So I’ve been walking through life living it extravagantly at times.  Of course, to most of my family and even Frugalbyassociation, I’m living an extremely frugal lifestyle.  Personally, I think my life has become much more optimized with a lot of optimizing left to go.  In another post, I’ve explained that I cut my own hair because I am bald and discussed the savings that my Wall clippers have provided to me over the better part of the last 10 years.  Well my scraggy haired Schnauzer spoke to me in a frugal way yesterday, cutting hair is not rocket science (no offense cosmetologists), I bet I can cut the dog’s hair and save myself 40ish dollars.

Turns out it is completely possible to trim your dogs hair.  I must admit, I’m completely embarrassed this thought hadn’t hit me before and I’m writing this post more as a confession and asking the frugal community to forgive me for this lavish expense that was previously a part of my life.  So, with the help of Frugalbyassociation, we set about trimming the dog’s hair last night with my aforementioned Wall clippers.  All told, this process took about an hour and a half clipping and bathing.  We found the Wall clippers were overwhelmed the majority of the time, this is probably due to the age of the clippers, their derelict condition, and the dog’s hair being well past unruly.  Even still, we ended up with a product that we feel decent about, especially for our first time out in the dog beautician arena.  Also, briefly consider the alternative outcome.  We could have completely butchered the dog’s hair and she wouldn’t have refused to leave the house, throw a fit, or even be a slight bit embarrassed.  For our own vanity, Frugalbyassociation had the brilliant idea of telling others, should they ask, that we simply took the dog to an un-reputable groomer.  So problem solved either way.  All said and done, this is not near the hassle that we imagined it could be, the dog looks decent (although lacking by previous standards, but we anticipate getting better), and we saved money!   Yay! Wins all the way around.  Just to put our money where our mouths are so to speak, here is one of our pride and joys (and an extremely lavish and wasteful household item, Bella).  For those wondering she was a rescue dog, due to the fact that I’m cheap and Schnauzers are expensive, I do not consider myself a saint for having “rescued” a dog.

Best to all and best of luck in the frugal living and early retirement journeys.