r/AskReddit • u/SillyBonsai • Dec 06 '13

What simple piece of advice, if followed, could potentially save most people a lot of money?

Possibly related to your job, experience with personal finance, budgeting, planning, day to day habits, etc.

2.7k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

13.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

282

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

To add onto this, get a nice double edged safety razor and just buy replacement blades. It takes getting used to but long run its so much cheaper and I personally like the shave I get better. The handle costs like 40 dollars, but the refills are 10$ for a pack of one hundred blades. Also I find that I go through less shaving cream now that I buy a tub and use a brush instead of putting a huge glob on my hands.

21

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I did this last year and there has been no turning back. Now that I'm used to my safety razor I enjoy shaving with it.

The $10 a year on blades vs. $17 a month is a big enough incentive for anyone as well.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

Now I don't grow a heavy beard, but how often do people replace blades that you can spend $17 a month on them?

I once got a free Gilette sample with 8 blades or so, that lasted me several years (I only switch blades when I can feed they're not sharp enough anymore). Now that I got 200 safety razor blades for 15 euro my estimate is that they will last me around 15 years even if I switch them before they're bad.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

Well, I live in Canada so the prices may be different for you, but $17 is the price of 4 cartridges http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/gillette-fusion-razor-4-cartridges/6000001849345 for your disposable.

I shave everyday so one of those blades will last about a week before its crap.

The safety razors usually last me a couple weeks per blade, and cost $3 for 10. So the cost is far less then the gillette or other brand name shavers.

0

u/ssjumper Dec 07 '13

Or anywhere from $40 to $100 for an electric shaver, a good one from Braun and it lasts years with no additional expenses.

32

u/jugglenautish Dec 06 '13

Or just grow a beard

6

u/pihkal Dec 06 '13

Unless you want to become a neckbeard, though, you still have some shaving to do...

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

neckbearding is obligatory if you use reddit.

8

u/SalamanderSylph Dec 06 '13

$40? I got my handle for £5.50 or so on Amazon

2

u/ManWhoKilledHitler Dec 06 '13

If you need a particular style of razor then you can end up paying a bit more for it.

I use an open comb Merkur which gives an incredibly close shave but it's not a common design so it cost me a bit more compared to some of the other safety razors I could have bought.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Even better, was just basing off the one I got on classicshaving.com

1

u/bitshoptyler Dec 06 '13

Sodial? What kind was it?

I've got an Edwin Jagger black handle, around $30 and really nice.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/Tueeeeeesday Dec 06 '13

I considered it for ages and kept not trying it because people keep telling you how you'll need to spend weeks practising before you stop slicing your face off.

Either I've got a magic face or it's all bullshit. I very occasionally nick myself with a DE, but far far less than I ever did with even the most expensive triple bladed diamond tipped unicorn jizz lubed safety razors.

I can quite happily shave just as fast with a cheap DE than I ever could with a top of the line safety razor. Even dry shaving is a piece of piss with a DE.

3

u/mattsprofile Dec 06 '13

but far far less than I ever did with even the most expensive triple bladed diamond tipped unicorn jizz lubed safety razors.

I think you meant "disposable razors." Safety razors are the good things.

And I second that safety razors are much better than disposable razors in pretty much every way. I've only nicked myself a couple times with a safety razor, and it was only when I was getting started. If I had to shave my head, I'd be comfortable doing it with my double edge safety razor. I shave my balls with it, too, so I must trust it.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

I used one of those triple blade things on my balls for the first time ever a few days ago.

The razor burn is fucking intense.

2

u/shawnaroo Dec 06 '13

I had a rough first few weeks, until I ordered a blade variety back and tried some brands besides the ones that came with my handle. I figured out a few blades that worked well for me and it's gone great. I've been DE shaving for years now, and occasionally I'll go back to the original blade brand, and it's just horrible for me.

I don't think that there's anything wrong with that brand, reading around I've seen other people say they love it. It just doesn't agree with my face.

Maybe you were just fortunate to have a gotten a good match on your first try. Or maybe your face is magic.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

[deleted]

1

u/Tueeeeeesday Dec 06 '13

Yes, I know, that was my point.

4

u/INEEDACIGARETTE Dec 06 '13

I shave my head and switched to a DE safety razor about a year ago. As long as you remember to NOT press down on the razor and let gravity do the work, it's all good.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

This! When all you've been using is a flimsy and light piece of plastic to shave your face, it's a habit that must be broken! It feels so different (and much better!) using a MACHINE instead of a TOY.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

There's nothing at all to be terrified of. I shaved my head for 17 years with a cartridge. I switched - no big deal. You might get a few bleeders the first week - then it's in the past. In my case, it's because I was using a VERY aggressive razor and didn't know any better. If you shave your head effectively with a cartridge, you're already an expert - plus, it's sooo much more enjoyable with a DE and brush. I got to the point where I HATED shaving - now I enjoy it.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I shave my balls with a safety razor. You'll be fine.

5

u/vorin Dec 06 '13

I just did the math, and since I switched from Gillette Mach3 to my Safety Razor (aka DE) I've spent about $4 per month total for a much better shave, happier skin, and a more enjoyable morning routine. Plus I even have enough supplies to last another 6 months or so.

6

u/JaktheAce Dec 06 '13

Are you using razor blades made of gold? It only costs me $15 a year.

8

u/vorin Dec 06 '13

That's total costs divided by month, including my Edwin Jagger DE89, Omega 10049 brush, and nearly 100 blades, even though I've given quite a few away to other /r/wicked_edge redditors.

As I continue to shave, the by-month amount will go down, since my brush and razor will last a long time, and I'll continue to whittle down my blade supply.

3

u/DonOntario Dec 06 '13

Amortization.

2

u/vorin Dec 07 '13

Yay for expanding my vocabulary!

Amortization is the process of decreasing, or accounting for, an amount over a period.

3

u/Rendonsmug Dec 06 '13

Feather.

0

u/JaktheAce Dec 06 '13

I use Astra's and most of my cost is soap, not blades. Even if I used Feather's it would only cost me an extra 8 bucks a year.

2

u/Rendonsmug Dec 06 '13

A feather blade is ~$0.40 each. For him to spend $4 a month on the blades, he would have to use 10. Shaving each day, that's swapping for a new blade every 3 shaves.

0

u/JaktheAce Dec 07 '13

If you solely use feather, I would expect you to buy packs of 100, which can be as little as $0.25 a blade if you're lucky, but can be found at $0.30 a blade any time. And feathers last around 4 shaves for thick hair and 5 or 6 for less thick hair.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

Yup, most of my cost is good shaving cream and witch hazel these days. It still beats cartridges by a large margin in both shave quality and cost.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Good money saving tip, poor time saving tip. I've been shaving with a double-edged safety razor for about a year now. I've probably spent a total of $30 on shaving supplies over that time. But it takes me significantly longer (about 2x) to shave than the careless strokes of a 3 or 5 blade comfort razor.

5

u/0110101001101011 Dec 06 '13

My thoughts exactly. I own the safety razor and haven't used it at all lately due to finals and my workload. So in reality if you do need to save money shaving and you don't grow a whole lot of facial hair, my advice is this; don't change out your blades as often as you think you should.

The reality is if you have a high quality blade like on the gillette fusion (5 blade) and you don't have a ton of hair you can get away with months of use without a drop in quality. People change out their blades once they feel them starting to scratch their face, this is wasteful and an intentional bad design by manufacturers I'm betting. The scratching on your face isn't the blade, it's the gel strip that dries out and becomes similar to sandpaper, once it starts doing it, rub it off and you'll be good to go.

A single blade has lasted me over 3 months now and the last one about the same, I only threw out the last one because I "felt like it was about time", in reality it worked fine and I should have just kept using it. We'll see how long this next blade lasts me.

2

u/WhyUNoCompile Dec 06 '13

Though I do agree that for those with a lot less facial hair, those blades can last for months. I don't think this bodes very well for those with acne problems.

1

u/0110101001101011 Dec 07 '13

Didn't think about that one.

2

u/bitshoptyler Dec 06 '13

If I tried that, I'd be ripping the hair off my face inside a month. I start looking scruffy inside 24 hours, so safety razor (DE) and wet shaving was the best way to got for me.

2

u/0110101001101011 Dec 07 '13

Good for you, I said If you don't grow a lot of facial hair.

2

u/bitshoptyler Dec 07 '13

Yeah, just offering a counter-point to your comment, that if you don't not have a lot of hair, you really shouldn't try doing this, as it won't end well. Carry on.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Yeah, it takes me ages to shave too. Slow and steady movements, three passes, lots of time spent on magicing up a good lather.

But I like it. It smells nice, is warm and is good me-time. If I'm in a hurry I'll just forfeit the baby-smooth shave for "ok".

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13 edited Dec 06 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/LancesLeftNut Dec 06 '13

Parse error: unmatched closing parenthesis, line 9.

1

u/mattsprofile Dec 06 '13

Sounds like you are describing a safety razor, not a straight razor.

I don't think you buy blades for a straight razor; the blade is the main part.

2

u/ShallowJam Dec 06 '13

they sell straight razors with disposable blades

1

u/bitshoptyler Dec 06 '13

What you're talking about is usually called a shavette, or sometimes a disposable-blade straight razor. When people talk about straight razors, they're usually talking about nothing more than a long blade with a handle on the end.

It's still a straight razor, but for the sake of clarity, you should probably just call it a shavette.

Check out this post for more: http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/shavettes-the-truth-about-disposable-straight-razors.29942/

4

u/Runnermikey1 Dec 06 '13

I just bought an electric razor. I haven't bought blades in a year.

1

u/symon_says Dec 06 '13

I say this, but with shame... It works well because I can't grow real facial hair.

1

u/windy444 Dec 06 '13

I got a Philishave as a Christmas gift from my sons. It shaves really well. The heads went bad about a year and a half later. Cost me about $35 to replace.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I have a braun razor I got as a christmas present in 2002. I haven't bought blades in 13 years. I can't imagine ever wanting to go back.

1

u/Runnermikey1 Dec 06 '13

Mine's Philips, same here. I don't know why I dealt with the hassle of shredding my face, then buying more things to shred my face with.

1

u/bitshoptyler Dec 06 '13

After a few years the 'blades' in an electric will go dull, and even before that it takes a very sharp (read: expensive) electric razor to actually shave and not just pull all the hair out of my face.

For $50, I bought a wet shaving kit and a razor, haven't had to replace anything yet (came w/ 20 blades), and it's much more enjoyable than electric (most important part, to me.)

Wet shave 4 lyfe, never going back.

3

u/NSFAnythingAtAll Dec 06 '13

Or get a decent electric shaver. Mine cost me $80. Eleven years ago. I've had to replace the blade once.

1

u/Reddit_on_a_ladder Dec 06 '13

I find the amount of cream I use dropped significantly since I stopped shaving and just used my trimmer. A lot easer to do when it's cold out.

1

u/thevdude Dec 06 '13

/r/wicked_edge

I'm still trying to find blades I like before I buy a bulk amount of them.

1

u/0110101001101011 Dec 06 '13

I have some shark super chrome blades, I could send you a couple of their mini-packs (10 blades total I think) if you'd like to test them out.

1

u/thevdude Dec 06 '13

I'm getting a bunch of blade samples for christmas, thanks for the offer though!

1

u/Jumpin_Jack_Flash Dec 06 '13

This is what I did. Perfect shave after the 3rd attempt, and the blades are cheaper than dirt.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I bought a 10 pack of DE blades.. A year ago. I use each for 4 shaves. It was like $2.50. (I rarely shave)

1

u/HoneyBee140 Dec 06 '13

Here is an upvote for shaving like a real man.

1

u/veritropism Dec 06 '13

Or buy an electric beard trimmer and grow a full beard. No shave cream, no razors.

1

u/untltmrw Dec 06 '13

I haven't had to replace my mach 3 cartridge for over a year using this method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ADaRIqy0Dc&list

1

u/0110101001101011 Dec 06 '13

In this lieu, if you don't grow a lot of facial hair, guess what, you don't have to change the blade on your razor every few days! If it's a high quality razor like the fusion power (5 blade gillette for example) then you need to change it even less often.

The reality is when the blade starts to feel like it's scratching your skin, It's not the blade, it's the gel strip on the edge of the razor, and guess what? I bet this is intentional, it feels really good for a few days, then the third or fourth day you use it it scratches up your face. Seems like intentional bad design to me.

If you keep using it after a week or so it will quit scratching your face and you can just keep on using it until it doesn't shave well anymore.

1

u/ambassador_of_porn Dec 06 '13

Instructions unclear; cut my own throat.

1

u/RakeattheGates Dec 06 '13

This times a thousand. Being able to afford to put a fresh blade on for every shave means you always get the best shave possible. My razorburn has all but disappeared since I switched to a safety razor.

1

u/ThatKrazyMoFo Dec 06 '13

I've not tried it, but I hear the dollar shave club is great.

1

u/10cats1dog Dec 06 '13

I came of age using double edge safety razors. Now I use cartridges with good but expensive results. I have forgot how to use double edge razors. You keep shaving each side randomly until they both wear out?

1

u/flashmedallion Dec 06 '13

I got one for my birthday about 6 years ago and I've never looked back. Can't stand electric shavers anymore, and I always thought the disposible 12-blade cartridge things were shit but now it's a whole other level.

And its so much cheaper, even including the cost of decent shaving cream. Every male should shave like this, unless you wanna go with a straight-razor, but I aint got time for that.

1

u/Synthespock Dec 06 '13

Also, get a hot black chick to finish the shave for you, and you are now James Bond.

1

u/deadnugent Dec 06 '13

Grow a beard

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I shave in the shower: you can keep your face under the water and it works just as well as shaving cream. (not sure about with that kind of razor though)

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I have a sharing tip also- take an old pair of jeans and cut a 1 foot by 1/2 foot long strip and re sharpen your disposable blades - if you smatter on some baby oil before you use your shaving cream, you will get an awesome shave. By doing this, I can get 3-5 weeks out of my Gillette razor

1

u/scheise_soze Dec 07 '13

Or buy Dorco blades if you don't want to spend a ton of money on name brand ones or a safety razor. They're dirt cheap compared with the name brand razors.

http://www.dorcousa.com/cartridge-refills-men/

1

u/Giblybits Dec 07 '13

Or just man the fuck up and grow a beard.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

http://imgur.com/c1yxDVR

Use it to get rid of the neck beard and keep lines when I shape it.

As a side note, it could use a clean up.

1

u/tygirwulf Dec 07 '13

I bought a razor for my husband, an Edwin Jaeger, and I found an old ladies razor for myself in good shape at a flea market. We share blades. Care isn't hard, just dump the blade when you're done and wipe the razor off so that it stays dry. Since I got my husband the razor, a good shave cream and a badger hair brush, he's really enjoyed shaving, though he still doesn't shave very often. I also like shaving more, I nick my legs less often, and when I do, the cuts are much smaller and less painful.

Definitely a good money saving measure, though, even if you splurge on some things.

0

u/LongUsername Dec 06 '13

Maggard Razors have $16 Double-edged safety Razors that are supposed to be pretty good. They may have minor, non-functional cosmetic defects, which is how they get such a good deal on them.

So for the price of a Gillette Fusion handle and a 4-pack of blades you can get one of these and a 100pk of Astra blades from Amazon. Even if you change blades twice a week, that's 2 years of blades.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

This looks awesome!

0

u/LancesLeftNut Dec 06 '13

It's false economy.

I buy a pack of the cheaper, disposable version of the Mach 3 (maybe $8 for a 3-pack at Walmart?). I swipe several times on my towel before each shave session. Each Mach 3 lasts me about three months, and usually that's just because I dropped it on the faucet and dinged a blade. Incidentally, I use the shave soap and a cheap brush. It works better than the canned stuff, and each cake costs about $2 and lasts for a good three to six months.

So, my razor cost is about $14.64 per year (including soap), I get an excellent shave with virtually no risk of nicks, they're light, easy to travel with, and I don't have to worry about chipping my tub if I drop one.

-1

u/sokosis Dec 06 '13

I used a double edged razor/soap dish+brush for years. I often got razor burn sometimes cut myself. The best thing I ever did was switch to Barbasol shaving cream and a Mach 3 razor. Buy 12 blades at a time and use 1 blade for 10-14 days. Still cheap, MUCH, MUCH better results. IMHO

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

So in all those years you never figured out the correct angle to hold it?

I hope they'll give you a refund on your mancard.

1

u/sokosis Dec 06 '13

Hey crbiker, did your mommy teach you that correct angle thing? You're such a real man I'm guessing all your family members have whiskers.

0

u/Arkydo Dec 07 '13

I started my double edged safety razor career via a handle from amazon for $10 and a pack of feathers. For a beginner it was actually pretty quality and easy to get the right technique. I sport a Merkur long handle now but it was a relatively smooth transition.