Neal,
I appreciated your WSJ article on razors, which I caught through Yahoo!'s finance portal. You might have already received a few responses about the old-time alternatives and are probably a bit surprised that a razor-enthusiast market even exists. I shave both my head and my face so I'm sure you could understand my need for a less expensive alternative.
Well, I found an alternative that is cheaper in the long run, provided you don't start actually
enjoying buying new razors. Straight razors are a great way to stick it to Gillette and Schick for their overpriced, overmarketed, over-bladed razors. Even if straight razors seem a bit extreme you can look at a good ol' double-edged razor (think of the original Gillettes) which use replaceable blades that will probably run 50¢ or less, each.
I've now seen both sides of this coin:
"A razor is not a sports car. It won't make us feel young again or turn women's heads. We don't like shaving, and no matter what you do, we never will."
Years ago I would have agreed entirely with that statement, but now I enjoy shaving with straight razors and my wife loves it as well (on me). I wouldn't say that it makes me feel any younger, but I do feel better and, quite honestly, it's pretty damn cool. I even shave with a razor that once belonged to my great grandfather!
When random people express sympathy for how much I much spend in razors to shave my head, I always strike up an interesting and unusually-long conversation about shaving with a straight. It's worth looking into, even if it might not be something for you.
Straight Razor Place
Badger & Blade
Cheers!
-someone who now enjoys shaving