I'm looking for new soaps and creams to try. My budget is super limited as I am a fixed income. I've used mama bears, crab tree & Evelyn , and a beer city oatmeal stout shaving soap, and AOS sandalwood cream. So what soaps & creams should I try?

http://www.theshavedenshop.com/the-shave-den-exclusives.html

Stirling or Route 66

Route 66
The shave den
Soap Commander

I have several various scents from Pyrate Cove, they are very economical.

There was a guy selling a six pack of Coates. (Nice creams)

Arco, any cheaper they'd be paying you to use it. Nice soap, not so nice scent.

I love the smell of Arko! Guess I'm lucky.

Uberlather, much? I like Arko & Cremo together. Two inexpensive products that go great together.
If I haven't tried it yet Arko may work with C.O.Bigelow for a cool lemony combo. Soon as I get off this 30 day Focus!

I believe that the best values are to purchase samples. Specifically from mama bear and stirling since they are very high quality and both companies offer a great variety.

I am a fan of Truefitt & Hill, Taylor of old Bond Street, DR Harris, Geo Trumper, Tabac, penhaligon, martin de candre, klar, razorock, proraso, cella, arko, the blades grim, and Mitchell's Wool Fat.
Some are those are single scent, and some offer whole lines. Their prices spread the gambit, so value may be a concern as well. Arko is about $3 while mdc (Martin de Candre) is about $70...if you can get ahold of one, that is.

The other question you need to ask is how important it is for you to have tallow, glycerin, etc. ? YMMV.

You may want to consider availability. Van der hagen is easy to find (at least, in most places), but it's really not the best out there. Many people love Williams Mug soap because it is a super cheap tallow base that is widely available (up until recently. It has been discontinued, but can still be readily found).

Lastly, what is more important... scent or performance?
I like the above list for both. Many people would agree with me, with the exception of a couple wilhich are love it or hate it scents (arko and tabac, im looking at you).

Hope this helps.
Shave well, my friend

THIS!!!.....its like baskin robbins w/the scents too.

You should try Palmolive. Either the shave stick or the cream. They both perform very good. They are inexpensive.

And the debate continues - has Williams really been discontinued? I say no, but I've been wrong before.

Budget minded Taylor of Old Bond Creams. A tiny amount goes a long way

Menthol-C O Bigelow / Proraso

Soaps - Caties Bubbles. $20 a tub but it's 200g and fast and easy to lather. May last close to a year per tub and I am a heavy loader.

It may well still be available in certain areas (until it is sold out on the shelves of course), but I have done pretty thorough research and it has indeed been discontinued. Im not sure why really. My guess would be the sheer number of soaps available today has dropped its demand, along with its price point not being feasible to continue with its current ingredients, and the fact that VDH has swooned the big box stores (like walmart, target, walgreens, and cvs into carrying its products instead of williams).

I would think that it would be able to survive by making some changes, but perhaps there is not enough profit there? Idk. Im not in that business.

Stirling, Route 66, Reef Point, Maggard for a start. RazoRock's are good choices too.........

PM me your address and I will get some British Coate's Cream on the way to you.

Our ShopRite keeps stocking it.
This thread ---> http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/williams-mug-soap-being-discontinued-is-confirmed.45804/ seems to indicate it has not been discontinued, despite the title.

TOBS for creams. Route 66 for soaps. Can't go wrong either way.

As far as soaps, the best value soaps out there are Stirling. You're not going to find anything better with a cheaper price tag, and you won't find too many that are better, even at a higher price tag.

Who has the best deal on mitchels wool fat ? I really want to try this soap but I think it's too pricey

+1. Stirling and mama bear present the best values IMHO when all factors are considered. They both offer fantastic lathering soaps with uncompromising ingredients and both have huge selections. I highly recommend getting samples since they offer soooo many choices. It's just hard to know what to pick otherwise. Stirling soaps samples are $2.75, and they typically last 20-25 shaves from most people's experience. Mama bear samples are $1 (unless you buy the pre-prepared sample packages, where they cost even less), and they last 6-10 shaves.

Since these are both niche artisans, they can keep costs low while honoring high quality goods.

FWIW, they both seem to outlast many other soaps I have tried (given similar size/weight of course).
YMMV, but I recommend these to any and every wet shaver, newbie or veteran.

TSD soaps = $1.75/oz
Stirling soaps = $1.88/oz

Although I've never used Stirling, I do know that TSD soaps whip up a great lather, are pretty darn slick, and give a fantastic shave.
Oh, and TSD offers somewhere around 80 scents for their soaps (regular and lanolin), creams, AS, cologne, balm, WH...

AND buying from TSD supports our great forum so we can use it free!!! http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/what-you-might-not-know-about-the-shave-den.17844/

I agree, supporting the forum is great, but you didn't include shipping costs in those calculations, and he stressed in his post that budget was his main concern.

With shipping accounted for (both refill pucks)
TSD soaps = $3.02/oz
Stirling soaps = $2.77/oz