A good pair of wire strippers is a must for electrical work, but you don't necessarily need to spend a ton of money on them ...

They can get into places a bigger pair of cutters or pliers can’t and flush cut the wire so there are no sharp edges. Since these are for cutting soft copper or aluminum wire up to 16 gauge ...

To get the best value, you'll need the right tools to speed through the material. If you choose to remove the insulation, you can always get a wire-stripping machine to blast through scrap bundles.