I never thought I'd see the day when I would actually use one of those home dye jobs that my mother and aunts used to fuss over. But these days, with the economy as it is, and the cost of a cup of coffee is greater than a share of citi, I trim where I can.

I opted to grow my hair longer to avoid the monthly $75 hair cut, but those pesky gray hairs don't seem to know the meaning of recession. They keep growing and multiplying, which is more that I can say for my 401k. Sure I can spare the expense of getting it professionally colored (once every couple of months won't break the bank) but I feel incredibly guilty about it. I've been putting it off all summer, thinking that I can hide under a hat or up in a ponytail, until this morning...

My partner lives in Montclair, NJ, and while he thinks it is less expensive than CT, I heartily disagree. There are no less than 6 hair salons within a 2 block radius of his condo and they all charge upwards of $100 for color. I don't know what came over me (perhaps the fact that the dow was down over a 100 points this morning), but I walked over to CVS and picked up a box of Natural Instincts (new from Clairol? supposed to be the more natural of the line, no ammonia, has antioxidants, etc etc etc) for $9.99 + tax. Fully aware that this gamble would be expensive to fix.

Lo and behold, an hour later (color, wash and all), no more grays! And my hair does not feel coarse nor smell like I've been hanging out a chemical plant. Woo-hoo!!!

Now, men, I know this may not seem big, but for women who have to maintain their hair color, this is a major coup. I figured I saved at least $90 + tip multiplied by 6 colors per year....

Thank you MOM!