Hair cut and colour now exceeds what I earn in a day. Absolutely fed up.

[Burntout01]

Obviously everything is going up and up. Just went to book hairdressers- I don’t go often , maybe every four months since I went grey ( used to box dye it for 30 years before that). Its my one bit of self care.
Cost has jumped from £120 to over £170 since I last had it done in September. For full head highlights for chin length bobbed hair plus wash and rough blow dry.
It’s not that I don’t believe its worth that price and I am not knocking my hairdresser, its not about that. But I am a senior NHS nurse with 30 years experience. My job has taken a lot from me and my family. I take home £150 a day. The hair appt is 2.5 hours.
I just cannot justify the expense for myself any more.

Because you work 3 days a week - you are taking home less than minimum weekly wage.

This is why you are struggling.

There must be other jobs you can do 5 days a week?

Bank work?

In a local salon? That’s ridiculous! I paid £90 yesterday for a cut and colour (whole head highlights and base colour). Midlands.

You cite your take home pay. As a senior nurse that will not include generous pension contributions, possibly salary sacrifice for vehicles and also nhs get blue light discounts in many places - unlike other workers. Your hairdressers will have trained for 5 years. Good hairdressers are hard to find and often self employed so have big overheads and expenses to cover including sickness insurance, pension, holiday pay rent etc.

I am no longer in the pension scheme as I cannot afford it. We don’t get it for ‘free’ and the value of the new scheme is significantly less than the old scheme, bit the main reason I came out was I needed the money now, not if and when I get to retirement age.
Salary sacrifice for vehicles sounds ok but it has a massive negative impact on your tax code which means in the past I have found a better deal elsewhere for half the price. Its not a ‘perk’.
Blue light discount is just a marketing scheme, in reality the ‘deals’ are to be found in other places for the general public.

Why don't look chic then? I just look washed out.

Yes, many hairdressers are self employed so have to cover the other expenses you mention and yes, nurses get some perks in comparison. However, hairdressers don't train for 5 years. I know a young woman who recently trained as a hairdresser in 1 year. A nursing degree takes far longer, is far more challenging and necessitates taking on a large debt. It is a completely different career and you are comparing two totally different things.
The braoder point, which I think is what the OP was aiming at is how expensive hair cuts/colours, and perhaps other discretionary services have become compared to fairly normal salaries. This has huge implications for these services and the people who work in these sectros.

Crazy to opt out of the pension scheme yet pay £170 for a hair cut and colour.

NHS pension may not be as good as what it once was but it’s a damn sight better than private pensions (or relying solely on state pension). Future you will be be very thankful if you can cut back elsewhere to enable you to rejoin the pension scheme - by not being in it you are literally turning down free money (I know you have to contribute but the NHS contribution really outweighs that).

Are you aware of the fact that we are required to pay 10.6% of our salary towards this "generous pension contribution" as well? It's not exactly free money. Blue badge discount is only good if you can actually afford to go places the discount applies in. I'd much rather prefer if we had a discount at Lidl..
And I am not sure where it takes 5 years to learn hairdressing. Most courses and apprenticeships are for one year. You can train at Vidal Sassoon in just a few months.
For the record, I used to manage hairdressing salons before starting NHS work so well aware of how much money it takes to run business. But that doesn't really change the fact that services become more and more unaffordable. And my "generous pension contributions" are somewhat useless to me right now and for the next 20 or so years.

10.6% suggests you are earning between £50-£65k. Let’s say you earn £60k per year, you contribute £530 pension per month…..whereas the NHS contribute £1185 per month (assuming circa 23.7%).

To put it in perspective, if you worked for a private company offering the minimum, you would put in £250 per month, whilst the employer would only contribute £150. So your contribution would be halved but then employer contribution would be nearly 8 times less.

So yes you have to contribute more, but you can’t pretend the scheme is terrible!

Caveat - I know NHS pension isn’t a pot so the contribution numbers don’t matter like they do in the private sector (granted this actually means you are protected from dips in the market).

I'm not saying it's terrible. I am saying that it is not free money and actually it does make quite a dent in my monthly finances. I do take issue with people bringing up my amazing pension setup every time I dare to say that managing daily expenses is somewhat tricky. I can't just live in a vacuum until retirement age. 10,6% is a rather substantial part of my take home pay which means that, until reaching retirement age, I am not able to afford such "luxuries" as a regular haircut. And, funnily enough, despite my "generous pension", I am unlikely to be able to afford it in retirement either.

Oh thank you! I had light brown hair and this is it now :(

The percentage is the percentage. It doesn’t rise or fall depending on the size of the salary. If you think it’s do wonderful working in the NHS, maybe you try it!

Oh…that’s WARM, isn’t it. I know everyone would say that you should go back and ask for an adjustment, and so should I, but it’s not easy to do!

I did my own hair lightening for a long time and learned a lot. You need a blue-based toner to neutralise that orange, because orange and blue are opposite each other on the colour wheel and they cancel each other out. So I would order Chocolate Touch from the Wella masks, because one of the reviews said it’s blue-based. It should neutralise that ginger. If you don’t like it, it’ll just wash out.

Unfortunately it looks as if she didn’t lift your hair enough for it to be caramel. You need to lift it beyond the lightness that you want and then tone it down to caramel. Under light brown hair is a TON of orange pigment, which shows when it’s lightened, but not lightened enough to lift past the orange.

NHS pension contributions are adjusted for the salary. I’m part time and contribute just over 5% as that is the contribution expected on those particular earnings. I used to contribute more related to my FTE but they obviously realised it was unfair and have now adjusted it.

Its absolutely fine and understandable to be upset about not being able to afford regular hair appointments. I wouldn't be able to either if I worked part time. That's why I now work FT. I don't believe for a minute that you can't find bank work somewhere....

It's unpleasant the way you're suggesting that hairdressers should earn less than you.

Opting out of the salary is foolish, especially when you complained its reduced by you being PT - when actually you've opted out! Personally I would take a job delivering takeaways or something before I would opt out of the pension scheme.

To all haidressers reading - you're worth your weight in gold!!! I think covid highlighted that nicely.....

From an NHS worker who's very grateful to her hairdresser...

You have some very detailed replies here sorting out your finances for you and offering pension advice. Fabulous. Probably you just need a new hairdresser. You live rurally and a cut and colour costs £170?? I live in expensive old London, £120 for full head highlights/cut/blow dry, and £96 for half head/cut/blow dry. Less if I skip the blow dry. Don't go grey if you aren't ready, shop around!

Could not agree with you more OP.
Glad I am not the only one who sees the Blue Light scheme as an absolute waste of time.
All it does is basically hi-lights any sales or discounts anyone can access.
Thinking of starting a thread about it!

I have not once said hairdressers should earn less than me. If you read my posts you will realize that. I am upset that I am now unable to afford the one bit of self care I do.
And no, I cannot find bank work that is within my scope of practice/ competence and physical abilities.

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. You could try to find a cheaper salon, you could see if trainees could do it for cheaper, or you could keep your hair its natural colour. I used to dye mine, the upkeep got expensive, so I don't do it any more.

It also irks me that as a woman, we have so many more additional costs compared to our male counterparts! (The “pink tax” comes to mind!)

Seriously, you think hairdressers should earn the same or more than nurses!
Would love an AIBU vote on that alone!

You need to shop around. I go to a High St near me, it’s not fancy - there’s no Costa or artisan bakery but I found a little hairdresser with lovely staff and I pay about £85 for half head highlights, cut and blow dry. I’m in the south east.

Some of the salons that look like they just do old ladies’ shampoo and sets have hairdressers there who are really professional and have been working in the business for years.

Opting out of the pension is ludicrous. Anyone who thinks it’s not a great pension is deluded. Yes, you contribute, but the tax payer pays a hell of a lot more than you do and you pay before tax too. The employer pays 24%. Find a supermarket employer that does that!

If you can't afford to stay in the pension you definitely can't afford a £170 hair appointment every 6 weeks, simply a reality check.

Not just hairdressers. I earn a lot of money as a very senior professional and am shocked at the hourly rates in some cases, which certainly outstrip my own net pay. Physio therapy (central London near my work) at £185 an hour! You’d have to be on big money to make more than that after tax. To be clear, I’m not having a go at the young physios who I’m sure are not receiving anything like that rate and yes I know tax, NI and all sorts of costs come off.
I’m commenting on how unaffordable it is out of my taxed pay. I was covered by work health insurance but that’s not costless because it drives the premiums up. Vets - extortionate. Dentists - bankruptcy terrain.
As for hair, I get mine cut at home by my husband’s barber, who’s a family friend and also does women’s hair. Started doing my own highlights during Covid and carried on. My hair looks fine, often get compliments. Hairdressing is mad expensive and not always that brilliant.