I have this hair stylist, “Don”, that I love. My hair gets the most compliments whenever he does it. Unfortunately, he is an hour’s drive away and charges $50/haircut. Add in the tip, and I’m at $60. I had planned to go to Don this month, but finally decided not to.
Part of the reason was the drive, but part of the reason is the feeling that it’s no longer prudent to spend $60 on a haircut. So I went to a less expensive place that cost $20 including tip. The haircut turned out well and I’m happy with it, but there is a difference between the $60 cut and the $20 cut (as there should be). So, I guess I’m just one incidence of the phenomenon illustrated by these NPR stories about the beauty industry and the downturn.
There are also signs of the slowdown every where I went:
- At salon I went to, the owner said traffic was very slow. “It’s a recession, they just don’t want to say it publicly,” she insisted.
- CB and I went to a casual sit-down restaurant (I won a $30 gift card in a raffle), and usually we’d have to wait for 30-40 minutes at that location. But we were seated right away.
- A friend who works at McDonald’s said that more people are, er, displeased that Micky D’s is charging 25 cents for extra condiments and sauces. Apparently, one customer made his displeasure known by chucking his milkshake at the drive-through window.
- I know or know of several people who have been laid off from positions in consulting, finance, wealth management, media, and accounting. In many cases, the entire department was eliminated.
What are some signs of the downturn that you have witnessed? Did you trade down to a more inexpensive salon / beauty treatments because of the economy?
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I guess i shouldn’t comment since i’m not in the US, but the main thing that I notice is that everyone in power is trying to convince us that there’s NOT a recession going on–no one was saying that a few years ago! Doth protest too much or however that saying goes.
i haven’t had a haircut since June…can’t wait to visit my girl in Virginia in a few weeks!
I’d rather work a couple extra hours part-time than have bad hair. I still see my stylist!
The biggest thing I’ve noticed is the downturn in the weeknight bar scene. I had been pulling long hours during the workweek and my bf lives 30 minutes away, so I’d go see him on weekends. I wasn’t out at all during the 4-6 weeks of tapering off…but now if I try to meet a friend for a drink, it’s a ghost town on weekdays. The crowds still show up on weekends, but it is far less festive. There’s a very real change in mood, especially as the younger workers get laid off.
He threw a milkshake at the window?! Hey, those are expensive!!
All jokes aside…I definitely have noticed it at work. Not only did they cancel the holiday party, and have eliminated raises for at least a year, I’ve been noticing people mysteriously “disappearing”. A lot of people with years of experience have been laid-off simply because there was nothing for them to do. Then again, our industry was one of the first to be affected by all of the problems in this part of the country, so I was actually surprised we hadn’t seen these things start to happen sooner.
Other than that I haven’t really noticed anything going on differently….then again I’m usually oblivious to subtleties, and I don’t go out as much anymore. We actually went to the mall last weekend though and there was NO parking (and its a huge lot). My BF jokingly said “what happened to that recession we’re supposed to be in?” Maybe they were all just window shopping?
My company offers a free flu shot, and this year twice as many people showed up as last year. I think that points to people being afraid to be sick–they don’t want to spend the money on doctor visits or medication, and they don’t want to miss work.
I still see my stylist but I had her dye my my hair back to a darker shade so that I have to visit less for touch ups. Going for a cut and color costs me $200 (including tip)! I have tried going to cheaper places (below $100) but they all screwed up on my hair.
I have stopped eating out though and refuse to spend money on lunch when I can just take left overs or make my own sandwich. During the weekends this is a bit harder. Wish my mom were here to stock up my fridge and cook for me! She always does when she comes to the US to visit.
That explains why people were so happy to see me spend cash last weekend!!! LOL
I haven’t noticed it. but I’m in Canada….
Give me my fancy-salon-highlighted blond hair or give me death. Seriously: Even at really bad financial times in my life when I was putting my groceries on credit cards, the one thing I always spent money on was my hair.
However, in light of our current economy, I don’t get manicures or pedicures anymore. I just do them at home with a good bottle of Essie polish.
Several months ago, I found this really cheap massage place in Manhattan. The treatment was amazing, but it’s a distant memory because I’d never spend $60 on something so fleeting now.
I have friends clipping coupons that I would have never in a million years imagined clipping coupons.
I like shopping and still go to the mall pretty often (though to window shop) and like QL girl said, the mall parking lots are still packed! It looks to me like people are still carrying around lots of bags, but maybe their purchases are smaller scale (e.g., a Coach keychain instead of a purse).
Boyfriend got his hair cut last weekend (at Supercuts… the cheapest of the cheap!) and even they had practically no business. Usually it’s an hour wait on a Saturday, but they took him immediately. He asked them about it and they said that it had been really slow lately.
And while people in my office used to spend their vacations in Europe, they now take “staycations” or go spend a long weekend in a nearby town.
I am going to see my stylist the day of my company’s Christmas party in December. I tried Fantastic Sam’s this year and I REFUSE to return… it’s my stylist or nothing, even at $125 (incl tip) for cut/color. (However, I only get my hair cut 4x per year and highlighted 2x, so overall it still works!)
My budget is so small anyway that I haven’t really “cut out” extra things since they are so few and far between. A low-30′s salary doesn’t leave me much to work with in an expensive city!
And I know a handful of recent college grads (’07 & ’08) who have been laid off from various fields and even more who cannot find a non-retail type of job.
At work, they have started doing major cost cutting–putting red stickers on in-use computers to identify extra “assets”.
Retail stores are having pretty awesome sales for this time of year.
Beauty? I’ve been kinda frugal there, I think, but mainly because I haven’t fell in love with a stylist in LA. If i was in my previous city, I’d still be going to the expensive stylist probably.
I used to get waxed every 3 weeks but I know I’ll live if I extend it to 4 so for now I’ve changed my standing appointments to only once a month.
I’m thankful I don’t pay for haircuts any more. I’ve been doing my own hair (cut, color and style) since I was 19 and you won’t believe how much money it saves you and *no one* knows your hair like you do. At least that’s the mantra I live by. I’ve never had a stylist give me a better cut than the ones I give myself. (Granted I will admit that I have also given myself some atrocious cuts but it’s a lot easier to not be upset about them when they’re free!)
I have to admit that my wife cuts my hair. She’s done this for years and does a pretty decent job. Occasionally, I’ll go in for a refresher “real” cut, but otherwise she does it and it’s one of the ways we save money. If it leads us to pay down our consumer debt (which is almost completely paid for) then we do it. I suppose I could pay for and pay for a fancy cut but right now our priorities are such that I can deal with the amature cut (sorry, honey). When we have fewer bills (insurance, mortgage, etc), I may splurge on that $60 cut.
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com
I color my own hair to save money. It looks nice and pretty natural because I use the kind of color that doesn’t end up all one color. Feria is what I use but there are a couple of other types that are like this.
I also schedule my haircut appointments for the cut ONLY. I do not get my hair washed or styled there, except for maybe every third time or when I change styles so I can see how I should fix it.
I buy inexpensive drug store hair care products. I don’t buy the cheapest because they strip my hair color, but I buy the least expensive that works well on my hair. Then, I make sure I’m using only the amount I need instead of just absentmindedly using more than I need.
For my teenage son, who doesn’t love to get his hair cut, it’s trickier. He refuses to get his hair cut by the barber because the barber cuts it too short for his tastes. If he asks for it to be cut long, the guy will cut it all short but leave the top longish, which doesn’t work when you have curly hair. So, I’m alternating just trimming his bangs a little myself and taking him to the beauty school to have it cut. Haven’t done that yet so we’ll see how it works out.
Again for the teenager, I buy cheap hair products for him. He won’t use styling product usually, but I buy baby shampoo or gentle shampoo and also shampoo for body. He can use either depending on whether his hair is getting dry or whether it needs a good washing.
For the dog, yes, the dog, we just wash her in Dawn in the tub when me must and brush her with her brush. No need to get the salon treatment, and she doesn’t have fleas. We give her middle of the road dog food rather than the cheap stuff so her coat is nice and supplement with leftovers we are sick of, a little chicken skin, etc. once in a while for nutrition and extra fat.
Yes, we go a little longer than we normally would between cuts, but I make sure and give the normal tip which is fair.
I have notices that a slight change in the way the hair is styled and perhaps a bang trim can make a world of difference in how growing out hair looks.
Still, a good cut makes you look so much better and is so much easier that it’s really a value. So, I don’t go to cheap hair stylists. I’d rather just go without the shampoo and style and get a really great haircut.
I have also noticed that my stylist takes much longer with me now that business is slower, so I usually give her a little extra tip to compensate as the cut is then even better. I can skip other purchases to make up for that little extra tip.
Another way to save money on hair car is just to dig out all your old styling products and shampoos and see if you have things that you can use, even if you only use them every few times you do your hair. This will slow down your need to repurchase what you’ve been using. You could also swap products with friends or family.