Medication for SAD

New to wet shaving and I already feel the compulsion to buy a ton of expensive gear.  Seems pretty common-  newbies like me with profound opinions and explosive shave dens so I thought I'd ask if there is medication or therapy available.... before my wife throws me out the haus!

What's working for me (a little bit) is finding really outstanding products.  

Now that I've found the Rockwell 6S, I'm not thinking of buying more DE razors.   The Wolfman and Model T are still out there though.

Now that I've found Nuavia, I'm only looking for a few more soaps to get a rotation going.  

I have been able to find aftershaves, balms, brushes and blades that work great for me.   Shaving is now a pleasure...and the curiosity of what could be better than what I've got at hand does not creep into my head as much as it did a month or so ago.

I will be trying new stuff, but not at the rapid and insane rate I was in up till now.

A blog post I wrote may help you help your wife understand why you need to own (and keep buying) shaving products.... I hope it helps! http://www.thebaldmanswife.com/3-steps-t...-buy-more/

Great blog post, mel1189.

Not participating in forums like these is a start! But we don't want that, do we?

That's the truth. I'm in a bunch of forums...shaving, airbrushing, and grilling. Every damn one of them has made me spend a ton of money.

Oh, those forums... they are the devil in disguise!

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Be poor...

Seriously, you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a respectable den with quality gear.

My personal rule is"No Redundancy". I don't have 15 badger brushes and 10 boar, I have 1 awesome badger, 2 great but different boars, and 2 great but different synthetics. I have only 4 different safety razors. A den with a nice mix of about 15 high quality soaps and half as many splashes. Straight razors are my downfall where I have about 12 in various stages stages of repair and rotation...but all are different...

I'm not married so I don't have the "SWMBO" limitations which means if I don't put limits on myself...I go broke. I have price points in my head that I am willing to pay for quality gear and with very few exceptions I stay within those limits.

It is possible to keep this hobby's expenses to a minimum. It's not easy, but it can be done. You can build a very respectable shave den for a very reasonable cost investment...


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True, BadDad, but you (and many others here at DFS) have incredible skills.  What you have done with inexpensive straights is amazing.  You have not only brought them back to a useful life but also a beautiful useful life.  Because of those skills, you can buy inexpensively and make something much more valuable.

I try to rein in expenses a bit differently.  I don't buy shaving stuff too often but if I truly want something then I get it.  For example, I have many razors that I love using.  However, when Andrew (andrewjs18) offered a Schick Adjustable razor on the B/S/T, at first I hesitated.  However, I had been wanting to try one so I went for it.  Again, when Andrew offered his Tallow + Steel Classic Shaving Soap and Aftershave, I had been wanting to try the soap so I went ahead and bought it.  As it turns out, I was more than happy with both products.  However, months can go by and I won't purchase anything.  I may be curious about some new products but not enough to buy them.  In the long run. I figure this tends to keep me in a budget that hasn't gone completely haywire.  Because I have been wet shaving for about eleven years, I have managed to build a substantial den, just not all at once.

True, BadDad, but you (and many others here at DFS) have incredible skills.  What you have done with inexpensive straights is amazing.  You have not only brought them back to a useful life but also a beautiful useful life.  Because of those skills, you can buy inexpensively and make something much more valuable.

I try to rein in expenses a bit differently.  I don't buy shaving stuff too often but if I truly want something then I get it.  For example, I have many razors that I love using.  However, when Andrew (andrewjs18) offered a Schick Adjustable razor on the B/S/T, at first I hesitated.  However, I had been wanting to try one so I went for it.  Again, when Andrew offered his Tallow + Steel Classic Shaving Soap and Aftershave, I had been wanting to try the soap so I went ahead and bought it.  As it turns out, I was more than happy with both products.  However, months can go by and I won't purchase anything.  I may be curious about some new products but not enough to buy them.  In the long run. I figure this tends to keep me in a budget that hasn't gone completely haywire.  Because I have been wet shaving for about eleven years, I have managed to build a substantial den, just not all at once.

My "skills" are really quite easily learned, to be honest. Time and practice is all it takes. All of the necessary information is really quite readily available on YouTube. I learned how to hone, restore, polish, and rescale all from YouTube.

Yesterday, I spent 3-4 hours watching dozens of videos on Micarta...how make, shape, and polish it. Guess what's next in the razor restoration process for me...

The truth is...it's all out there. There are no more secrets. Want to learn how to make soap? Uncle Jon's has videos about just that. Want to make a splash? It's out there. Honing, polishing, repairing TTO doors, making strops...it's all out there on the intrawebs. Even a small amount of ability can be turned into an interesting, if not lucrative, aspect of this hobby, and really help reduce the costs...sometimes...

Be poor...

Seriously, you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a respectable den with quality gear.

My personal rule is"No Redundancy". I don't have 15 badger brushes and 10 boar, I have 1 awesome badger, 2 great but different boars, and 2 great but different synthetics. I have only 4 different safety razors. A den with a nice mix of about 15 high quality soaps and half as many splashes. Straight razors are my downfall where I have about 12 in various stages stages of repair and rotation...but all are different...

I'm not married so I don't have the "SWMBO" limitations which means if I don't put limits on myself...I go broke. I have price points in my head that I am willing to pay for quality gear and with very few exceptions I stay within those limits.

It is possible to keep this hobby's expenses to a minimum. It's not easy, but it can be done. You can build a very respectable shave den for a very reasonable cost investment...


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Well said Chris!

And at the end of the day who's the den for? Each one of us. Who cares what people think. I know some people can't live without the daily adulation of an SOTD, and that's fine, it is cool to see other gear, but if you do it for my benefit, oh well, my prayers are with you

my theory has always been to move something if I don't use it for a very long time. also, I try to justify new purchases by moving other gear.

Well you can always do what I am doing, moving into a smaller house. It's forcing me to sell off a lot of stuff. Although my order of B&M Beaudelaire just arrived today so I'm not sure this is actually working.......