Having seen all of the different accessories (i.e. various leather sharpening strops, strop cream etc.) I was wondering:

a) how many of these accessories are strictly necessary?

b) does the cost of buying strop cream on a regular basis equal buying disposable razors?

c) what's a reasonable price to pay for a good quality (but not extravagant) strops/accessories etc.?

Basically, I don't want to have to buy a load of cheap 'beginner'-type stuff only to have to get better quality stuff later on. I definitely want to do it as long-term thing so I'm happy to pay a bit more now as an investment. Thanks.