I disagree that a guy needs all sorts of stones to maintain a razor.
What I do is fifty laps on a bare leather strop before the shave. Followed by 10 laps on a canvas strop after the shave. The idea here is to make sure the exteme smallest part of the bevel is dry, thwarting any microscopic rust or pitting. This gets me by for a few months. The other side of my canvas is lightly pasted with CrOx. A dozen or so laps on that brings back comfortable shaves.
Eventually though, the paste will no longer restore a keen edge. For me, shaving every other day, this takes about a year. Then I send it out for a touchup honing. Costs about twenty bucks and a week later I have a nice new edge. During that time I use one of my other straights.
So minus the startup cost of a razor, brush and strop, totalling about $250, it costs me maybe 35 bucks a year to shave. This includes consumables like soap and after shave.
In the beginning though, you may need more frequent honing. Things like bad stropping habits, dropping your razor, or banging it on the faucet, may require refreshing the bevel. Also, never rub your finger on the edge or use it to cut anything but hair. If you need to determain edge quality, just shave with it. A good egde gives a smooth shave, assuming you know what you are doing. If it is pulling, particularly on with-the-grain strokes, possibly causing your eyes to water, the edge needs work.
Stropping is a must, but as a beginner I wouldnt go spending money on honing tools. Honing takes skill, practice and patience. And often times people dont stick with straight razor shaving for very long. If you decide you wanna learn to hone later on, buy the stones and then get yourself a cheap beater blade to practice on.
