Introduction and a Question

[TheDoctor]

Hi everybody, I'm Ian. I've been eyeing up straight razors for a while now... and in a post-Sweeney Todd fervor I swept the internet for all the information I could get on them. I've got a habit of making things difficult... When I started smoking, cigarettes seemed too easy, so I went for a handmade Egyptian hookah. When fast-food lost its charms, I went to culinary school and learned how to cook. Since disposable razors are ridiculously expensive and leave me with constant razorburn and never a close shave, straight-edges seem the way to go.

I plan on buying a secondhand, shave-ready piece off the BST section of the forum, but before I lay out the money to get a shave-kit set up, I wanted to ask if anyone else had luck in eliminating some damn persistant razorburn by switching away from a disposable? I figure having a constantly-sharp blade would be better, like always having a fresh-from-the-box razor.

Also, I know I need soap, a brush, a strop and a hone, but that seems to be about it. I'm looking to get as much as I can from The Well-Shaved Gentleman and Classic Shaving, and the secondhand razor from the forum. Potentially a stand, too. I've already got a shaving mirror, and it shouldn't be terrible to sacrifice a house-mug for the shaving cause, right? Besides that, are there any cheaper alternatives to the fifty-dollar-plus brushes I see everywhere?