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April Frugal Follies Cheapskate Challenge (AFFCC) - 2021.

This is a shaving game/challenge which grew out of a conversation begun on another shaving game thread...

The challenge is to show how cheaply a den can be begun (for less than the cost of common "starter" DE razors) and still provide satisfaction... Oh, and to have fun!!


Rules:
1) You have $30 (or for those of us outside the USA, check the current conversion rate and round to the nearest unit of currency)

2) You should account for everything required for April's shaves from this $30 budget.
That is, whichever of the following you'll want/need to use: Razor, Blades, soap/stick/cream, shave oil, Brush, aftershave/balm, etc...
You aren't limited to just one of each, if you can get variety in within budget, go for it.
(You don't necessarily need to share your sources unless you want to).

3) Don't factor in bulk discounts - if you're going to use (for example) 5/10/etc blades, budget for how much a tuck of 5/10/etc would cost (not how much they'd cost each when buying 100+).

4) You may use items you already own, or items loaned/PIF'd/etc, but include a current (new) price for them as if you were buying them for your $30 den.

5) Following on from rule #3 - Special cheap secondhand finds and freebies are not necessarily representative of what your average Joe would be able to achieve on this budget, therefore:
5a) No vintage gear - only items that are still available to buy new, please.
5b) No using samples.
5c) Regular sale prices are fine (some vendors have things constantly on sale to a certain extent) but try to avoid clearance/closeout prices or eBay auction prices.

That's it!

Have fun!

I've posted the idea so early for two reasons...
Firstly because it sounds like a heck of a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it (regardless of how many people choose to join in) and secondly because I'm aware that some vendors can be slow to despatch/deliver items and in order to keep those options open it's worth having this open to plan as early as possible 🙂

Having looked briefly at pricing, I know this will certainly be doable pretty easily for DE razors, but I'm not really clued up on what's out there for SE and Straight users (or how usable or not they are). Hopefully it'll be possible!

I'd originally thought to limit this to $25 but an extra $5 may help more people complete the challenge - just in case currency conversions or other types of razor would've made $25 too tight.

So... If you're interested, let's talk about what's available and if you're in, post "I'm in" 🙂
 
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Sounds like a great budget set - at UK rates I'd struggle to get those all within budget, I guess there's a bit of difference in markets.

Thanks for the contribution 👍
These are Euro prices, what breaks the budget are shipping costs if you buy from multiple sources.

If you get the razor from Alie and the blades from AZ - both with free shipping than you can go to Connaught for:
Omega 10051 4.80
Lea professional 3.90
Alum 2.7
Lea AS 3.90
 
I'd kind of assumed shipping would be included, not sure why it didn't occur to me to mention it 🤦‍♂️
If you add bits and pieces to other orders when you see a good deal then you easily get to a budgetfriendly setup. Yet if you start anew with the set budget you can’t shop for the cheapest items on the web only due to shipping costs. Nevertheless drugstores/super markets and some ethnic markets will give you also some choice.

Think about:
the plastic Wilki DE with a tuck of blades
a stick of Arko
some generic AS
Alum

You would only have to order a decent Boar/Synth brush that you won’t find in your typical Brick&Mortar.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I have my kit but not sure if I'll use it for April:

Razor = Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 ($19)
Brush = Chinese synthetic pure badger ($3)
Soap = Arlo stick ($3)
After shave = Clarifiance 120ml ($2)

This happens to be what I am shaving with this week.

I could go cheaper (but why?) with:

Razor = Chinese SS shavette ($4)
Blades = tuck of 5 x Gillette Rudy ($2)
Brush = Chinese synthetic pure badger ($3)
Soap = Arlo stick ($3)
After shave = Clarifiance 120ml ($2)

All of the above include shipping.
 
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Yet if you start anew with the set budget you can’t shop for the cheapest items on the web only due to shipping costs.

Indeed, that was an almost automatic assumption on my part (because I have what I need typically already, so anything I'd be buying for this isn't going to be part of an order) and possibly why the budget seems so generous to you.

Either way, I figure it'll be interesting to see what items crop up for the budget, whether many people would pick the absolute cheapest razor they can find for the budget or whether they'll spend more there and pennypinch elsewhere, etc.

And of course, joining in means committing to those choices - so there's more to it than simply finding the absolute cheapest of everything.

Whether you're in or not, good shaves to you 🍻
 
Indeed, that was an almost automatic assumption on my part (because I have what I need typically already, so anything I'd be buying for this isn't going to be part of an order) and possibly why the budget seems so generous to you.

Either way, I figure it'll be interesting to see what items crop up for the budget, whether many people would pick the absolute cheapest razor they can find for the budget or whether they'll spend more there and pennypinch elsewhere, etc.

And of course, joining in means committing to those choices - so there's more to it than simply finding the absolute cheapest of everything.

Whether you're in or not, good shaves to you 🍻
Respectfully not in.
I really just viewed it from the point of somebody starting out with a mediocre prepackaged starter set (Chinese TTO and blades, scritchy pure badger brush, etc.). People will see that there are better choices available if they pick their own set.

I have all the products from my first post and use them regularly.

So what is your setup for April?
 
So what is your setup for April?

I haven't completely decided yet - the idea only really came to me yesterday and I've had a few different thoughts as to what I might pick... But part of the fun of this for me will be putting together a few different lists and seeing what I really want to go a month with.

Fortunately I like relatively mild razors so right off the bat I'm relatively comfortable - I also have the Baili 171 & 176 already which I could live with for the month (although the 176 is currently with a colleague and I might not get it back), have had the Wilkinson plastic in the past (passed on, didn't get back) and could easily enough live with that too...
There's plenty else to choose from too, things I haven't tried but sound like they're to my sort of taste - playing it safe the Baili 176 would give me few concerns, but where's the fun in that?

5 blades would do me, see what's cheapest per 5 out of what I've got and plan on 6 shaves per blade (this rules out the Black Beauties but everything else I've got will go the distance I think)... If buying a new razor that came with decent blades no need to buy any of course.

Soap I'm not completely sure yet, MWF has me so spoiled most things would disappoint me... Could live with a Wilkinson sword classic (can get for £2.50 a tub), a tube of Palmolive cream at £2 at the local supermarket probably a more enjoyable option.

Brush... More difficult because I have a strong preference for synths, a couple of Omega S brush models drop around the £10 mark which is too much when budget is only realistically £21-22=$30, I'd have to do some digging on that point and haven't yet.
(If I were cheating slightly I'd pick up a <£5 knot on AliE and make a handle for it myself... Not really within the spirit of the game though).

Couple of quid on an Alum block... Live without AS if necessary, if there's money left at that point see what's available.

I'll probably make 4 or 5 potential lists for myself and choose between them at that point.
 
I liked the idea, right up until I saw the no vintage clause. I've yet to pay more than $12 for a razor in a vintage shop, and those are still quality razors with so much life in them. So by going used, you're getting a better value. Stamped products of AliExpress sourcing has its place, don't get me wrong. But during my time, I'll take Grandad's razor every time.

Amazon has a stick of Arko with alum block for $4.95 which leaves $13.05 for a brush and a tuck of blades. That should be available at your local drug or grocery store.
 
I liked the idea, right up until I saw the no vintage clause. I've yet to pay more than $12 for a razor in a vintage shop, and those are still quality razors with so much life in them. So by going used, you're getting a better value. Stamped products of AliExpress sourcing has its place, don't get me wrong. But during my time, I'll take Grandad's razor every time.

I completely agree that vintage opens up the very best deals (and it would definitely be fun to play the same game with vintage allowed sometime too!), but looking at this as partly fun and partly instructive I figure it's more repeatable for those not as knowledgeable if we stick to new.

From a personal POV I always keep a few cheapies on hand (vintage or modern) anyway that I can pass on and be quite happy to not get back - so it's not going to upset me not having the absolute best value as it's not likely to stay with me long term anyway!

On top of that... Quite a few countries (including the UK, where I am) most local shops are still forbidden from opening - so vintage would be limited purely to online.

It'd definitely be fun to play either way IMHO... Or both 🙂
 
My ‘frugal’ kit:
Lord L6 razor (with one blade): $5.67
Shark SS blades (100): $6.99
Omega 10049 boar brush: $9.49
Arko shaving stick (3 pack): $5.94
Total cost: $28.09 for a set-up that will keep someone going for many months!

(My ’problem’ is that I cannot keep away from my regular kit!!) :a29:
 
I'd be in, but I'm having a math problem

Mmm, finding cheap synth brushes does seem to be difficult... A couple on AliExpress, I might have to take the risk...

Obviously for those of us in FFFMM this challenge presents an extra challenge - we can't test out any new cheap items before setting them in stone! 🤣
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
Mmm, finding cheap synth brushes does seem to be difficult... A couple on AliExpress, I might have to take the risk...

Obviously for those of us in FFFMM this challenge presents an extra challenge - we can't test out any new cheap items before setting them in stone! 🤣

I got it down to this:

Baili 176 razor: $11.00
Omega $8.44
Arko Stick $3.00
Silverstar Blades $.75
Pinaud Clubman $7.95 = $30.64 :tongue_sm

I checked Razor Blade Club, and a tuck of my Silverstars cost 75 (not $1.00) cents for a tuck of five. The Omega SBrush is the cheapest I own
 
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