I blew a few bucks a month or so ago and bought a Norton 4k/8k and a chines 12k water stone.

I also bought a used, very minty-looking, Swaty barber's hone off eBay for too much money. These ordinarily go for about $30 or a little more. I really wanted this one. I cleaned it up on a $5 piece of granite tile from Home Depot and some 200 and 400 grit carbide wet sand paper. It puts a very nice edge on an already sharp blade.

I had several razors done by Wid, and Lynn, and bought another one "shave ready" and several more after that.
I've actually used the Norton/chinese stones to good effect on older blades and feel I can get the knack of doing this for myself to MY "shave readiness" level as time goes by.

Personally, for starters, I'd look for the Swaty (or some other) barber's hone.

Welcome, and have fun.