It really is so true about the shoes. That new pair is always fucking incredible. And yeah, they're pricey, but if you run like we do, you just have to accept it. Mine are 130 bucks, though I lucked out and got em on sale during a back to school deal for 99, I was pleased.
I understand the chafing, too lol. I wear thin tights under my shorts in the summer, and thermals with two pair of tights in the winter. Tights eliminate the chafage. I also scotch tape my nipples, lol. Sounds funny, but bloody nips are no fun. I forgot to tape em about a month ago, and I was holding my shirt out half the time. That shit fucking hurts, and it'll make you bleed. Lol, I still chuckle a bit every morning when I tape my nips, it's necessary but undoubtedly humorous.
If you haven't tried gradual compression socks, oh man, I can't run without em anymore. They are fucking awesome. If you're interested, CEP is the brand to get, and I wear the Progressive Run +. I've tried a couple brands and they are by far the best. They can be found online for about 45, and in stores they're about 60. It's a lot of money for socks, but they last a good year. That's about 1600 to 1800 miles for me, so 60 bucks seems reasonable, and I wear them every run, only have one pair, too. I think it's a German company, and they started out making medical ones for diabetics, so they're no joke. You might not get hit as hard with exchange rates, being a European company, but I know you have taxes that are exponentially higher than the u.s. I'd check em out if you haven't. The website explains it, but you size em by your calf measurement. Truly, they're incredible, I can't run without em. One thing I noticed is that they almost make you're calfs feel warmed up right after you slip em on. They also help with recovery, and their is science to back that up.