How Many Of You Actually Save Money Using A Safety Razor?

[BigWill]

I started out saving money (Lord L6, VDH Boar, Williams, and a coffee cup). The B&B open my eyes to hundreds of ways to spend hundreds of USD. On my Christmas list is a new slant, new cream, and lots of new AS. Nope. Not saving money now. But I look good and smell better.

 

[oldbluelight]

Well, I save money on blades. The other stuff....who's counting? After all I would need lather, witch hazel and aftershave if I was still wielding a Fusion. Might also need a prescription from a dermatologist.

 

[seattleshaver]

I think ultimately I'll save money but it hasn't been the prime motivator. I'm through spending money now and I've spent about $200. I have 3 straight razors and 3 DE razors, 100 Astra DE blades, and a 12 pack of VDH shaving soap, a paddle strop, and an Arkansas tri-hone, both 4k and 8k Japanese slip stones, and a Whipped Dog cut down Chinese 12k finishing stone.

I use Dickensen's Witch Hazel and some kind of $6 aftershave balm. I won't be spending any more money for several years unless it's for the latter two.

Before wetshaving I was using an electric razor and finishing up with a two bladed cartridge and Edge gell. Since most of the work was done with the electric razor the cartridges lasted a long time. Maybe as much as a month. So after the electric razor purchase the shaving expenses have been minimal.

Of course one has to include the electric razor expense and it will not last forever. Still I will probably eventually save some money.

I think the savings aspect is probably overrated. Many people have beards, mustaches, goatees, and many just don't shave everyday. Many use an electric. Some of the scenarios of how much wet shaving is going to save you are a bit exaggerated in my opinion.

 

[Ton Eighty]

No way am I saving money. Not a chance. I am, however, feeling better about myself because I'm not embarrassed to go into public most of the time due to razor bumps and irritation. BUT, I always have some kind of hobby to spend money on, whether it is darts, woodworking, video games, so right now my fun money just goes towards shaving gear. If I wasn't spending it on this stuff, I'd be spending it on something else. As long as my hobby spending only goes to one thing at a time, I don't stay too terribly concerned with it. Plus, I only spend... mabye 10 bucks a week on average now that my initial investment is in.

 

[lowjax]

I went from spending about $20 a year (would buy cheap beard trimmers and always had a "scruffy look") to spending just over $700 this year, my first year DE shaving. I guess you could say I'm going the wrong way.

 

[Fuzzy Chops]

I shaved with an electric for about 30 years. Some bouts of wet shaving between razors, and I wet shaved at the cottage. I'd guess I spent $1500 over those 30 years.
I have spent more in just the past 3 months on wet shaving, so I guess that is a no.

 

[Robert45]

Sometime in the past I heard about someone who knew someone who said they saved money somewhere...I think...maybe....

 

[Spazmogen]

Saving money? Yes. I should break even in 2 years.

How? By keeping my wants separate from my needs. I have 2 bathrooms (I am a shift worker and shower/shave on the floor furthest from the sleeping family).

Once I'd acquired 2 razors, stands, brushes and soaps & 400 blades, I did not NEED anything. So it is a want from this stage onward. Wants are hard to not act upon, but I have succeeded so far.

 

[dynagroove]

ummm, I can tell you - not me. B&B reminds me quite a bit of the last forum I got wrapped up with - head-fi. The proverbial statement offered to newbies was & is: "welcome to Head-Fi, sorry about your wallet." Even if you go waaay overboard on DE equipment though, it still can't compare to what a solid audio addiction can do to your bank account!

That being said, I can see myself tapering off with the equipment that works best - or not...

 

[MrEdifus]

Well, I don't save any money compared to what I was doing previously. (I used an electric razor before, and had never even shaved with a cartridge razor before jumping straight into DE.)

However, I can get 30 weeks out of one $15 of blades (at one blade a week) and $15 of shaving cream lasts me about 3 months.

So that's $5 per month on cream and $2 per month (roughly) on blades, costing me basically $7 per month. I think I'm doing pretty good. Aftershaves can last a VERY long time, so I am not going to bother dividing their cost by month. (I've been using the same bottle of Aqua Velva for a bit over 2 years now.)

(This is using Feather Hi-Stainless blades and TOBS Sandalwood cream, so it's not like I'm using dirt-cheap products either.)