What can I do about my hair?

Most of the people in my family (including me) have naturally curly hair. Depending on your curl, sometimes the only way to really control it is to keep it really short (I know that's not what you want to do). You could always do it yourself tho - with clippers, to keep cost down. You might try products that have "wax" in the title - they're usually a little stronger. And definitely try to keep just enough length so you can make it spikey without giving way to the waviness (although then you're still going to get into a frequent cutting situation again). Not sure what stores you have at the mall but a place like Regis, Trade Secret, or maybe even mastercuts or supercuts should have some reasonable product options. Just tell the person working there what you're trying to do. Naturally curly hair is both a blessing and a curse I think :-)