I keep a mound of my Arko Frankensoap in my re-purposed wide mouth coffee mug. It has settled into a puck with gradual use. I'm not sure what I am doing different from you, sir, but this seems very sparing of soap usage to me. It feels like I barely use any. My method is simple: wet the synthetic brush and swirl it in the mug for a few minutes. A big mass of lather will form eventually, much more than I will need with my normal 1 pass shave.As it turns out, I didn't care for the extra step of bowl lathering. Lathering in the mug is quicker and somehow more enjoyable. It uses up more soap, but who cares at this point. If I wanted to save money, I'd shave with Bic or Shick disposables and Walmart Equate foam like I used to do in my younger years.