Clark Howard, the radio consumer advocate and all around cheapskate, says he was able to use a simple 1 blade disposable razor for almost a year…by simply cleaning off then blotting the blade dry after each use.

And now I’m stuck. At one point I decided that I would just switch to whichever brand had the cheapest cartridges and take a one-time hit on repeating the up front cost in order to reap a cheaper ongoing expense. Unfortunately they are all about the same (some sort of collusion going on there perhaps). And going back to the disposables is not an option. Those used to work just fine for me, but once I started using the sturdier razor and the 3 blades something changed. One time I forgot my razor on a business trip and had to resort to a pack of disposables … not pretty. For as much skin as I cut I still didn’t get a close shave.

For everything you’d ever want to know about how to change your daily shave from painful necessity to a pleasant luxury go here: Badger & Blade

Point of clarification: There is a difference between “hunger” and “malnutrition.” One could survive on cheap Ramen noodles short term if necessary, but eventually your body is going to suffer. Bones, brain, liver, kidneys — they’re not going to like it. And it’s one thing to be a short-of-funds college student who eats nothing but Ramen noodles for two or three days before going home for winter break and ransacking your parents’ larder; it’s another thing to be a 3 or a 4 or a 5 year old.

Than again, there are people with the money and resources to eat well (ie, healthy) but choose not to. They usually wide up with clogged arteries, diabetes, and clinical malnutrition (a few of my older relatives would fall into this group).

Anyway, my point is there is a difference between hunger and malnutrition, and there is a difference between eating cheap and eating healthy, and most of important of all, there is a difference between why you’re eating such ultimate cheap foods as Ramen noodles, how old you are, and how long you’re going to be doing it.

I’ve recently invested in a good beard trimmer and I’m using that, and shaving my neck twice a week, (usually Monday and Thursday.)

I only shave in the shower, and after I wash my hair. The hot water and steam soften my beard making it much easier to remove.

I only use bar soap, no shaving cream, which I apply by hand by dragging the bar of soap across my face a few times,and then lathering by hand.

The best razor I have found is the Gillette Mach 3. There are none even close. Prior to using this razor I would nick myself just about every time I shaved. Now I hardly ever nick myself, maybe a few times a year. The only drawback to the Mach 3 is the area around my nose, where I have to deform my nose in order for the razor to get all the hairs there.

Using this method I have overcome my loathing of shaving, and I suggest anyone who has a beard like mine give it a try!

Cheers :)

OV

I lived in Ukraine for a couple of years and remember passing old ladies selling 3-4 tomatoes on the street, or whatever they could pull together to buy what they needed to survive. The point is that sometimes I think some Americans don’t understand what true poverty is.

The trick is to shave in the shower and let the steam do the work of softening up the wiskers.

No, no, it’s James Rummell that’s the peasant. Having a special instrument (to whit, a brush) to do something when you don’t need that special instrument is a well known symbol of middle class nervousness. Nancy Mitford wrote about it: c.f. fish knives.

Safety blades, that I started shaving with, were better than the current options although the handling of the blades in the early morning could be dicey. With modern shavers, and a moderately heavy beard, one must repeatedly shave the same area of skin. The old safety blades were much sharper and one swipe shaved as close to the skin as possible. This also would result in the occasional “nick” but was well worth the trade off.

If you sometimes need to shave twice a day you’ll have no trouble growing a quite satisfactory beard; forget the expense, think of the time you’ll save.