The gospel of good hair

Okay, before I tell you about my day of spending yesterday, let me lay a few cards on the table:

I believe it budgeting. I believe in buying the less-expensive no-name brand of most everything. I don't think ibuprofen that is stamped with a trademark brand name is any more effective than the drugstore brand stuff.

However, I don't believe in cheap haircuts.

Oh, I've had my fair share of awful, cheap haircuts, including a soul-scarring trip to Super Cuts when I was about 12. Let's just say that the woman wasn't all that interested in the picture I had torn out of Teen magazine and proceeded to chop away at my hair, making my already awkward phase much, much worse. I believe my own father laughed at me and called me k.d. Lang. Nice.

For a long time my method of choosing a hair stylist would involve waiting until I could no longer stand to look in the mirror at my hair and then call around to find the first available place and person that would take me. (That's how I once ended up having my hair ruined by an older woman wearing an ankle-length sweater dress that she had knit herself, who also happened to not have much of her own hair still left on her head. I ended up with a very short pixie cut about a month later, because it was the only way to correct the damage she had inflicted.)

About 4 or 5 years ago, I ended up at a slightly fancy salon in downtown Toronto, in the hands of a lovely woman named Jill. The most amazing thing about that visit was that before Jill even touched my hair, she sat down on a stool across from me and asked me what I wanted. And then she listened. This was new for me. Almost unheard of, in fact. The second best thing - my hair grew and grew and grew...but still looked great! Sometimes people would ask me if I'd just had it done - 3 months after I'd been to the salon!

So Jill became my one and only. And in the intervening years, her fee, along with her skill and experience, has gone up. So with tax and tip, I spend $100 to get my hair cut. I colour it myself with $8 box colour, but I go to Jill for the cut. It's really the biggest thing I splurge on, so I'm not giving it up.

And that's how I started my day yesterday. With a soul-refreshing haircut, which I'm loving. Which I charged. And somehow, whether it was the long overdue spring-like feeling in the air or the sassy new 'do, I found myself at the mall charging a couple of other things to... Namely a shirt for $16.90 and an on-sale summer dress for $45. I'm loving the shirt, but I may return the dress. It's quite similar to something I already own, so I may save myself that money and bring it back from whence it came.

Then I picked up some flowers for both of the birthdays I attended yesterday, because it's not right to arrive empty-handed.

Today there were groceries, plus a trip to the drugstore, plus a belated brunch out with the boyfriend. All in all, an expensive, but enjoyable weekend.

Total debt: $9315
Spent yesterday: $24.12 cash, plus $158.83 on credit
Spent today: $80.69