Monday, October 17, 2011

Why Do I Torture Myself?

Over the weekend, I had a free consultation with a laser hair removal center.  I blogged about my need for this (sorry guys!), and that if I ever had "extra" money, I would like to do this.  No, I don't have extra money.  But I did see an ad for "up to 70% off" so I thought I would at least check it out.  It was a free consult...so nothing lost.

Per my previous research...I knew I was considered an excellent candidate for it (very dark hair, light skin).  I just needed to know the price and the details.

Although the hair is "gone" about 1.5 weeks after the first treatment, it takes a total of 9 sessions to make sure it is really GONE.  It is a 2 year process (a few months between sessions).  And each session has a fixed price.  They have packages for certain areas, or you can have individual areas done (for example...upper and lower leg may be a package, but you can opt for one or the other). 

For the package deal for what I was looking at......with the coupon (which was only 50%; the 70% was if you got 3 packages).....was about $3600.

Yeah....that isn't happening.  They offer financing at 0% for 24 months through Chase (basically a health related credit card), and it was almost 30% interest (retroactive of course) if you don't make your payments.  It comes out to about $160 a month.

Again....not in the budget.  The girl tried hard....said they could get it down to $128 a month.....yeah, still not happening.

At least I know now.  Groupon sometimes has a 6 session package for one small area that MAYBE I would consider at some point down the line.  But for now....it is put to bed.

16 comments:

  1. Funny, Suze Orman mentioned the "health-related credit cards" on her show this weekend and of course she said NO, NO, NO.

    I'm surprised at how expensive the laser treatment is, wow. Good job not giving in to the temptation / sales pressure.

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  2. I've thought about it also but wow that's a lot of money! I want Lasik first.

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  3. Am I the only one with "Hair" playing in my head now?

    "I'm hairy noon and night
    Hair that's a fright
    I'm hairy high and low
    Don't ask me why
    Don't know
    It's not for lack of bread"

    My girlfriend is very meticulous when it comes to hair removal. But, like you, it's just for her. I'm not at all bothered by hair... regardless of where it shows up. Of course, if a woman has a thicker beard than I do... I might be a little jealous.

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  4. I cant afford it either no matter how I try. So I do my lip myself with the wax strips and pay the hair salon 7.00 a month to do my eyebrows. But at least most months I can pay for the 7.00 from the money the kids leave in there pants and throw in the hamper.

    Good job resisting. Its hard to do when your right there

    Judy

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  5. I would be really careful about any industry that did hard sale with Credit cards. I can see what you want this done, but could you do it say one small section at a time. I was born legally blind and finally after a personal(tragedy), I borrowed the money and had lasik done. I have 20/20 eye sight. Best money I ever borrowed or spent but with very good reason. I am sure you are beautiful just the way you are.

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  6. @Susan - I will have to see if I can find the Suze episode where she talked about the health CC. I wouldn't go there just for this....but I am curious what the experts say.

    @Michelle - yeah, it was way more than I thought it would be.

    @Kevin - thanks for being a guy who doesn't mind a girl with a little extra fuzz.

    @Judy - it wasn't that hard to resist. It was so out of the price range that there was no way to do it. I pluck everything I need to pluck...and it takes A LONG TIME. I can't wax it myself...I tried once and it was a mess.

    @Kim - she didn't do a hard sell on the CC. She brought it up as an option. The girl was really very sweet. Lasik is another one of those things that I would do....if I had extra cash. Thanks for thinking I am beautiful just the way I am...but recently the extra growth has really started to bother me. One section at a time doesn't get a discount, so it would be even more $$!!

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  7. Why not put it as a goal for yourself...like once CC debt is gone then you get it? or once Student loans are gone then you get it?

    I know that would motivate the hell out of me!

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  8. I am so with you Mysti...that is one thing I really want to do when I am in a better financial place. I feel your pain...and I know the plucking saga...

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  9. As young as you are, if this hair is facial, your OB gyn may be able to give you a hormone replacement to reduce this, or it may be due to a thyroid problem. Check it out. My twin could not have children, we are identical and I got all her eggs when we split ( a common problem in identical twin girls) she had a terrible time with unwanted hair, I did not, hers was hormonal. Just a thought.

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  10. @E&D - I will not be able to justify spending that much money until ALL the debt is gone. Plus, there are more important things that we could spend that money on.

    @Julie - we can make a date of it and go get it together...when we are both out of debt!

    @Kim - I have PCOS, so I already know about my hormone condition. The extra hair growth is a classic symptom of it.

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  11. I probably shouldn't say this but there's an at home version out now that is supposed to be absolutely AWESOME. Someone recently blogged about it and even gave one away but I can't remember who. UGH! If I remember I'll let you know.

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  12. Small rewards for yourself are absolutely important as you pay off debt. Can you create a small savings account for this, that you fund with each debt payoff? (Maybe, for every $1K in debt, you put $X in this account?)

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  13. I've already paid for 6 sessions and I just cannot get myself to my 4th appointment. It was supposed to be last week but they canceled because they had to move, and they're up and running this week and I just have not made the phone call to reschedule. I think the window has passed for the 4th appointment too so I'm not really sure what to do.

    So, even if it's free (since I already paid for it all) the time commitment is a big hassle.

    Also: at my consult she said with PCOS they have to redo it every few years. Also pregnancy means they have to redo.

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  14. holy smokes!!! that is super expensive! yikes!

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  15. @MSM - if you remember the name of the home version, let me know.

    @Hawaii - small reward...yes. $3600 in laser treatment....no. Plus our small reward usually is something for the family.

    @nicoleandmaggie - Yes, with PCOS there is a chance that you need touch ups. At this place, once you have paid for an area, any touch ups are $100. No more pregnancy for me....so I am not worried about that.

    @jpkittie - yeah...I wasn't expecting it to be that expensive.

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