A little dose of reality today

[TromboneAl]

A town near hear is close to a pulp mill. It usually smells bad there, depending on the wind. The air quality has worst than is allowed, but the government has given them a pass for years.

Well the recession caused the pulp mill to close down, and it's a real improvement.

I still haven't seen any other indications of a recession around here.

 

[Walt34]

We noticed today that the Home Depot store in Frederick, MD was about deserted at 1:00 pm. Parking lot almost empty. It's usually crowded about that time and we expected more people there buying stuff.

Traffic seems lighter, but perhaps just because people are taking off work for holidays.

 

[Texarkandy]

I haven't been to a barber since 1974! When my favorite old barber retired I bought a pair of hair clippers, and have been doing my own haircuts ever since. $18.95 plus 5% sales tax for the clippers = $19.90 ÷ ~4 haircuts per year for 34 years = ~15¢ per haircut (so far....and that cost drops each time!). Of course that doesn't include the electricity to run 'em.....but it still probably comes out under 20¢ per haircut! Not being frugal...I'm just picky about who's gonna chop my locks!

However, had you invested that $19.90 in the market in 1974 & gotten good market timing tips from Dawg54 since, you'd have......

oh, never mind.

 

[Gardnr]

I buzz mine. 40$ hair clippers have paid for themselves many times over. Shaving my head seems like it would be a pain.

Ditto. I cut it extremely short with the clippers, no guard. But shaving would be way too high maintenance!

 

[Goonie]

However, had you invested that $19.90 in the market in 1974 & gotten good market timing tips from Dawg54 since, you'd have......

oh, never mind.

Yeah, but my hair would be so long, that I'd have to tuck it into my boots to keep from tripping over it.

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

Yeah, but my hair would be so long, that I'd have to tuck it into my boots to keep from tripping over it.

If you were to knit it into a shirt you can you could significantly reduce your clothing budget.

 

[jazz4cash]

I think the barber shop I use is closing down or maybe going to weekends only. Ive stopped by three times the past two weeks and it has not been open.

I have a private mail box for business mail at Parcel Plus which is a dealer for UPS/Fedex and several other shippers, but they are closing down because the shippers are canceling thier contracts and the lease is going up. While the owner was explaining this to me, the US Mail carrier happened to be dropping off mail and commented that thier volume is way down also. After that I looked around and noticed a couple more store fronts in the stip mall were vacant. I will really miss the service at Parcel Plus, it was a mom and pop and kids opereration, but might try Kinkos which is affiliated with UPS.

 

[samclem]

I will really miss the service at Parcel Plus, it was a mom and pop and kids opereration, but might try Kinkos which is affiliated with UPS.

FedEx owns Kinkos now.

 

[clifp]

By reducing my number of haircuts to twice a year (whether I need it or not), I've cut my personal grooming expenditures (hair) to $2.50/month.

 

[bbbamI]

Y'all have convinced me...I think I'm gonna get buzzed.

 

[Goonie]

Y'all have convinced me...I think I'm gonna get buzzed.

.

 

[bbbamI]

Hmm, I think I'm gonna have to think this over more carefully..........

 

[free4now]

I went through a few months of clipping my hair myself with the electric buzzer. But I discovered I just couldn't get as good a haircut as the pros can do. I have a somewhat odd shaped head (e.g. upside down shelf in the middle back of the head). So when I use a buzzer guided by the shape of the head, I get an ugly shape.

But if I go to a salon, they shape the haircut based on what will look good. So I just look better and feel more confident with a pro haircut.

And I just discovered that you can tell them to cut it in a way that it will even out as it grows, e.g. shorter on the sides so the sides will fill out as they grow.

It is $35 plus $5 tip = $40 every six weeks, quite a cost, but I think worth it.