Rawrster, don't worry too much about hurting yourself with a DE. If you want some instructional videos, look up Mantic at YouTube. He's wonderful and will teach you everything you need to know. In a nutshell, you turn the razor perpendicular to your face, hold it gently there, then rotate it down until the blade bites into your beard. That's the angle you want, and the trick is learning to keep the razor at that angle during the shave. It takes a couple of weeks, but becomes second nature after awhile. Then you shave, using no pressure. The cartridge razors make you bear down, so you have to unlearn that bad habit. But once you get those two things down, a DE glides effortlessly over your face and it doesn't even feel like you're shaving. You'll have no irritation - just a rinse and some witch hazel and you'll be clean and feeling great.
Using a brush is important. It exfoliates dead skin and it lifts up your beard hair and suspends it in the lather. They're also fun to use. The cheap brushes work about as well as the expensive ones, but nice badger feels great. A lot of people start with the Tweezerman or Omega boar brushes. An inexpensive badger many like is the Simpson Wee Scot for about $30. Small, but it works well.
Also be sure to pick up a soap. Most are good and an average puck should last at least a year. They're not full of chemicals, don't require you to throw away a metal can, and you're not washing a load of chemicals down the sink, either. If you don't start acquiring a bunch of different soaps, razors, etc. (collecting often takes hold), then you can shave nicely each year for about $20-$30.
