I was days away from a weekend trip to New Orleans when I decided to make an appointment at the barbershop. Yes, I’m one of those guys who will not go to the barbershop without an appointment. Time is just too precious to me, and I’d rather not spend all evening in the barbershop.

It had been a while since I’d gotten my hair cut by my longtime barber, as I’ve recently started cutting my own hair. I arrived at the shop where I was greeted with the ‘How you doings?’ and ‘What’s Ups?’ I sat in the chair, and as it raised, I knew I was going to be fresh for the weekend. I told my barber that I wanted a shape-up and a line-up with the straight razor, which is a little out of the ordinary for me. I usually go against the grain and opt out of the straight razor for fear of being cut, but I’ll come back to this later. My barber and I had a brief conversation about everything from life, travel and what’s on TV.

A few minutes into the haircut, some guys came into the shop and my barber struck up a conversation with them. Just as the words began to leave his mouth, he picked up the straight razor. I tilted my head back, believing everything was going to be okay. He gently glided the razor along the line of my beard. Just when I though he had finished, I saw that he pulled out this white chalky substance and smeared it around the left side of my face. I thought nothing of it at the time. He dusted off the excess hair and gave me a hand mirror. I examined it; I gave him the nod of assurance, and I proceeded to pay. I dapped him up and headed out the door.

When I got home, I went to the restroom. Just before heading out, I noticed something. Above my lips was a cut about a half inch in size. He had cut me with the straight razor and had proceeded to cover it up! I was immediately annoyed and grew angry with myself because I knew I should have just cut it myself or not asked for the straight razor.

After this ordeal, I was reminded of why I decided to start cutting my own hair in the first place.

Learn from my mistakes: Here’s why you should cut your own hair:

It saves money

If you go to the barbershop every week, you could be spending upwards of $100 a month, which equals $1,200 a year. Think about it — that equals out to a lot of happy hour drinks or money you could be saving to buy a home or add to your emergency fund.

It saves time

No more sitting in rush hour traffic attempting to make it to the barbershop or waiting around the shop while your barber talks, watches TV or engages in any other time-wasting activity.

You know you

Who buys your clothes? You, right? No one can understand exactly how you want to look better than you. If you learn how to cut your own hair, you’ll be a master of your appearance and be filled with pride knowing you did it yourself.

It’s easy

We live in a world of information that can be accessed within seconds. If there’s something you want to learn, you can Google it or find a YouTube tutorial. YouTube came in handy when you needed to assemble your IKEA furniture, right? I’m confident you can find instructional videos that will show you how to cut and or style your hair. Just ask any woman who went natural within the past five years, she’ll be singing the praises of YouTube, too.

To accomplish this, you’ll need to have to right tools. If you can, scope out the tools that your barber uses, because your skin is already happy with them. I highly recommend Wahl Senior to get an even cut all over, but these are also perfect for fades. For the lineup, I use the Andis T-Outliner, which can give you the sharpest lines, making your haircut look like it was done by a professional.

After a bit of practice and watching a few videos, you’ll be glad you took the leap and cut your own hair. Other than the cost- and time-saving benefits, you’ll walk away with a newfound confidence knowing that you mastered something that will make you look and feel better.

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Bradley Cannon

Writing since June 2016 · 4 stories contributed