When I was 16, I didn't have much money to spend. You don't have to break the bank. You need both a razor and a strop. Everything else can be improvised or bought at garage sales or second-hand shops.

The least-expensive way to start straight-razor shaving is to get a vintage razor and "Poor Man's Strop Kit" from Larry at
Whipped Dog Razor Sales . He's often on this Forum.

The second-cheapest way is to pick up a vintage razor from the Classifieds on this site, and buy a strop from RupRazor or StarShaving (they both have good reputations, and reasonable prices).

People do get cuts. But a straight razor is so obviously DANGEROUS that most of us are really careful with it.

Charles