The BEST Personal Finance Hack That Nobody Does

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Kimpton Palomar Los Angeles Wine Hour Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith was very personable and a nice guy. Sorry I couldn't help, bud!
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We all have our own approach to saving money and personal finance, but there is one personal finance hack that very few people have embraced. This one idea will blow your mind and fatten your wallet. And best of all, it is so simple to do, it will actually save you time! But are you brave enough to do it?

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FinCon Ignite 2017

Before I share the best personal finance hack that nobody does, let me give you a little background on this presentation and why I did it.

FinCon is the personal finance media (freelancing, blogging, podcasting, etc) conference that I attend each year.  It is a great place to network, learn from the best, and hang with people that love to save money.

On Friday night during FinCon, there is an event called Ignite.  Ignite is an opportunity for FinCon attendees to perform 5-minute presentations on a personal finance topic of their choice.  The presentations are 20 slides on a 15-second auto-advance, so the speakers have to bring their A-game to hold the audience’s attention and stay on pace.

Don’t worry… this may sound boring to some, but these presentations are anything but boring!

The BEST Personal Finance Hack That Nobody Does

I have been reading personal finance blogs and listening to podcasts for years, yet I haven’t heard anyone discuss the best personal finance hack that nobody does.  That is why I wanted to share this approach with you.

Approaches to personal finance

You see people talk about “the envelope method,” riding bikes instead of driving cars, taking lunches to work, and other basic personal finance moves.

And then there are the extreme financial hackers that make their own toothpaste, live in tiny homes, taking cold showers, and even removing the bulbs from their oven.  Come on people…. are those extremes really worth it?

Seriously, you can get toothpaste for free from CVS with the right coupon.

My personal finance hack

Shaving your head.

That’s right.  Lose the hair, save a bunch of dough.  And save time!

Let me show you the why’s and the how’s.

Plenty of famous & successful bald people

Some of the most famous and successful people you’ll ever meet are bald.  This is especially true in professional sports.

  • Michael Jordan – greatest basketball player of all time.
  • Bruce Willis – one of the first bald guys I looked up to.
  • Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – WWE Champion and Forbest #1 paid actor.
  • Emmitt Smith – NFL Hall of Famer and Dancing with the Stars winner

I met Emmitt Smith in February 2017 at the Kimpton Palomar in Los Angeles.  We collaborated on the greatest Kimpton Wine Hour story ever told.

Kimpton Palomar Los Angeles Wine Hour Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith was very personable and a nice guy.  We shared shaving tips (not really).

FinCon Community Bald Guys

And within the FinCon community, there are some rally amazing people that are also bald…

If you’re not a blogger, you may not know who these guys are.  That’s OK.  Just know that these guys are inspirations to us all.

And I’m pretty sure being bald has something to do with their success!

Don’t stop at the 5-yard-line!

And then there are the guys that are almost bald… but don’t accept reality.

Dude.  You are not faking out anyone but yourself.

Don’t do the combover.  Get rid of the “hula skirt.”

Embrace the baldness!

FinCon Ignite 2017 Lee on stage

Economics of shaving your head

Shaving your head eliminates many of the common household expenses associated with having hair.  Shampoo, conditioner, combs, brushes, hair dryers, curling irons… and the list goes on.

Plus, there are haircuts that cost an average of $25 for men and $60 for women.

You’ll need none of that!

For me, a can of shaving cream every couple of months and a new blade once a month for my Gillette Fusion Power Razer ends up costing about $100 a year.

Time savings when you shave

Studies show that 25% of men and 21% of women take longer than 30 minutes to get ready in the morning.  Based on personal experience, I’m pretty sure that the woman’s number is slightly understated.

When you have hair, you have to get periodic haircuts.  But there’s so much more that goes along with a haircut… driving back and forth and waiting your turn also take time.

Then you have to comb your hair at least once a day.  Shampoo and conditioner while you shower.  Looking in the mirror to make sure your hair looks ok.  All of this time adds up.

My estimate is that shaving your head takes about 2 minutes a day, or about 12 hours a year.  Compare that to everything you need to do when you have hair… and that’s easily 48 hours a year.  TWO WHOLE DAYS!!!

We never have bad hair days

When you shave your head, you never have bad hair days.

Scarlett at Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in September 2017
You don’t wake up looking like this when you’re bald.

Our definition of a bad hair day is when we miss a little sliver of hair on the back of our head.

Who wants to be the next Bald Millionaire?

By eliminating the $700 a year for haircuts ($400), shampoo and product ($200), and accessories ($100), you can use that money to invest instead.

If you saved $700 a year ($58 a month) over the course of 60 years at 8%… that would be a cool $1 million.

And just think what you could do with an extra 36 hours a year.

We’re talking some serious money!

Ok.  So, who is ready to be the next Bald Millionaire?

 

The Best Personal Finance Hack video and slides

I highly recommend watching my video.  It’s fun and educational… and maybe it will inspire you to shave your head!

And if you’d like to follow along with my presentation, you can find the slides at Slideshare.

Other FinCon Ignite 2017 Presentations

I was just one of 11 people speaking this year.  Here are the other presentations with links to their sites and the YouTube videos:

Katasha’s presentation is the one that really got to me.  My Dad passed away almost 6 years ago and hearing her story about losing her Dad and how that inspired her to do better and be better really resonated with me.

Which of these presentations was your favorite?

The Bald Thoughts

Ok, the topic of shaving your head is mostly tongue-in-cheek and was designed to get some laughs.

But…

The key takeaway is rooted in the Six Sigma concept of Kaizen – continuous improvement.  We all have small changes in our lives that will add up to a big difference in our money, happiness, or lifestyle over the course of our lifetimes.  You don’t HAVE to shave your head (although I do recommend it).  Just find your Kaizen and embrace it.

a calculator with pink text


19 COMMENTS

  1. You win! I never could have guessed at that and neither could the always ready to argue chemical engineer inside of me find an angle to attack. It is beautiful in its simplicity. I’ve got plenty stashed already so I’m not looking for a hack like that now but when it is time to shave it off I will be able to console myself with the money I’ll save.

  2. I’ve got a goofy looking head – not sure if I could pull off the bald look. 🙂 Plus I’d have to have a beard or I look like I’m about 16 years old still.

    Thankfully only washing it twice a week and getting it cut at most once a month makes my maintenance pretty easy.

    • I was quite unsure about shaving my head the first time too. But I didn’t have much choice thanks to genetics. One day in my mid-20s, I decided to shave straight up the middle so I wouldn’t be able to back out. Have been shaving ever since.

      Have a great day.

  3. Haha – love it. I shaved my head for a while until my wife decided she liked me better as a “younger man”. Now I cut my own hair instead (with her help). Not quite as much savings as shaving it all off, but still better than going to the barber.

  4. Great post. I actually did this for years. In my early 20s, I bought an electric razor and had my mom or girlfriend shave my head every 3-4 weeks. I bet 10 years went by without going to the barbershop. It definitely saved me a few bucks. I have since let my hair grow in, but go to a local barber who only charges $8 for a haircut. I normally give him a $10.

    • Hi Dave, thanks for writing. Electric clippers were one of my best investments back in college. Adding a “3” or “4” clip to them allowed me to have the right amount of hair but never pay for a haircut. I still have those clippers 20+ years later and they still work great when I touch up my son’s hair between haircuts. $8 for a barbershop haircut is a killer deal.

  5. Good lord Lee! My long tresses were quivering in fear and horror of being chopped off with every word I read. Thankfully I read to the very bottom where you mention the idea of going bald was tongue-in-cheek.

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