I'm a big fan of the Wal-Mart US Personnas at 1.76 a pack.
Instead of using an expensive Balm to moisturize after your splash or witchhazel (on days when your face is dry) use a dab of Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion. I recently compared the ingredients of this lotion ($3.50 for 10oz.) to T&H balm (around $30 for 3.4 oz.) and I felt more comfortable with the lotion ingredient list....works better for me too!
Aqua Velva.
Family Dollar "Old Spice" Aftershave
Clubman aftershave.
My list of cheap stuff that works very well:
VDH soaps
Aqua Velva
English Leather
I often use budget skin lotions in lieu of spendier ASBs it seems to work just fine
Also Ocean Lotion (marketed as an aloe based sunburn remedy) immediate cooling effect. I like the ice blue on this one
Dickinson's WH, available everywhere under $3 and works like a charm
Quality Triple Milled Bar Soap
It costs around $3 at Whole Foods and one bar lasts for about 2 months. In addition to showering with it, it does an excellent job cleaning/gently exfoliating your face prior to the shave. I therefore view it as 2 products in one. When comparing the ingredients to a Nivea facial scrub type product, I feel better about the bar soap. It's also better for the environment than shower gels and/or facial scrubs and it lathers like a quality shaving soap The ingredients of my favorite one are:
Saponified Palm and Palm Kernel Oils, Vegetable Glycerin, Essential Oils, Lavender Petals, Shea Butter, Dead Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Salt, Vitamin E, and Plant and Mineral Pigments
VDH-$1.48
Delon Witchhazel -16oz .90 cents
Nivea Creme as a Preshave-13.5oz -$7
Manoj Indian Alum bar-.50 cents
Gillette Series A/S Gel-$1.97
Arko....love or hate the smell, the best shaving soap for well under $2.00
Does my $4 Tech count?
I'll go to bat for the Arko shave stick. I prefer Speick and Valobra for my shave sticks, but the Arko performs well and despite what some folks say, I don't mind the scent. I do prefer several other scents to Arko. And frankly, I'd really like an unscented small-sized shave stick. I travel with a cut-down stick of Speick, which, for $6.00, is a nice bargain I think, but still three times the cost of an Arko stick.
Speick bar soap. $3.50. I use it in the shower, it makes an excellent pre-shave face wash.
The triple-milled soaps the TJ's sells are another favorite.
Dirt cheap and great razor; the new Lord LP 1822 with the merkur-like head.
I pay less than 9 euro's for them and I have yet to discover a better performing safety bar razor (and I do have a few, most of them better looking too).
Dorco st300 blades. Just bought 400 hundred on ebay for $33 including shipping and handling. Comes out to about 8 cents a blade and just over a penny a shave.
I'd like to throw Nivea shaving cream out there. I recently found it for $3 for a tube and it works as well as anything I've tried so far.
Witch Hazel
+ 1
I continue to be surprized and amazed at all how well these blades work for me. I keep trying more expensive blades and keep coming back to these.