I buy bulk cable housing (Shimano or Jagwire) and wait for sales on stainless steel cables (Jagwire) and buy enough to last me through the foreseeable future, knowing that during that period I'll be redoing an Ebay bike, plus a friend's bike, and replacing a cable on my own bike because I frayed an end by accident. I've started super-gluing stainless cable ends in lieu of crimps. Seems to be a good compromise between my favorite method (soldering) and least favorite (crimps)