is the big group in our hood, and I find some of their points to be convincing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12DjEVUkS2I&index=4&list=PLXsXpGTvHD_zBHLTUeGhwq6lk-h9ViMGf&t=4s
I’m a little put off by the larger geographic push (e.g. – Buy American) which seems nationalistic and often a little racist, too, rather than the hyper local push (e.g. – buy in Phoenix, or Arizona). America First sounds terrible to me…Arizona First is not so bad. I don’t know if I can square why one is fine and the other is not.
On the whole, I’m on the fence. And no help at all.
Done by Forty recently posted…Hitting a Moving Target
Globalism! Yeah, I don’t think there’s any reason why the world can’t prosper.
But these are complicated questions that are above my paygrade too. One thing is that it doesn’t seem like the current way is sustainable. Americans get into debt to buy stuff. The government gets into debt to buy stuff. Is there a way out for the latter situation? What happens long term? Damned if I know!
I actually get mad at my MIL because she gets a haircut at an overpriced salon over an hour drive away from their house (she lives in rural central PA) and pays over $50 for the cut. I know for a fact that there are local salons much closer to home that would better use her money (as there are not enough jobs in her former coal-mining community–often in-your-home places like hair salons and child care are only jobs many women can get without driving far). If she paid $50 for a haircut locally, I’d be thrilled. But driving an hour away is not helping out her community that needs the money desperately.
Like you, I cry inside each time I see a local business close. People often forget that not only are those businesses paying people salaries, they are also PAYING PROPERTY TAXES. If you as a homeowner want your property taxes to remain affordable, it is IN YOUR BEST INTEREST to support your local businesses when it is financially prudent to do so. This doesn’t mean paying 25-50% more for something that is significantly cheaper elsewhere, but even if you’re paying a 10-20% increase but supporting a local business, you’re doing something for your community. Sometimes, the smaller, non-franchised businesses are much cheaper anyways so you’re usually better off. I just got a spare bed from a local mattress store for our guest room and paid 30% less than an equivalent bed at Costco (and even less than from a chain mattress store).
The same goes for restaurants in the area. My same MIL is obsessed with chain restaurants (partly because there are none near her, so I understand) and she had to eat at the Cracker Barrel near us for breakfast. Turns out a local Greek restaurant offers a bangin’ weekend buffet brunch for the same price and much better food, so I think I converted her! I prefer my money supporting the local community instead of some corporate overlord’s pockets. We don’t eat out often, but when we do, we try to stick local as much as possible.
Ooh, nice comment about property taxes! I hadn’t even considered that when I wrote the article. Amazon sure as hell isn’t going to do it!
Chain restaurants! Maybe it’s a symptom of age! Thinking on my little circle of people, the older folks definitely skew towards the chains.
And what is up with the Cracker Barrel addiction?!??? It’s not terrible or anything, but I don’t understand the intense attraction either!
We’ve tried to strike a good balance on shopping locally versus options that are just plain cheaper. Sometimes, it works out and the local option is cheaper (ex. side view mirror replacement from the local salvage yard, $60 compared to the corporate dealership replacement for $360). Wins like that add up and make up for me getting my haircut professionally by a good friend, $65ish quarterly with tip. We also “shop local” by using Craigslist/FB Marketplace for buying and selling when possible.
And the Mammoth article is great!
Yeah, that Mammoth article is probably the most important thing I’ve read in 10 years. It convinced me that I just need to be myself and stop worrying about what others think. I wish I would have read it when I was 14.
FB Marketplace is awesome! In recent experiments, it obliterates Craigslist which surprised me.
“It convinced me that I just need to buy myself and…”
So how much would you pay for yourself Carl?
DAMNIT! “be myself!” I need to be myself, except for the part of me that has difficulty typing…
Like everything else, it’s shouldn’t be one exclusively, life is all about balance.
I say go local when it adds value (e.g. like they’ll show you how to use it, a human picks up the phone that’s happy and knowledgeable so you don’t have to Google things if you can’t figure out something with the product and it may have a double-benefit of turning into a fun conversation) and it’s priced somewhat competitively, I say “somewhat” because it varies so widely based on what we’re talking about and the price point.
Basically be aware of the price range and don’t get price-raped because you’re blindly buying locally, but instead be aware and think for a second is that extra money worth it to support a local business (who will most likely spend a portion of that money locally so it gets recirculated locally and not shuttled off to a far-off corporate headquarter that won’t reinvest locally… well not exactly since if you’re getting dividends and capital gains through your investments maybe a bit of it is coming back that way).
$18 for a 4 pack!!! $4.50 a beer is comparable to a watered down beer at a restaurant/bar, like Budweiser, so given the additional pleasure you’re getting so not like as crazy in my mind as spending more than $15 for a haircut (my most recent paid haircut was at the request of other for HS prom, which was 2 decades ago). You’ve earned that fanciness, but at least you’re giving yourself sh!t for it and aware of the ridiculousness and that that beer is special to you in some way.
If the local business is adapting and actually trying to differentiate on something besides price (which they usually can’t because a lack of scale) and it’s something you need than go local. But buying local to buy local and basically subsidizing a lot of inefficiency and other peoples ridiculous lifestyles because they’re BIG consumers should not give you a tinge of guilt.
I’m still buying lots of my groceries from Costco, Aldi’s and other stores with quality stuff at good prices, but I also shop at the local Latin market (I’m in Miami) for other things, but they’re usually priced very fairly.
I don’t buy many things besides food and gas, so I might not be the best person to answer, but just sharing my perspective.
BTW: That Chevy Citation looks almost exactly the same as the 2 blue Chevy Chevette’s my uncle and aunt have (I googled it and they’re very different, the Citation was FWD, while the Chevette was RWD and got better mileage, they were both probably similarly garbage https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/compare/Chevrolet-Citation-vs-Chevrolet-Chevette_d1282_d1401)a
Thanks Tim. Lots of good wisdom in here for me to chew on. I like this:
“If the local business is adapting and actually trying to differentiate on something besides price (which they usually can’t because a lack of scale) and it’s something you need then go local.”
Yep, survival of the fittest, right Adapt or die.
Thanks for sharing and making me think more about this stuff.
It occurred to me that the best way to keep it local is…
Buying used from Craigslist (or similar) from neighbors, which is great since you get a good deal and something you need without causing more resources to be pulled out from the earth and your neighbor gets cash and lightens their load (physical and mental).
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i really only spend money on wine and it’s a lot of money. i buy from my friend up the street because she’s my friend although there is more variety and better prices in the ‘burbs. that’s just loyalty. we pay approximately zero in our house for haircuts. mrs. smidlap cuts mine and hers. hers is curly and even if she made a little mistake she would still be way cooler than everybody else.
all that being said, i think those farmers markets became a rip-off at some point. i grew up in farm stand country with an honor system box and those were great. i think the hipsters messed up the modern farmer’s market.
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My husband wants to start making his own wine. Only problem…we live in Hawaii, and there’s no wine grapes available. Also, he knows 0 about brewing anything. (except growing mold on dishes that he doesn’t wash).
Can’t get much more local than that, making your own wine.
Farmers markets! We’ve kindof came to the same conclusion. We go to them, but it’s more for the experience and to get outside.
Last year I bought a new bike and some commuting accessories from a small local shop that’s been in business for 45 years. I probably could’ve found the same bike and stuff online for maybe a bit less, but I would’ve missed out on all the human interaction/entertainment that came along with buying local. I didn’t really know what I was getting into and the two co-owners spent lots of time with me answering all my questions and letting me test-ride any bike I wanted to.
A few months after the purchase I brought my bike in for a derailleur adjustment (free tune-ups and adjustments for a year) and worried that the owners were going to give me shit about how dirty the bike was. Instead they told me it made me look like a badass. No one from Amazon has ever told me I looked like a badass after buying something from them.
That said I’m still gonna buy my underwear from Sam’s Club. Underwear are less complicated than bikes – I pretty much know how they work and what I need out of them.
Brian @ The Graying Saver recently posted…Changing My Relationship With Food
Awesome –>> “Instead they told me it made me look like a badass”
I wrote a post last year about how we support a local hardware even though they are a bit more money than the big box store. The thing is, the local shop is right on the way home. The local hardware is also smaller so I can generally find what I want very quickly. Also, they have never failed to be able to help me when I have questions, which is pretty common when I walk in there. All three of these things save me a lot of time, which makes it well worth it to me to support the local shop.
Yep. So, comments like this make me realize that I focus too much on money and not enough on everything else. Thank you.
Holy. Shit. $250 for a haircut and dye?! (not trying to shame Mrs. 1500, but!!!!! that’s like 2 1/2 weeks of groceries for us….also hair dye is pretty damn toxic..). In the case of hair stylist…she didn’t sound too pleased with the value vs cost of the haircut. There’s probably plenty of really good stylist that will do a great job (without all the froufrou extras) for a much lower cost. TBH I live in Hawaii, and I pay about $35 for a haircut every 6 mo. or so (or year, or whatever), and about $50 to dye the grays out (g-damn it i’m only 35!) but with henna. which will fade naturally after a couple of months, so you wont feel compelled to go get the roots touched up every couple of months.
I also have made the very FI choice of having nice straight Asian hair. And being happy with that. (yeah, mom…no one is fooled by your perm!) Because you can choose that, right?
Unless it was a transcendental experience, I don’t think that a haircut is worth $250. That being said, pretty much every hair cuttery is going to be local. (good luck convincing Mrs. 1500 to just try another salon- breaking up with a hair stylist that’s your neighbor/friend…is hard….).
Cathleen Cooks Stuff recently posted…A most FI funeral
Yes, breaking up is hard to do. The neighbors are good to our daughters too, so everything will probably stay the same.
For us it depends on the service we get for the money spent. We pay more to get the oil changed at a mom and pop garage ( but also get priority when something comes up and that matters as we are a one car family in an area with not much public transportation). We also try to buy local beer, wine and produce. Other than that we purchase most stuff online or big box stores where we can stretch our dollars further. I learned a valuable lesson on markup at a local store about 10 years ago and lost all confidence to shop local ( 10 Christmas ornaments bought as presents for $5 each, were 5 for $1 at Walmart — exactly the same product). As for cutting my hair, I pester my husband until he gives in and cuts it. Takes us about an hour to get it done and it comes out pretty good. I am getting lots of compliments on my hair after every haircut. When it comes to color, I like to think that age is a privilege so I am rocking my greys.
OMG, $5 each or $25! 20x as expensive. Yikes. Most retail market isn’t that much (I’m guessing!), but it’s still not insignificant.
Another vote for a haircutter husband! Are y’all in Boulder County Colorado? 🙂
We are on Aquidneck Island, RI. The Christmas ornament story happened when I lived on Martha’s Vineyard in Mass. I guess one of the drawbacks of living in a touristy area is that the local economy is centered around tourists ( making everything from restaurants to clothes A LOT more expensive) and the maritime industry. We eagerly support the latter at the expense of not retiring in our 30s. Shooting for being retired and liveaboards in our early 40s tho.
I live in NYC, so you can easily spend $250 for a cut and color, but you can also spend much less — even in NYC. So buying local doesn’t have to mean busting your budget. Your neighbor will understand b/c she’s in that business and knows there’s a wide range in personal services prices.
That said, you live with your hair everyday, so you want a good cut. A cheap cut, and especially color, is often cheap financially but expensive in grief, annoyance, regret…It can take a long while for a bad cut to grow out!
Curious to know where you land on this. I agree with your approach to look at all expenses, not just this particular one. There are lots of places where we can cut costs, and there are lots of places where we could cut cots but may choose not to.
Once I found the stylist I liked, I stuck with her, even when her rates went up.
Caroline at Costa Rica FIRE recently posted…Back To Work After A Travel Sabbatical — Job Search After Extended Time Away
“Your neighbor will understand b/c she’s in that business and knows there’s a wide range in personal services prices.”
Haha, I’m not so sure! 🙂
“Curious to know where you land on this.”
We’ll probably continue doing what we’re doing. We’re super frugal in almost every other way: Cars are paid off, we eat at home mostly, I never buy clothes, etc. We spend 3-4K per month. If we didn’t have a mortgage (9 years to go), we’d be well under 3K every month. So, if this is important to the Mrs., I think she should continue to do it as long as she understands I’ll give her some gentle ribbing!
Tl/DR – apply some mindfulness to what you are buying and why you are buying it… don’t go into debt… you’ll probably end up with a good mix
A lot of folks have touched on these themes…
The current economic system doesn’t fully ‘price in’ the real costs (looking at you Environmental Pollution! Health! Safety! Human Trafficking!) so global vs US and US vs local gets insanely complicated quickly.
In order to prevent analysis paralysis and ‘perfection is the enemy of good’ from taking over, I generally go local if it is a reasonable cost (even if a bit more), keeps more of the money in the area, and provides some human contact and what they call the ‘intangibles’ of information/service.
Convenience comes into play (hello Amazon) but every time I get three separate boxes, I cringe at the shipping/pollution impact…. and pay more attention to what I’m buying.
The HCOL area I’m in means that a reasonable wash/cut/style (no color or other extras) is $85 including tip from a nice stylist, NOT in a fancy salon. It would easily be the $200-$300 that Mrs1500 dealt with. When my hair is short, it’s every 9-10 weeks… when it’s long it’s a couple times a year.
My hair is annoying enough (thick, cowlicks) that the stylist schools and mall chains really make it look astonishingly bad (trust me, I’ve tried). I may wear cheap jeans and thrift store shirts, but I am neat and clean… having psycho hair isn’t an option for my career.
There’s a purchasing theory that started gaining traction in the 90s (I think) about high/low value. It used to be that people in a given income bracket bought everything in a similar product price/value bracket…. then people starting spending their dollars in a more high/low fashion…. think super expensive beer & haircuts but cheap dish detergent, thrift shop shirt, whatever… in other words, spending on what mattered to you, not the ‘status’ level (or at least, not consistently).
Now Carl, as for BEER: I had a couple glasses of Russian River Brewing Pliny the Younger (and an Elder thrown in too) yesterday, as there’s a great local pub near me that is on the keg release list for that once-a-year triple IPA. So local beer in a local pub for the win.
Oh my, I can’t talk about anything but Pliny the Younger. How was it??!?????
Very very very very hoppy as you’d expect!
🙂
In all seriousness, it’s fine. I mean, it’s a tripe IPA with lots of bitter and hops. I like bitter, I like hops, but no way is it a ‘stand in line for five hours’ beer….
I’m not sure if there’s anything (luxurious, not helping others) that I’d stand in line for five hours for!
Even more scandalously, I prefer Pliny the Elder – I think the flavour profile is more balanced than the Younger.
But it was local and it’s fun to do once a year. Since it’s through a local pub, I had to be ready to buy the tix the moment the link went live…but I only stood in line to enter the pub for about 15min and that’s just because I wanted to get a seat (my friend and I were courteous and shared our table for 4 with two different other sets of two people – beer brings people together!)
You can only get two tix (each worth one pour) but at the end of the two hour reserved time, you can usually snag one more before they open the doors to the public. As high as the alky content is, two Youngers and a 4oz Elder was all I wanted for the middle of a Saturday – had to nap afterwards, lol
For me, it’s less about buying local, and more about buying ethical. I want to buy things where workers were treated well — clothing that wasn’t made in sweatshops, coffee that wasn’t grown with child labour, etc. I also do appreciate keeping money within the community.
Often, both those things correlates with buying local — small shops actually often are more transparent about their supply chains., and smaller shops often cater to the more niche things like ethical fashion, or fair-trade chocolate. But that’s when I buy at all.
To continue those examples, I only buy the clothes I need when I can’t find free-second hand clothes from friends/family/fashion swaps, and even then I usually wait for sales. Fair Trade coffee is bought in bulk with coupons, or on sale (I do like having coffee on hand), so. . once ever 6 months-ish, since I’m the only coffee drinker in the house. And Fair Trade chocolate is a treat that I only get once in a while! (Also, wanting to support fair-trade chocolate cuts down on the desire for non-fair trade chocolate!)
And this also correlates with local, since I love our local farmer’s market and food box program. With local produce, I know that at least our local labour laws have (in theory) been obeyed, rather then the ill-enforced or non-existent labour laws of some other jurisdictions. I can ask the folks at the stall or behind the cash if their workforce is unionized, (assuming they don’t advertise it!) or if they use any of the various contractor/temporary worker programs, and if so, how do they use them? This is the stuff that matters to me, but those questions are answered far more quickly (and usually far more positively), by local stores then by big chains.
As for a haircut? What’s that?
I have waist length hair, and I haven’t had it cut in almost two years. I clip out any tangles/split ends with dedicated scissors, and then just braid my hair and put in a bun with a hair stick. Done. I sleep with it in a braid, too. The braid hides any sins, and people often comment on how nice my hair is (or how awesome they think my more colourful hair sticks are!)
In the mornings, it’s a quick brush out, re-braid, pin and done. All of 5 minutes, if I’m slow. If I’m feeling lazy in the evenings, I don’t even brush it out and re-braid, I just take the pin out. My hair has never been less trouble. It was more trouble when it was short and I had to keep getting it cut so I didn’t look ragged!
“For me, it’s less about buying local, and more about buying ethical. I want to buy things where workers were treated well — clothing that wasn’t made in sweatshops, coffee that wasn’t grown with child labour, etc. I also do appreciate keeping money within the community.”
I like this a lot.
“I have waist length hair…”
I can’t even imagine. You’re 1,000,000x stronger than me.
I typically drink local, does that count? Of course, I live in a city that is among the highest of micro breweries, so maybe that’s cheating a bit. I go in phases with the rest. I don’t buy much in general, but when I need something, I usually hit Craigslist or the thrift stores first. I mean, maybe it isn’t a local brand or a local business, but it’s keeping our local landfill from piling up! I would love to buy food local and tend to do so more in the summer time when the farmers markets and roadside produce stands are full swing, but it gets tough in the off season and usually my time wins and I just hit the store.
Vanilla milkshake IPA. Whoa. Time for another trip to Colorado. One of these days I’m going to go to do Hunapu’s day at cigar City brewing, but I can’t fathom paying $200 for admission to take home just four bottles (of apparently amazing imperial stout).
I’ll get some out to you ASAP as well as some other local goodies! That’s the least I can do after we got the goods from you!
We live in a small semi-rural town. We have neighbors that have cows, horses, chickens, guinea hens, geese & ducks, we have ducks, chickens and guinea hens. Civilized, not urbanized. There are some businesses in town we frequent, but for other things we have to travel 20 miles or more. $250 for a trip to the salon is beyond my budget, for someone making over $150k, it my be worth it. I used to go to the salon before I moved here and had a regular stylist who did ok on my hair, it was hit or miss and I paid $60, over $100 if I wanted color. When I came here, I visited a local salon, paid $60 and got a horrible haircut that left me in tears. I went a full year without going to the salon and had my new boyfriend, now husband give me a haircut. He did a great job and it was better than I could ever remember getting at the salon. He has been doing my haircuts ever since. I had him do henna hair color for me as the salon and box color contain toxic chemicals that cause cancer and I am very sensitive to them. I get great results and get compliments and asked who does my hair. I joke with my husband that he should start a new career, but he doesn’t think it would be worth it given the time and cost to get licensed so he could charge. He does mine every other month and my two boys he took over doing their haircuts after three bad haircuts at the local barbershop. I was tired of paying for substandard service from “licensed professionals”. I figure we save close to a grand insourcing haircuts with great results. He cuts my best friend’s hair as she stopped by while I was getting my hair trimmed and liked how my hair always looks great and asked if he could cut hers too. So between her desire to avoid bad haircuts and save money, she asked if he could continue to cut her hair for her. Her hair is about midback length and dreaded having several inches of her hair cut off when she just wanted her ends neatly trimmed and evened up. Salons love to chop off long hair, thus chasing off customers. Are we cheating a local business? I don’t think so. When we cook dinner at home versus eating out, no one ever says we are hurting the restaurant business. We have chickens, bees and an organic garden, we sell eggs, jams and honey. We are cheaper than the grocery store in our side business, but would not inflate our prices and scream buy local. We provide a good product for a fair price. A local business needs to provide a good service or products that people want at a fair price with good customer service to remain in business. I and my children received bad haircuts and the service was not up to my standards. My neighbor drives over a hundred miles to a salon by her mother’s house and pays $140 for cut and color every 6 weeks, more with highlights/lowlights. I do not think her hair is cut well and the shoe polish black looks monotone, not natural or a good look on her. But her choice as to where and how she spends her money.
We both like good beers and wine. Hubby brews his own beer and has made hard cider and mead. Cost per pint is under $1 and it is very good. We believe there is a balance between buying local where you can, buying online or at the box store when you cannot and insourcing for things we can do ourselves.
“A local business needs to provide a good service or products that people want at a fair price with good customer service to remain in business.”
I like this. It’s the truth that we shouldn’t just be writing blank checks.
Cancerous coloring! We used hair dye in microbiology lab to cause bacteria to mutate.
I am very allergic to a littany of things to include certain trees on our property as well as being asthmatic, and I have family members and friends that have had cancer, my grandmother died of lung cancer working in a factory and had never smoked. I read about salon workers getting bladder cancer breathing the formaldehyde used there. https://blog.nutrafol.com/2018/02/15/brazilian-blowout-bad-for-your-health/
As well as an increase in the chance of breast cancer. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/hair-dye-use-breast-cancer-risk-increase-frequent-five-times-per-year-a8002641.html
As I mentioned earlier we are organic in the growing of the fruits and vegetables that we consume at home and use to sell in our side business. We have bees, so we know the use of pesticides and other chemicals can wipe out our hives. Being very conscious of what we use and sell to our friends, neighbors and acquaintances, if we would not serve it to our family, we would not sell it either. I think that is ethical business. Selling eggs is especially a business where you want regular customers as we do not want our products sitting for a long time, we like to sell them withn a few days, usually withing 2-3 days of when they are gathered. So treating your customers well is important. Where we live is in close proximity to the lake which is a big draw of people in the summer. Many businesses make their big money between Memorial Day and Labor Day from vacationers and then count on local patrons to just cover expenses. So buying local products and services can help them stay afloat, but as you mentioned it is not reasonable to just expect people to over pay if they don’t feel they are getting value for their money.
On the haircut and color, I would go to the neighbor and tell them you almost shit a brick when you (Mrs 1500) was told the price. Explain that you have NEVER paid that much for a cut and color, that she did a great job and she would love to go again but it is just out of the budget. Then ask if the stylist does it at home on the side…around my area a lot of women do. Then she could offer to pay the neighbor a more realistic rate to do it during her ‘off hours’?
As far as buying American/Local, my father bought almost all American cars and had constant mechanical problems. He then bought his first Datsun and it behaved exceptionally. I learned from him to NOT buy American but I also felt that even though I bought Honda or Toyota that I was still supporting locally because the dealership received money, they employed salespeople, mechanics, etc.
I definitely eat locally with restaurants and mom and pop shops but that is about it. We have local grocery chain, about 12 stores in the state that touts how they buy their products locally so when I buy stuff there I am in around about way buying local too.
Ha! Another benefit of living in a cheaper country: my hubby’s haircut is $7 and mine, including color is $20.
Love the service prices in Poland!