tl;dr I'm spending $10 less per month by buying razors direct from the supplier instead of buying store-brand razors from Walmart, Meijer, Publix, whatever. The razors are higher quality and cheaper too.
I want to kick this off by stressing that I'm not typically one to obsess over my budget. Like you, I pay what I feel comfortable paying for just about everything, and I don't give it a second thought unless I feel really good about the value from the purchase.
That said, I hate shaving, and I hate spending money on razors. If it were socially acceptable to walk around with a man's leg hair and armpits, I'd swear of shaving forever. So full disclosure: the emotion behind this post really comes from a personal vendetta against social norms than any well-wishing, frugal tips.
My mom always bought cheap, store-brand disposable so that's what I always used. You know the sort: they're the kind that have a sharp edge for a couple dozen strokes before shaving with your fingernails becomes a better option. At best, they go dull after a two shaves and cost about $1/each. (Looking back, this was probably a money saving choice for her as a single mom with two girls). All told, I spent about $12/mo on these cheap razors.
I tried three methods to bring the cost down.
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I learned wet razors go dull faster than dry razors. I found this to be accurate, and sometimes I got a razor to last longer. The problem was that the hairs always get stuck between the blades and I could never really wash them out. So 9 times out of 10 the blade still went dull as scheduled.
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I tried one of those disposable razor sharpeners you see from time to time. They're like $20. This just didn't work. The razor would be sharp when I went to shave again, but then it would go dull that much faster.
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I went over to /r/WickedEdge, but I'm not comfortable taking a bare razor to my legs.
That was my life. Or it was until I finally came around to a fourth option: buying razors from the supplier. Dorco and Razor Blade Company are the two big ones in the US. The latter is more for really large, bulk purchases (like 500+ razors).
These are the best damn razors I've ever used. They actually last for more than one shave and they're consistently sharp. And they're cheaper! I go through about 2 cartridges per month now. That's about $2 per month. I can also make the razors last longer by properly washing the hairs out between the blades and drying them.
So that's it really. I don't cut my legs shaving anymore and I'm doing it cheaper than I was before. It doesn't take as long either with the sharp razors, so double-win.
September 17, 2017 at 01:04PM
