MOP TOP CHOP

Cutting hair.  Who knew I could?  I’d never done it before, but looking at how much our family spends on haircuts each year I thought it might be worth a try.  Surprisingly, with some patience and my family’s feedback I’ve gotten pretty good at it.  I’m no stylist, but two of us have very simple cuts to maintain.  After learning the basics by paying attention to stylists, checking out YouTube videos, and lots of practice, practice, practice, I’m able to reliably reproduce great results.  It’s a time commitment and it’s not always fun to keep a child in place for the length of time it takes to do, but by cutting hair at home we will save about $290 dollars a year.  I calculated that for the time I spend cutting I am making/saving about $25 per hour.  This certainly makes it a worthwhile venture.

As you start out on your haircutting adventure it’s important to know a few things.  First, buy quality scissors, trimmers, thinning shears, etc.  You don’t have to purchase top of the line, but if you buy too cheaply the equipment will pull/hack at the hair rather than giving a clean cut.  For the sake of the finished product as well as your subject’s comfort, spending a little more up front is worth it. 

Secondly, it can take some time and practice to become proficient.  It can be hard to take critiques from family members, but you will improve and they will be increasingly happy with the results.  After all, stylists go to school and sit under countless hours of instruction to learn how to cut hair.  Be willing to laugh at your mistakes and keep in mind that it’s not a failure if your guinea pig has to visit a professional to fix a goof up.  It’s just a part of the learning process.  

That being said, the third thing you need to know is when to leave it alone.  Some haircuts will always be beyond my capabilities.  I don’t plan on attending beauty school and I just don’t have a natural haircutting knack.  Don’t feel badly if one or two people in your family still have to visit a salon or barber. 

Mostly view it as a fun experience to share with your family.  Remember, neither one of you is going anywhere for the duration, so chat it up.  It’s amazing what topics you can cover as you share some undivided time. 

If you have little ones and have the patience to try and cut their hair, it can be fun to include a sibling in distracting them while you cut.  With young children it may actually take two or three sittings to get it right.  When either of you run out of patience just put the scissors away and try again later when there’s a fresh distraction. 

SAVINGS TIP:  In Mary Hunt’s book, Live Your Life for Half the Price, she has a section on shampoo.  Here’s what she says. 

“All shampoos regardless of brand are 80 to 90 percent water.  The rest is detergent with a pathetically few drops of fragrance and other additives and preservatives.  There are basically two kids of detergent: Anionic (harsh) and cationic (gentle).  … Water (or some fancy name for good old H2O) will always be the first ingredient.  Next comes the detergent.  Examples you can expect to find:

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate – very harsh

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate – harsh

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) – still harsh

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) – mild, great choice

TEA (or MEA) Lauryl Sulfate – gentle, good choice

TEA (or MEA) Laureth Sulfate – gentle, good choice

Shampoos often contain antistatic and detangling agents and also thickeners, humectants (moisturizers) and conditioners.  But these items are in such small quantities it’s almost a joke.  Besides, the detergent washes all of it down the drain when you rinse” (279-280).

She goes on to say that using coupons and watching for sales you can get away with buying mild/gentle shampoo for a dollar or less a bottle.  A couple examples of shampoos that have gentle detergents are Herbal Essence and Garnier Fructis.

NOTE: Unlike shampoo, the quality of your conditioner does make a difference because unlike the shampoo some of it does remain in your hair.

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY THANKFUL

Last Friday, a storm caused a huge tree limb to fall in our backyard knocking down power lines, which in turn took out our house power box and part of our back porch.  Anyone who has had something like this happen knows what comes next, the endless calls to repair folks, insurance companies and the city trying to get the problem resolved.  And let’s not forget the worst part—that sinking feeling that comes with calculating the out-of-pocket cost.

I’d like to say that I was calm and handled the crisis well.  I’d like to say that I trusted God’s provision for our family and was able to accept that He allowed this to happen.  I’d like to say that my worry over finances didn’t affect how I treated my family.  But that would be such a lie. 

It’s fun to creatively save and see how we can better handle money.  It’s fun to put that money away for a rainy day or other projects and watch it grow.  But when that rainy day comes and we actually have to spend what we’ve put aside, my blood pressure takes a serious hike.  I’m a chronic worrier and money is a favorite topic of mine to mull over.  When something like a huge tree branch careens into my world, I find my low-level, ongoing anxiety over whether we will have enough for this or that takes on a whole new dimension and suddenly I’m experiencing anxiety overload.

The incident brought my sin of worry over money into sharp focus.  As I reflected on my responses, I was struck by something Jesus says in Matthew 6.  He says,

 ²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

 ²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

 ³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

 ³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

In our uncertain economy it’s easy to focus a large portion of our thoughts on providing for ourselves and our families.  Even if we have enough for today, it’s easy to wonder if we will have enough for tomorrow.  Jesus, however, calls attention to the fact that, “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers.”  Worry over money is something that characterizes the thought life of a person who doesn’t know Jesus.  It places trust in our own ability to provide for ourselves rather than in our Heavenly Father who already knows “all [our] needs” and has the resources to meet them.  Further, a steward is someone who takes care of someone else’s possessions.  When I worry, am I acting the part of the steward or am I taking ownership of God’s resources?  A true steward doesn’t have to sweat over what happens to the things they care for, because they aren’t his/hers. 

The only real antidote for a worry filled life is found in Philippians chapter 4. 

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

When you find yourself considering some aspect of your finances this week, make an effort to not just think about it, but to pray about it as well, no matter how trivial.  After all, we are admonished by Paul to pray about everything.  As we tell God what we need, we are also called to thank Him for all His many blessings.  As we practice giving our anxieties to the Lord, we are promised a peace that surpasses anything we can possibly imagine, a peace that will guard both our emotions and our thoughts.  This is a peace no stash of money, no matter how large, can ever provide and no tree branch, no matter how large, can ever destroy.