I had a haircut today and as I sat admiring the skill of the hairdresser I asked her how many haircuts she would do a day. “Anything from 10 to about 25 on a busy day,” she replied. “I reckon I must’ve met a million people in my time,” she joked, explaining that she had been in the game for 18 years. She then said that she wished she had a dollar for all those haircuts as it would make her a millionaire. With the price that some people (especially women) pay for a haircut, I’m surprised there are not more harbourside mansions owned by hairdressers, although your friendly barber probably couldn’t afford one.

My hairdresser went on to say that she used to keep the tips she earned in a piggy bank, which she cracked open after two years to find there was enough to buy her wedding dress. I asked if she still used the same saving technique but she told me that having a son had changed all that (but that he had a piggy bank himself).

It’s funny how we can be good at something, like playing an instrument, running fast or even putting spare coins aside, then one day we find that we just don’t do it anymore. Life gets in the way. It can be easier to look back with regret and say “If only” than it is to look forward and say “I will start today so that I won’t look back again in the future and wish I’d started way back when.” What I’m saying is that it’s never too late to get your act together when it comes to saving.

And yes, I gave her a tip.