So your frugal lifestyle has led you to become near masterful at home hair care. You have grown adept at managing your split ends. You know how to work a curling iron like no other. You have probably picked up a few choices scars from that flat iron. Maybe you have even managed to accidentally tie-dye a shirt while coloring your hair. Well, living on a budget comes with its challenges, but you have successfully risen to the home hair care challenge! Congratulations!

Now that you have succeeded, it might be nice to reward yourself with one professional sitting. Does it feel like giving in? Okay, maybe a little. But you can easily justify this, and rightly so, for a few reasons.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself once a year to a professional haircut. With costs as low as $25, you can surely accept that small fee for letting a professional work on your hair. You do not need to look up tutorials, sit in a neighbor’s garage, or let your nieces experiment on you.

If you still are unsure the $25 hair cut is okay to bend the rules for, consider that you might learn something new from going to a professional. If you want to get in shape, you would go to an exercise class to learn from a trainer. If you want to become a better cook, you would take a cooking class. If you want to learn to paint, you would go to an art class. Are you seeing a pattern here? If you want to learn how to cut hair professionally, go to a professional. You can treat the experience as an educational one. Feel free to ask your hair dresser questions about their technique. They would probably be fascinated to learn that you have not been to a hair stylist in a year. You can ask them for tips about taking care of your own hair. They probably even have a lot of experience managing their own hair.

A huge part of getting your hair done at a salon is the social interaction. If you are living on a budget, you have probably noticed a huge drop off in your social life. Often, friends are not considerate when it comes to their peers living on a budget. Whether your friend’s just want to live in ignorance, are too busy, or have decided you can’t quite keep up, don’t be afraid to branch out and meet new people at the salon. Getting your hair done at a salon can be an uplifting experience for many. If nothing else, it gives you the opportunity to talk to local women and learn more about your neighborhood.

If you are hesitant to take the plunge, just be sure and do your homework first and find a place that is going to treat you right at a price you can afford. Pro Tip: there are plenty of salons looking to garner new business by offering free samples. You can check out a salon and test their handiwork by getting only part of your head braided or straightened first to see if you like their work. Yes, this is a bit risky, but it could be well worth it to figure out where the best place is on the block before dropping that $25!