How I saved $40 yesterday and our new chore chart.

The boys’ ears were disappearing and I almost couldn’t see their eyes, so after dinner I had Ace go get the clippers and I trimmed, no, mowed their heads. I could see them again! They actually had ears! Maybe that’s why they didn’t follow directions so well, they couldn’t hear me!

Then after the boys’ heads, I did Bear’s hair too. So I’m calculating $11 per kid’s haircut and $7 for a military cut. That saved me $40 in haircuts last night. The girls need their bangs trimmed which I’ll do when I get brave. Miss Busy’s isn’t so hard, but Chel’s hair is so thick and coarse, it is hard to get them straight. Maybe I’ll tape it to her forehead!
We also implemented a new chore chart; I stole the idea from a friend of mine. Amy uses clothes pins to write the chores, then the kids clip them to their shirt hem until they finish the job, then they have a constant reminder that they have a job to finish. My kids have a tendency to “get lost” while they are working so I thought we would give this a try.
The problem with chore chart is that whenever we start one, Miss Busy wants to write absolutely everything on the list so she can “check it off” She is very much like me. If I did something that wasn’t on the list, I’ll write it down so I can check it off. I know, I need help.

Comments

Trish D said…
Hooray for buzz cuts! :) And seriously, taping bangs isn't a bad idea. Mom used to put a piece of tape across mine just to keep them together and form a decently straight line (plus, in theory, it prevents them from being embarrassingly short :). I do the same with our daughter - tape and trim, but then I take it one step further: remove tape and hold bangs between fingers of left hand, then randomly snip my way across at a slight angle. I only cut about 1/4" off, approx every 3/4" or so, but it soften the line a lot. Hopefully that makes sense!
August 27, 2008 at 9:01 AM
Carissa said…
Good for you! Before my husband was deployed I would cut his hair too. Every week. Saved us over $400 a year!
August 27, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Joanne said…
WOW the boys are getting BIG! :) It's nice to see a recent picture of them. We always cut our own hair ... not that it's my most favorite job in the world, but saving money is something I DO enjoy!

I like the clothes-pin idea. I'll have to share that with my friend.

With love in Christ,
Joanne
August 28, 2008 at 7:27 PM
Totallyscrappy said…
What an inspiration you are tonight! Love, love, love the photo of the boys with thier spiffy new cuts. My friend trimmed my boys up right before my brother's funeral, but I will be doing them myself in a couple of weeks. (I've done them before, but I don't neccesarily ENJOY doing it. The reminder of how much $ I save...)
And that chore chart... BRILLIANT! I've been looking for a chore chart and I was still looking until tonight. And you will never believe how many clothespins I already own. :)
Does each child have thier own set of clips or is that a family set of clips and everyone picks one?
August 28, 2008 at 8:58 PM
Laura said…
After the twins decided to go short again, and I was SO tired of paying for bad haircuts for my husband when we got here, I decided to start cutting everyone's hair again...except for my own (which I rarely cut anyways). We were all just talking about the savings we've accumulated over the last 9 months yesterday with my husband getting a haircut every two weeks, our twins every month and a trim (which cost the same as a full blown haircut these days) for our daughter every other month. Praise the Lord!
September 8, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Mel said…
Love this idea of the chore chart!! I will have to use it and pass it on!! Thanks!
December 1, 2008 at 10:47 PM
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