Doesn’t really matter if they are economical or not. Even if you get a really expensive pair, they will pay for themselves within a few haircuts. I was paying ~$13 per cut per month at Supercuts before I started just shaving my head at home. My clippers were paid for after 3 haircuts.

Disclaimer: I’m a little wound up about this as I just came back from a holida gathering and got the annual grilling about why I don’t want children.

Amen to everyone who pointed out that for most of us, the “children or no children” (for those who have a choice) isn’t like deciding how much to spend on a house–”if we buy in the really fancy neighborhood, we can’t eat out 3x per week” etc. Just as some people feel the urge to have children, some just don’t.

There is no greater responsibility in the world than being a parent. If you’re not 200% sure that you want children, I’m convinced that you should not have them. We all see the result of children who are not given all the love and devotion they need and deserve.

I don’t hate children, in fact, I love my neices and nephews very much and spend a significant amount of time and money being an active and willing participant in their lives.

I think it’s far more selfish and detrimental to everyone to have a child just because you think you “should”.

Children are not puppies. You can’t give them back if it ends up being more than you bargain for.

We bought a different brand for use overseas and they didn’t even last the 2 years we lived over there.

As far as good clippers, just shop around. For me clippers are clippers. If they feel sturdy and look like they will last, they most likely will with proper care. The most important advice for clipping your own hair I can give is to make sure you have oil. Not just any oil either, buy some decent oil that will last awhile and that is made just for clippers. The tiny bottle they include in most sets should only last 2 or 3 uses. I found that after I clip my hair, if I spend a good 15 minutes and clean them as best I can and then oil them, the blades tend to last much longer.

Personally I believe in buying a $15 – $20 set and using them for roughly a year, maybe two. Depends on how long they will last. My last set I got for $12 at Wal-Mart on sale and they lasted for a little over a year before they just stopped working. But the point here is to keep the blade oiled so it doesn’t dull during use. Buying replacement blades seems to be more expensive than just buying a whole new “economy” set and using it for a year or so.

I look at it this way. If a decent economy set costs roughly $15, that’s 1 haircut a month. Good oil can go anywhere from $15 – $30 depending on the brand. So that’s another haircut. If you’re getting a haircut once a month, like most do, or even twice a month like even more do, then you’re spending $180 to $360 a year just for those haircuts and that doesn’t include your tips. This is going to a cheaper place as well, not a nicer barber shop that can cost upwards of $30 – $40 a visit.

Buying an economy set of clippers and good oil, you’ll spend roughly $40 – $50. That’s a decent difference from $180 and a far cry from $380. It all depends on your financial situation I guess. If you can put the money up for a set of clippers that will last 3+ years, I say do it. But learn to take care of them and they can last 4 times that long. Just my $0.02.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYMyJ-LR8so

I used this video and made 3 separate ponytails (which equal layers) and another video by the same women on how to trim your hair to frame your face. Good Luck!

Now for the other topic. As far as I’m concerned, you can be a DINK or you can be like the Duggars (19 Kids and Counting), as long as you take care of your family whatever size it may be. People who complain about haviing to pay taxes for schools will be very glad those kids went to school once they’re ready to retire and they looking to those same kids, who will hopefully become taxpayers, to underwrite their Social Security.

Also, I don’t know why that one writer thinks she would have to have dinner on the table every night with children. What’s wrong with giving the kids a bowl of cereal for dinner once in a while? Or a peanut butter sandwich? It seems like, in her case, unrealistic expectations might be holding her back. If she wants kids, go for it. You pretty much figure it out as you go anyway.

My wife found about this when she went to get her hair cut (she won’t allow me to cut her hair, though)

We went to “Sally’s” a beauty supply store and got the Wahl “PEANUT” model, that all the beauty places use for trimming, it is really light weight, has all the fittings for different hair length … We don’t even bother with that, threw the fittings in the drawer, use the “PEANUT” with no fittings and cut the hair away …
Saves me TIME (I still work as a consulting engineer) Saves me DRIVING in nutso traffic and I can get my hair cut WITH NO APPOINTMENT necessary.

All hail a lovely wife … with a sharp mind … :^)

Between the DVD that came with the clippers and You Tube, I got some great tips on how to do men’s haircuts. The DVD even showed how you can use the clippers to trim longer girl’s hair too. It has been a great investment because we can cut hair when its convenient for our schedule and it is one less errand to run. It has saved us significant money since my husband needs his cut trimmed every two weeks!

It may be better to try and convince your wife to do the actual cut. When I gave myself my first haircut with the clippers I went too far on one side, tried to balance it out by taking more off the other side, and kept repeating that routine until I went into work the next day with my head shaved bald. My wife now gives me a monthly buzz on the porch so we don’t have to worry about sweeping up the hair. When we’re finished, any hair clumps big enough to grab go in the compost pile and everything else is carried away like dust in the wind.

The hair sticks to it less, and the motor just feels more solid when it’s humming along. Does a much better job of cutting through shorter hair.