DE shaving won't save you money.

BigJ said:

For me a daily chore is now a daily luxury! Shaving is much less expensive than many other hobbies I have tried! In the end I am saving $ compared to other things I could spend my money on!

Click to expand...

I agree. I actually think in comparison, my shaving really doesn't cost me as much as any of my other hobbies. I have acquired a lot of different shaving related items, but I don't think it could ever break the bank. I love getting different shaving related items as I'm sure you, myself, and a lot of others do. It's great and like you said, my chore is now basically my man spa lol. A luxury time for myself.

Jcan88 said:

It's an investment. If I stopped purchasing cold turkey tomorrow, I am fairly certain I would never have to purchase another shaving product the rest of my life...nor would my three kids.

On a serious note, unlike most of my other hobbies/collections when I stop collecting at least my shaving supplies will still have a functional use.

Click to expand...

Yes, you're exactly right. This stuff will last for years if I stop, and be functional. Maybe even I'll have some great stuff to pass down to my kids.

I tend to be a minimalist and value/bargain consumer in most areas of my life but there are a few hobbies or pastimes that I seem to go obsessive. "This thing of ours" has been one of those. I started my return journey into wet shaving over 4 years ago and yesterday was my 4 year anniversary on B&B. I started with a $5 Super Speed, one brush, one soap, etc. I just did an inventory and I now have 17 brushes, 20+ razors, 4 Old Spice mugs, about 15 soaps and creams, over a dozen aftershaves, etc. I admitted to my wife the other day that I can measure my "stash" now in years longevity. Am I a hoarder? Don't think so. Most of the items I've gathered has been just for trying new things and collecting. Over time I may gift some, trade some or just keep as collection. I guess overall this is a comparably inexpensive hobby.

I totally disagree, DE shaving is money saving IF you allow it. I'm a minimalist shaver and in 2015 I only bought:

- 500ml Proraso Shaving Cream (Pillow)
- 500ml Proraso Aftershave Green

They should last me almost two and a half year. I didn't buy anything else because I started DE shaving because I was looking for a cheaper alternative, anytime I shave I get a BBS so I can't complain.

But here comes the big BUT:

I started smoking cigars in 2015 I have spend more than 1500EUR on cigars ranging from cheap shortfillers to premium handmade Cubans

euro said:

- 500ml Proraso Aftershave Green

Click to expand...

I love this stuff. It seems a bottle will last forever.

Saving on the cost of multi-blade cartridges is huge. Allows to me to buy better products to enjoy my shaving. I collect various vintage Gillette, but they are tools I use to shave with. I'm a user hobbyist.

I've definitely spent way too much. It's just too fun though!

Dont kid yourself Mate. I have kept an accounting of all my costs/investments in shaving gear over a 22 year period. I have shaved all these years for a grand total of $7 yes count em, seven total dollars. Yes it sux,I'm in the hole without a profit. I still have about $2-3K worth of some of the nicest shaving equipment money can buy and some money can't buy and some that is unobtainium. But I find bargains at auctions, garage sales flea markets and sometimes new. I redo a junk straight razor or an occasional brush.The only reason in 7 dollars in the hole now is I finally bought a brand new Rooney and I caught the Canadian dollar vs American dollar in some parallel universe and got it 2/3 price by buying it from there.
I actually shaved the first 10 years for free by buying a mug with a red point straight with abalone scales an old British rocket and a Made right brush for the outlandish price of 3 dollars. I sold the straight razor immediately as I did not yet have a stone to sharpen it for $46 bucks.
I just quietly and contentedly kept right on shaving with my freebie Rocket, boar brush and a pile of vintage Williams I had found.
I was just LMAO at ALL of you watching you tell me how Williams won't lather or is not slick and quietly shaving away. And, how your $400 Manchurian badger has jelly tips and how good the tips are curling or sticking together, or how good your 100g puck of Soslickitslidoff de Facie Sapon de Barbie soap was.
I have parted with some exquisite items to pay for my endevors. 2 Gillette Presidents, a 34 Aristocrat, To many straight razors to mention, 3-4 Rubberset 400s, 7-8 Fatboys alone, a few Chubbies, Slims, Black Beauties, Red Tips, Big Daddys and Honky Tonkers, (I dearly love it when you baffoons get hung up on a nickname)
I still have some Awesome items including such gems as a Mint 1917 silver plated Gillette open comb in original box, 3 Mint British Rockets (still my favorite, the first one I tried). A mint A-1 Premium Grade Dubl Duck Shell strop still in its original plastic. A Russian horse as supple as the day it was made and one ornate Victorian era strop made out of Sharkskin. A lifetime of fine soaps. Several Rooney Brushes, 30 or like new Sheffield,American and Solingen razors in as Big Iron or hollow as you want, a lifetime suppy of DE blades including feathers and about 300 Personna 74s. Hones to die for. And, a rare Mug or two and enough Aftershave to sink a battleship.
I would now like to Thank all the maroons who have made all this possible. Like the idiot lady at the garage sale who sold her ex husbands Filharmonica to me for 5 dollars and the idiot at the Flea market who gave me a Gillette President in a case for 8 dollars and the buffoon who bought it on E-bay for 250, or the crackhead that sold me a matching 7 day boxed set of straights for 100 dollars.
You have Made all this possible and have paid for it all. You have made my face a happy place for 22 years for free. Me and my face thank you. Thanks to you it works for all of us, The United Way. All I ever done was walk around through life picking up the things you discarded. And now I can do what the rest of us old rich guys do and sleep half a day and chit chat on a web page.

Now tell me again about how those jelly curly tips are, and Oh lookie they are sticking together on your 400 dollar Manchurian Badger you had to have...........................

Of course I'll save money. In about 5 years if I stop buying now. Probably not likely to stop, but it's a journey not a destination.

mscout00 said:

I would say I'm a minimalist like my grandpa was.
1- Merkur 43C HD
1- box of personna blues. (a couple of 5-blade boxes of Gilette Silver Blues left from when I started shaving, but i hand these off to friends who are looking to try something else)
1- Omega Boar Brush
2-soaps (proraso red, stirling lime)
1- balm (Nivea sensitive)
1- alum block (however i knocked it off the sink, so its in a million stupid pieces)
2 -aftershaves (clubman classic, stirling sharp dressed man)

2-items on the To-Buy list once i run low on current products. (Stirling Spice aftershave, Bay Rum soap... likely Stirling as well)

First year of shaving I spent about $60 on shaving. (razor, blades & samples, brush, soap samples, soap, alum...etc)

Last year I spent a total of $30 on shaving. (blades, aftershave, soap)

This year, i'll spend even less as I'll only need soap and aftershave. (maybe a new alum block because i'm a bull in a china shop)

Click to expand...

If I was to put what I Have vs what I bought you will be amazed. I Think in the two years DE shaving I Spent 60$. 30 for 200 blades of pol silver vintage and 30 for the Bulgarian rose soap for hope. I was given a cadet rubusto, a razorock little bastone, a maggards oc, a 1960 Gillette super speed.. I got 6 other soaps given to me and about 50 blade samples. I was also given 7 brushes 3 badger 4 boar, but I pifd one boar to my sister boyfriend.

I would love to say I'm a minimalist. but my supplies say otherwise. I can say I saved a lot by switching to DE shaving.

mscout00 said:

I would say I'm a minimalist like my grandpa was.
1- Merkur 43C HD
1- box of personna blues. (a couple of 5-blade boxes of Gilette Silver Blues left from when I started shaving, but i hand these off to friends who are looking to try something else)
1- Omega Boar Brush
2-soaps (proraso red, stirling lime)
1- balm (Nivea sensitive)
1- alum block (however i knocked it off the sink, so its in a million stupid pieces)
2 -aftershaves (clubman classic, stirling sharp dressed man)

2-items on the To-Buy list once i run low on current products. (Stirling Spice aftershave, Bay Rum soap... likely Stirling as well)

First year of shaving I spent about $60 on shaving. (razor, blades & samples, brush, soap samples, soap, alum...etc)

Last year I spent a total of $30 on shaving. (blades, aftershave, soap)

This year, i'll spend even less as I'll only need soap and aftershave. (maybe a new alum block because i'm a bull in a china shop)

Click to expand...

Just to help w/ the alum block issues....https://www.razorbladesandmore.com/content/monster-block-alum-6oz#


marty

I got into DE shaving to save money. I bought a Merkur 38HD and 100 pack of Shark SS blades for under $50 from Amazon. I don't spend money on brushes or fancy soaps, and I don't plan to collect any vintage razors. Now with all the money I do save from shaving, I can spend more money on my hobbies, model rocketry and scale modeling!

I wrote a paper on the topic of traditional wet shaving. Over 40 years, DE and Straight Razor shaving saves thousands of dollars. But of course, that's assuming that we have restraint...which I certainly don't.

It's been a bit over a year now for my DE shaving. At first I tried a few different razors, soaps and blades to figure out what I liked, but once I got that dialed in I've made very few changes. I now have one razor that I use almost exclusively and a couple others I use just now and then for the fun of it, but 95% of the time it's the ATT Kronos.

I have one brush, a very nice Simpson Berkeley best badger that was gifted to me by a friend almost a year ago. I use this brush every day and have no interest in any other brushes.

I tried a few soaps, but anymore I use VDH Deluxe about 90% of the time, but if I feel like something different it's Proraso green or white.

Blades I buy in 100-packs, usually Astra SP or Gillette Silver Blue (or Platinum).

Aftershaves is where I treat myself to a few choices... Old Spice or Aqua Velva get the nod most of the time, but Barbasol brisk or Masters Bay Rum also get the pick once or twice a week.

I'm very content with this simple kit. One razor, one brush, one or two soaps and a few old cheap classic aftershaves. I thoroughly enjoy my morning shave every day now. The initial investment in a precision razor cost me the most, but now it's been over a year and those investment costs are behind me. Now it's just keep the razor blades and soap stocked and I'm good to go!

My heart jumped a little; I thought this topic title was calling me out by username

I'm a minimalist wannabe. Soaps are my Achilles heel. I'm down to five, and am trying to get it to four. Problem is, I keep daydreaming about what I'm going to buy next. Oh well, progress, not perfection.

DE shaving can save money, but we all allow it to get out of control.

We're involved in historic preservation, either of the vintage razors themselves or of the double edge idea -- to pass it forward to future generations.

htownmmm said:

Just to help w/ the alum block issues....https://www.razorbladesandmore.com/content/monster-block-alum-6oz#


marty

Click to expand...

thanks. i went to stirling and bought a new alum block yesterday. i also bought a cake of soap, and a bottle spice AS. (since shipping is always $5 form them) my shopping for the year of shaving is now DONE.

I don't want to save money, I want to enjoy life.