Exfoliate!
I use those "scrubby" gloves in the shower everyday to help with ingrown hairs. If you have some that are extra persistant, pick up some PFB from a Wax On salon. It's just a liquid you can apply that helps for razor irritation and ingrown hairs. I would stay away from Tend Skin, another brand. That stuff burns like a mofo.

I, too am on a budget, but I make room in it for waxes. After the first time, the hair is super slow to grow down there. After about 6 (full brazillians), I only need to go about once every 2 months. It seriously makes your hair stop growing. It's kind of awesome.

Also, you can get a wax pot at Sally's for about 50 bucks. Don't buy their wax fabric, though. You can get muslin for super cheap at almost any fabric store.

Hope this helps!

Bikini zone works well. You. Have to wait a few weeks worth o shav

I keep myself totally shaved and I use to get razor bumps mostly above and around the sides of my penis, but I've come to find that if you always use a triple bladed razor and always shave downward it isn't as bad. Whatever you do, don't shave upward with a dull razor because that's when I've gotten them the most. I also wouldn't recommend plucking them with tweezers because that will cause even more ingrown hairs.

When I shave, I use hydrocortisone cream or clearasil to minimize the bumps.

Tendskin works miracles. Seriously, it's awesome. I also would steer away from disposable razors and invest in a nice 3 or 4 blade razor like Lady's Schick Quartro. And I find that using a good soap, rather than shaving cream helps for this area.

Alternative to wax is getting out the tweezers and just pull them out. Hold the skin tight and pluck. Is not that painful, and as lilmonster says, the hairs start to not re-grow at all.

You will still need to exfoliate and moisturize to keep the ingrowns away.

...would it be too obvious to state that the way to minimize razor bumps in the bikini region is to simply not shave? (Yeah, I thought so...)