My young padawans, come, sit, and learn at my feet.
Some gents go way overboard with their cologne collections. If you're smart, you'll get 5-8 quality scents and you'll be set for a while. There are some decent value scents you can get, but I strongly believe the higher-end designer fragrances and the niche fragrances are worth it. An affordable way to go about this is to buy decants/samples. The reason you want a handful of scents is you want to be able to choose something depending on the weather, where you're going, or simply what mood you're in. Here's my preferences:
Work (business casual): Green Irish Tweed (Creed - Coolwater, which I don't like, is a poor man's attempt at ripping this off), Bleu de Chanel (Chanel - TBH I think it smells like laundry detergent, but I get compliments), Philosykos (Diptyque - figs)
Tie: Green Irish Tweed (Creed), Aventus (Creed - smoky pineapples, easily the best scent on the market right now)
Cold Weather: Aventus (Creed) Le Male (Jean Paul Gautier - powdery vanilla), Tam Dao (Diptyque - very natural sandalwood), Pure Havane (Thierry Mugler - great date scent, has that patended tar note that TM is famous for, but it's very subtle, the big notes in this are honey and tobacco)
Hot Weather: Cologne (Thierry Mugler - like Irish Spring Soap in a bottle, this is great for after I work out)
Spring/Fall/Rain: Terre D'Hermes (Hermes - woodsy orange peels).
The wife's faves are Aventus, Le Male, and Pure Havane.
If anyone wants more info I'd be happy to oblige. As you can tell, this is kind of a hobby of mine.