Haircuts and Tradeoffs
Philosophy March 31st, 2008Last fall I rounded the corner of 30-years with nary a gray hair and no signs of thinning (unlike a few of my older brothers…). When it’s done properly, my hair looks pretty good. Yet for the past couple of years I’ve kept it cropped short.
You see, I can roll out of bed in the morning, throw on a shirt, and look ready to go. When it’s late and I’m tired, my head can hit the pillow without leaving a trail of American Crew. I can give myself a haircut at 4 am, in less than 10 minutes. I can wear a tuke (that’s a snow-hat for you Yankees) without needing to primp in front of a mirror upon arriving at my destination. It takes me months to get through a bottle of shampoo.
In short, it’s practical.
But it doesn’t come without its tradeoffs. Luckily my head has a normal shape so it looks okay, but it doesn’t look nearly as fabulous as when it’s longer– when a little pomade gives me that oh-so-hottie messed-up look. My wife will be the first to tell you she doesn’t care much for it when it’s short. Maybe next year I’ll grow it out again, but not right now. There are too many things I’d rather spend my time and effort on.
Eliminating the obvious time- and space-wasters is a great first step. After you get those out of the way, it’s time to start making the tougher decisions. Your homework is to find a new “haircut.” Pay attention to your daily and weekly routines and carefully consider how much you’re getting in return from the time you put in to your rituals, routines, and habits. Maybe you can drop one of your least-favorite TV shows. Better yet, kill the cable entirely and just grab your favorite shows online or on DVD. Buy more wrinkle-free shirts. Eat Tasty Bites a couple times a week instead of cooking or eating out. Prune your RSS feeds.
Bonus points if you share your success with the rest of us!
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March 31st, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I understand where you are coming from with this post. It was a stark realization with my own hair too. After going to pay someone to cut my hair for many years and only being happy with it about 1 out of every 5 times, I realized, I can do it my self and save the money and time from going to get it cut. Now instead of someone else screwing my hair up, I do it at home with the help of my wife, we keep the money, and if it looks goofy, I don’t have the regret of paying someone for it!
Another time saver I have found is shoes. Slip ons and flip flops only. Anything with laces can leave! Maybe thats out of laziness, but it beats tying and untying all day.
Keep the posts coming! It’s motivating to see the 4HWW in practice.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:29 am
I’m with you on this one. I’ve been cutting my own hair for over a year now. I estimate I save $500+ a year (I used to go to a “salon”) by using an 8 or a 10 guard all around.
Even still, a little American Crew now and then can make it look good.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:08 am
I did this to for a number of years another thing that will help save money in regards to haircutting is wetshaving with a double edge razor or straight, I currently use a DE and spend about 10 cents or less a blade that lasts longer than normal razors anyway.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:44 am
Regarding TV - when we moved into our new house almost two years ago, we discussed and decided to put up an old fashioned antenna and fore go the monthly cable or satellite bill. That new antenna is connected to an HDTV receiver which converts those FREE over-the-air UHF signals from our local broadcasters to glorious full resolution (UNCOMPRESSED) HDTV with 5.1 sound… FOR FREE. And we have yet to have an outage due to a cable cut and inclimate weather.
We did invest in bandwidth monthly, however, and now use our AppleTV, BitTorrent and other legal means to watch shows at our discretion and time. No regrets here!
-pjc