Chris Moss' guide to straight razor shaving
Welcome! I also started (about a year ago) with a handle that uses double edged blades snapped in half. I agree that you should use it for a bit for both economic and spousal reasons. Then you will be in a situation where you can start looking around (on the classifieds here and at local flea markets, antique stores etc) for inexpensive vintage blades (which would be nice gifts that your spouse could also give you in the future). You sound like the kind of person who will probably delve into the world of honing as you progress. There are lots of economical ways to do that too (such as 3M microabrasive sheets and honing compounds, but I digress...)
You can get a very decent shave using a shavette... there are many barbers out there who offer straight razor shaves that are required to use a device such as this in order to meet health regulations ( ie: no sharing of blades between clients).
As for your technique... One of the most helpfull things for me was Chris Moss' guide which is probably on this site somehwere but I haven't found it. I know you can download it for free here: www.shavemyface.com/downloads/The-Straight-Razor-Shave.pdf . I printed this off and have read it over and over and over... I have found it a tremendous instructional guide to all aspects of straight razor shaving and have found him to be just about bang on 100% on everything he says (just my opinion).