I've been experimenting a bit with different razor brands recently. I've been using Schick Hydro for years, currently US$19 for a four-pack at CVS. I tried Doll

I've been experimenting a bit with different razor brands recently. I've been using Schick Hydro for years, currently US$19 for a four-pack at CVS. I tried Dollar Shave Club at US$12 a pack but came away very unimpressed. Lots of pulling, and not great for smoothness either. Harry's at the same price seems like more of a direct alternative to the Hydro. I use one cartridge a week, so that's ~US$80 per year without even having to try anything significantly different or change technique as with an old-school razor. The other part of the cost equation is gel/foam/soap. I stopped buying overpriced gel and foam quite a few years ago. Hair conditioner (with maybe a bit of shampoo or liquid soap to make it foamier) works pretty well for a tiny fraction of the price. Liquid hand soap or body wash works even better for slightly more. The same goat-milk soap I use for everything else (including hair) doesn't work quite as well when lathered by hand, but it's closer with the one-time purchase of a brush. While the direct cost isn't the greatest, the marginal cost is near zero since I wear the shower bars down to slivers at a sufficient rate to support shaving as well. In short, it's pretty easy to save a couple of hundred bucks a year without really changing the experience. If you want to go further than that because you enjoy the challenge (or for any other reason) you certainly can and should, but the incremental savings at that point are a bit smaller.