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Stories from the hairdresser's, and other odd tales
Old 11-19-2017, 03:15 PM   #1
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Stories from the hairdresser's, and other odd tales

DW goes to a hairdresser about once a week and often comes home with stories of what we think is downright strange financial behavior. The hairdresser lives with her hubby in a mobile home (dunno if single or doublewide) and had complained last winter of getting $600-$700/month electric bills for the heat pump. That seems a tad high to me (is there a hole in the roof?) even given that mobile homes tend to skimp on insulation so as to increase interior space. So anyway, last spring they found a wood stove at auction and installed that. Good thing too, since now the heat pump has died entirely.

The hairdresser has been saving up for I think about two years now, and wants to buy a hearse. DW says she (the hairdresser) likes ghoulish stuff, dresses up at Halloween and the like, so I suppose a hearse fits in. But other than the $1,200 saved for the hearse they're pretty much broke. Wouldn't most people want a new heat pump before they bought a hearse?

Anyway, what other strange/weird/oddball financial stories have you to tell?
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Old 11-19-2017, 03:46 PM   #2
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My hairdresser was far more sensible. I know she was dating a retired NFL player (never got his name) and was divorced with 2 grade-school age kids. The last time she cut my hair she mentioned that she was pregnant- it happened just before she broke up with the football player. She mentioned lawyers and paternity tests. They must have worked in her favor because she quit cutting hair after she had the baby. Not sure what she plans to do after the child support ends.
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Old 11-19-2017, 03:55 PM   #3
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It's even more strange to me that the hairdresser goes around telling customers abput her weird financial behavior. If it were me, I'd not want others to know.

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DW goes to a hairdresser about once a week and often comes home with stories of what we think is downright strange financial behavior. The hairdresser lives with her hubby in a mobile home (dunno if single or doublewide) and had complained last winter of getting $600-$700/month electric bills for the heat pump. That seems a tad high to me (is there a hole in the roof?) even given that mobile homes tend to skimp on insulation so as to increase interior space. So anyway, last spring they found a wood stove at auction and installed that. Good thing too, since now the heat pump has died entirely.

The hairdresser has been saving up for I think about two years now, and wants to buy a hearse. DW says she (the hairdresser) likes ghoulish stuff, dresses up at Halloween and the like, so I suppose a hearse fits in. But other than the $1,200 saved for the hearse they're pretty much broke. Wouldn't most people want a new heat pump before they bought a hearse?

Anyway, what other strange/weird/oddball financial stories have you to tell?
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:06 PM   #4
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Anyway, what other strange/weird/oddball financial stories have you to tell?
Those are indeed weird stories! I got a kick out of them, thanks.

To me, most financial stories that people tell me IRL sound extremely weird. I can't think of any examples offhand that I would want to post.

Anyway, I finally decided that it's due to their priorities. Theirs just don't line up with mine. So, I just shrug my shoulders, marvel, and thank heavens that I'm not financially entangled with any of them.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:30 PM   #5
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:33 PM   #6
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I know a young woman who spent her last $800 on tattoos instead of getting her car fixed. With no working transport, she could not get to her job and lost two weeks' wages. Eventually her mother paid for the car repairs.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:38 PM   #7
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DW goes to a hairdresser about once a week and often comes home with stories of what we think is downright strange financial behavior. The hairdresser lives with her hubby in a mobile home (dunno if single or doublewide) and had complained last winter of getting $600-$700/month electric bills for the heat pump. That seems a tad high to me (is there a hole in the roof?) even given that mobile homes tend to skimp on insulation so as to increase interior space. So anyway, last spring they found a wood stove at auction and installed that. Good thing too, since now the heat pump has died entirely.

The hairdresser has been saving up for I think about two years now, and wants to buy a hearse. DW says she (the hairdresser) likes ghoulish stuff, dresses up at Halloween and the like, so I suppose a hearse fits in. But other than the $1,200 saved for the hearse they're pretty much broke. Wouldn't most people want a new heat pump before they bought a hearse?

Anyway, what other strange/weird/oddball financial stories have you to tell?
Your DW's hairdresser doesn't charge enough. Around here, the hairdressers are all driving a Lexus or an MB.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:46 PM   #8
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Anyway, what other strange/weird/oddball financial stories have you to tell?
I heard this just today: Someone has a wife that goes to the hairdresser once a week instead of once every 8 to 16 weeks.
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:00 PM   #9
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<mod edit> For us wife goes 2x yr and husband goes maybe 10x
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:07 PM   #10
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My hairdresser told me this crazy unbelievable tale about saving up $1MM+ then leaving his engineering career at age 33. What a loser.

I cut my own hair.

On a different note, my neighbor is a part time hairdresser that lives by herself and seems to do pretty well. Her house is bigger than mine. Both of her cars are nicer than my car (in the singular). She used to have a beach house (I don't). And she has a nice iphone (I have a $80 Samsung bought on ebay).
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:21 PM   #11
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I heard this just today: Someone has a wife that goes to the hairdresser once a week instead of once every 8 to 16 weeks.
Last week I drove through an area with far more splendid demographics than my suburb and saw my first "Blowout Bar". You pay them to do nothing but get your hair wet, then style it, probably with a few lotions and potions to help it keep its shape. I'm sure there are women who go there before any occasion where they want to look impeccably groomed.

Too rich for my blood. I did, however, buy a $1.50 sample pack of blue-tinted mousse at Great Clips which I plan to use at Thanksgiving. Sometimes you gotta walk on the wild side.
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:23 PM   #12
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My DW and Sister were both employed in the industry. Oh my, the stories.

Some are really funny, other's sad. I'll take a while and come up with a few of the better ones. If I were to tell them all the forum might run out of disk space.
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Old 11-19-2017, 06:24 PM   #13
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I'm bald and have never needed a "hairdresser" though somewhere in my depths I probably long for one.

Any stories from the barbershop are really short due to the above named affliction and takes five minutes to "cut". However I do ask for the neck and side burn shave to make me think I'm getting my money's worth.
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Old 11-19-2017, 06:36 PM   #14
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I'm bald and have never needed a "hairdresser" though somewhere in my depths I probably long for one.

Any stories from the barbershop are really short due to the above named affliction and takes five minutes to "cut". However I do ask for the neck and side burn shave to make me think I'm getting my money's worth.
At the barbershop I go to they always offer to do my eyebrows because frankly, there isn't much else to trim...
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Old 11-19-2017, 06:46 PM   #15
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I'm bald and have never needed a "hairdresser" though somewhere in my depths I probably long for one.

Any stories from the barbershop are really short due to the above named affliction and takes five minutes to "cut". However I do ask for the neck and side burn shave to make me think I'm getting my money's worth.
Mrs Scrapr has cut my hair in the back yard for over 10 years. In the Winter she lets me go in the garage. She is sick now so I did a barber last month. It was great! I love the neck shave with the straight razor. I even went back for a full shave a couple days later. I'm thinking about a combo pack this month. Adel did a great job. Hot towel too

He is from Turkey. I'm going to have to get to know him more to hear crazy stories

re: the heat pump bills. When the temp goes below about 35 degrees the unit can't pull warm air out of the environment. So it defaults to heat strips. all electric. Which can get expensive. The heat strips are not really built to heat for a long period of time. Sort of an emergency option.
The woodstove & heat pump might work well together. Heat pump for coolish days and woodstove for a cold snap.
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Old 11-19-2017, 07:08 PM   #16
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Not a funny story but I used to have to get my hair cut every 5-6 weeks when it was short. Decided to grow it out for a change. It's been 8 months since I've been to the hairdresser! Started coloring it myself years ago. I get lots of compliments on my hair color. If you haven't tried coloring your own hair, doing so is a helpful LBYM tactic that has saved me lots of time and money over the years.
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Old 11-19-2017, 07:20 PM   #17
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I heard this just today: Someone has a wife that goes to the hairdresser once a week instead of once every 8 to 16 weeks.
That is most likely just for a wash and blow-out. When I was growing up, a lot of my mother's friends wore bee-hive hairdos, and would go once a week for a wash and set.
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Old 11-19-2017, 07:30 PM   #18
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Well, my own hair stories are a bit pathetic. I am still working, about 70 hours a week, and I hate spending time I don't have sitting in the chair.

So, it started with me grabbing scissors at work, running to the ladies room when my bangs got in my eyes and cutting them myself. Then it progressed to me buying coloring in a box, and, ahem, walking on the treadmill while coloring my hair. I call it multitasking.

Then, it progressed to me ordering online something called a Crea Clip. You can put it in your own hair, and cut along the clip to get the shape you want for your hair. I had trouble doing it myself, so went after DH for help. He tried to escape, but no dice.

Now, DH is a 6'4" blue collar worker. His fingers are too big to fit comfortably in hair dressers scissors. Initially he was very nervous about cutting my hair, but he has gotten quite good at it.
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Old 11-19-2017, 08:02 PM   #19
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At the barbershop I go to they always offer to do my eyebrows because frankly, there isn't much else to trim...
Yeah, but they charge $2 extra if you let them trim your eyebrows.
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Old 11-19-2017, 08:13 PM   #20
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Now, DH is a 6'4" blue collar worker. His fingers are too big to fit comfortably in hair dressers scissors. Initially he was very nervous about cutting my hair, but he has gotten quite good at it.
I am imagining him in a smock with his scissors in hand

then telling "the guys" about his weekend.
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