Question:
I was in Phoenix recently and wanted to have a tattoo recolored and a bit
of something added to it. I went to the shop and the fella that was there
told me he was an apprentice. He said if I chose him to do the work, it was
50% off, but that everything was guaranteed and the owner of the shop stood
behind his work, that he'd been there a while, etc. I wasn't there for
anything super intricate and saw some of his designs, so chose him and got
my tat half off. Four months later, it's still bright and vibrant, and no
complaints at all.
You have to be careful with apprentice folks in all sorts of service
industries, but this one turned out to be a good deal.
Answer:
- That's the sort of age I was thinking of. You've passed the time of
rapid change, so you are far less likely to regret having a tattoo
"when you get older" or wish you hadn't got that "Tweety Bird" tattoo.
Someone I know must be in her sixties. And she got a tattoo in the
summer. Actually, she says she got one decades ago, and it's faded over
the years so nobody noticed it. It was on her forearm, and while I
can't remember what she said it was about, it had some meaning to her.
It actually looked quite nice, with some lighter ink in places to
look like smudging. We could tease her about "are you sure you're not
rushing into this?" but really that wouldn't be the case. And somehow
the fact that she's older somehow makes it something more significant
than someone at twenty getting one of those "tribal" arm bands because
it's common among their age group.
I'd get one (at 54) if I could figure out something I'd actually like.
But since nothing comes to mind, I have no interest in getting one for
the sake of getting a tattoo.
- No, the proper frugal response is to be sure to wait before getting a tattoo.
So if you're young, you likely want to wait until you're older and your life
has settled down, so you don't get a tattoo that you regret when older (either
that you get a tattoo, or the one you picked is embarassing when you are
older) and then have to pay to have it removed.
But even when older, one shouldn't rush into it. If it's so important,
it will still be important next week or next month, but the waiting
will mean you think about it to make sure you've made the right choice.
And of course, as with a lot of non-frugal things, one should not do
it because "everyone else is". That usually ends up being a non-frugal
choice no matter whether it's getting the latest trend, buying the newest
food fad, or getting a tattoo.
- Used to be, a tattoo marked you as something of a rebel. Now it marks
you as another fad-loving crowd follower.
When my eldest daughter got a (small, relatively tasteful) tattoo, I
think she expected me to be shocked. I just laughed, explaining that
a tattoo is (eventually) its own punishment.