The other day I came across an article that said men and women spend around $15,000 in their lifetime to look good.
At first that amount of money seemed like a lot, but when I really thought about it, $15,000 really did not seem like enough at all.
When you include, beauty products, hair cuts, spa treatments, clothing and so on, the number is probably much higher than $15,000 in your whole entire life.
In fact, I came across another article that said the number is actually around $12,000 per YEAR (according to Siren Magazine). $12,000 a year sounds like way too much to me though.
$12,000 a year would be around a third of what the average person makes a year.
Here is how much I estimate that I spend each year:
Beauty products (lotions, makeup, brushes, nail polish, etc.) – $250
“Normal” items (toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, etc.) – $75
Haircuts and coloring – $250
Fitness – I’m not really sure how to estimate this since we just bought a home gym. The ongoing cost is $0 though since everything is paid for.
Clothing and shoes – $1,500.
That makes my grand total of how much I spend each year to look good at $2,075. The number is a lot less though if I don’t include my estimate for clothing spending.
I used to spend a lot more to “look good,” but I now do many things to lower the amount that I spend. Below are different ways for you to lower the amount that you spend:
Go for the natural look.
If you want to save the most money, then staying your natural self will most likely save you the most amount of money. For example, if I wanted to be blonde, that’s going to cost more than if I stayed with my natural brown color because of the upkeep that would be required.
The same goes for if you want to tan, you want to wear makeup, and so on.
Also, if you decide to go completely natural and go without makeup, beauty products, or clothing, your cost would be $0 each year! Haha, that wouldn’t work for most though because clothing is pretty much a necessity for life… 🙂
Find an awesome hair stylist that is in your price range.
I have been going to the same girl for over a year now, and no one can beat her prices. I refer all my friends to her because she is affordable and always does a great job. A cut and color is usually less than $65 if I use her, which is better than what most of my friends pay for their stylists (usually $150+).
It does help that I don’t do much with my hair, I usually only color it variations of dark red and/or brown. I’m not gutsy enough to do much else!
Take surveys and/or mystery secret shop.
This is something that I used to do all the time so I could save money on my beauty spending. There were many beauty mystery/secret shops available when I used to mystery shop.
I would sign up for mystery shops for products that I already used (such as Estee Lauder). This way I would get the product for free, and I would also get paid something around $10 to do the shop. It was great and definitely a win-win for me.
Try makeup dupes.
I am not the type of person to spend $500 on face lotion. I am also not the type of person to spend $100 on face lotion. There are plenty of makeup dupes out there that can save you money.
A makeup dupe is when there is a cheaper version of an expensive product that almost works the exact same. Here is an article from Buzzfeed that lists 9 makeup dupes.
How much do you spend each year to look good?
What do you do to lower your costs?
P.S. Lets try to not get into the politics of it all about why people feel the need to spend money on beauty. If you can afford spending money on beauty, then I see no problem with that. People can spend their money on what they want. Also, many people feel more confident when they look good, which is great. Many people also enjoy clothing and makeup, so no need to judge others about that also 🙂
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