The high cost of vaping. Better not to start or even quit?

[Vaporista]

For those who wonder why South Africa is not a vape friendly country for those who live there as to an affordable alternative to tobacco well lets do the marlboro costing.

1 pack 20 marlboro (or stuvyesant red) is Rand 22 (Camel filter Rand 25)
That's 1.78 GBP or US $2.98 or Euro 1.99
It's not snus friendly either. General White Swedish Snus is Rand 25 (same as a pack of camels) and Stuvyesant mini snus is R14 and snuff is anywhere from R11 to R25.

Now I could just cry when I tally up how much vaping has cost me. I wouldn't go as far as saying there are health benefits, because the jury is still out on that. However I can say that if you, like me have smoked cigarettes for over twenty five years, the damage has in all likelihood been done. I'm just waiting for the red cauliflowers to start sprouting in my lungs in about oh, 10 years time. I'm glad I quit when I did though. I just wish vaping/snorting/sucking quality nicotine was a cheaper alternative to smoking. Unfortunately in this part of the world it is a luxury.

@gavin. Hmm. Eastmall. Waiting 7 days now so I can double that then I suppose...

[olderthandirt]

The snus and snuff seems comparable to what I'm paying at least

[Vaporista]

The snus and snuff seems comparable to what I'm paying at least

Well take my word for it you wouldn't want to give a snuff called "Taxi" to your local rat population. Have you ever tried sniffing tobacco grains the size of marbles? Our local snuffs are mostly for people living below the poverty line. It's truly awful stuff if you ask me. They make stuff for export but I've not seen it locally. I'm sure they grind that a bit more and give it a scrubbing or two. I'd pay a bit more and get a McCrystals which is about the only one you get anyway. Now before you say your snus is comparable- well truth be told we only have one- Stuvyesant brand in Tropical, Mint or Coffee. These are minis and you could stuff the whole tin in your mouth in one go. That's how small the tins are. The reason we have these at all is simply a marketing experiment which began in 2006 and is still going for reasons I've no idea. The stuff just sits in fridges on countertops. It was a disasterous experiment. I've known shopkeepers who just tired of it and just shoved the lot under the counter. Nobody wants it. General was too expensive. Nobody snuses much here. Maybe that will change, but in two years...nope.

[olderthandirt]

When I said comparable that was considering the prices I pay through Northerner. Shipping from Sweden to the States pops it up a bit.

Wouldn't ordering from Northerner help out in that respect?

[Vaporista]

When I said comparable that was considering the prices I pay through Northerner. Shipping from Sweden to the States pops it up a bit.

Wouldn't ordering from Northerner help out in that respect?

You get more variety, sure, but Northerner online costs more or less the same for General as retail here maybe 50c more, much more- if you include shipping and then you pay customs which is a whole new story

[olderthandirt]

So the customs is the real show stopper?
That could well be a concern for me in the not so distant future. Tax the pennies on our eyes...

[Vaporista]

Tax the pennies on our eyes...

Here they just pocket those too

[olderthandirt]

Here they just pocket those too

Oh damn!

[traderblue]

For those who wonder why South Africa is not a vape friendly country for those who live there as to an affordable alternative to tobacco well lets do the marlboro costing.

1 pack 20 marlboro (or stuvyesant red) is Rand 22 (Camel filter Rand 25)
That's 1.78 GBP or US $2.98 or Euro 1.99
It's not snus friendly either. General White Swedish Snus is Rand 25 (same as a pack of camels) and Stuvyesant mini snus is R14 and snuff is anywhere from R11 to R25.

Now I could just cry when I tally up how much vaping has cost me. I wouldn't go as far as saying there are health benefits, because the jury is still out on that. However I can say that if you, like me have smoked cigarettes for over twenty five years, the damage has in all likelihood been done. I'm just waiting for the red cauliflowers to start sprouting in my lungs in about oh, 10 years time. I'm glad I quit when I did though. I just wish vaping/snorting/sucking quality nicotine was a cheaper alternative to smoking. Unfortunately in this part of the world it is a luxury.

@gavin. Hmm. Eastmall. Waiting 7 days now so I can double that then I suppose...

Your real cost-saving will come when:
1. You totally stopped analogs.
2. You vape at 0 nic.
3. You built/DIY your own battery-mod.
4. You DIY your own E-juice.

I achieved:
(1.) within 1 week of vaping,
(2.) after 2 months of vaping,
(3.) after 2-half months of vaping(learn fr this forum),
(4.) after 2 months of vaping(learn fr this forum).

I am now analog-free for 6 months, nicotine-free for 4 months and I now vape lite ( 5/6 times/day). Ecig help me quit my nasty 20 years 15-sticks/day habit!

But now I got a big PROBLEM? I am over-stock with ecig's, atty, E-juice, batteries and chargers!

Lesson learnt: Don't over-stock yourself with more than 6 months ecig supply. Because chances are that you may quit analog and ecig eventually, faster than you may have thought initially. That's what happen to me..

I

[Vaporista]

Your real cost-saving will come when:
1. You totally stopped analogs.
2. You vape at 0 nic.
3. You built/DIY your own battery-mod.
4. You DIY your own E-juice.

1. Just over two months now, and poorer for it
2. 0 nic. You have to be kidding. Firstly one has better luck finding needles in kelp forests, in these parts and secondly, if you can find it you still pay almost as much as any strength juice as a consumer. It's been mentioned on the forums that 0mg nic
has zilch throat hit. Heck. I'm not one of those people who ever smoked those ultrathin, ultralight analogs. I got moore nic hit from second hand smoke wafting off the neighbours porch. I am a die hard old school nicotine fiend. 0mg just won't work for me. I want an alternative nicotine source. Yes you heard right, I'm a fiend. I want an affordable high nic vape. If you read these forums you will see that many of the ex-smokers have to subsitute their vaping because vaping alone is missing that elusive "something". We think it's a yet to be identified MAOI in some form present in tobacco alkaloids that all NRT's currently lack. Vaping lacks it too. So we supplement with smokeless tobacco. It also costs more when I have to have a pinch of snuff now and again. Weaning myself off nicotine is just not a priority, but it is fast becoming an economic necessity Giving up analogs was a priority, but unlike you, it took me about 4 weeks of vaping along with the analogs and only when I got 24mg nic could I switch over to vaping exclusively. That was two months ago.
At this rate, with the frightening costs of the vaping lifestyle I'm next looking at going cold turkey Even dissolvables are unobtainable at a reasonable cost. One esteemed member here spends his entire life on U Tube flogging smokeless tobacco, just to support his own habit. He's sicker than I am. He even smokes snus. Looks like a ...... Junkie wielding that teaspoon snusbag too But I did one up. I vaped my nicotine spray. I won't be in a hurry to try that again.
Not everyone here is a garage genius who can hammer together a functioning mod. I can barely bang two pots together. I planned to buy one from my friend the Golden Greek. I think he's still waiting for my money But DIY e-juice makes the most sense of all. I'm waiting on a shipment of 60mg mixing juice from America and I'll mix up a batch of Hot Tamales e-juice while I'm cooking the family dinner. It should be fun. All that tasting! The only thing that worries me is that my pal over in DeKangLand says that any nic juice over 36 comes from non food grade sources and I should watch my arrse, not lick my fingers or even smoke the leftovers in the Hot Tamales mixing bowl. He said I should lock the kids out of the kitchen and turn on the extractor fan.

Lesson learnt: Don't over-stock yourself with more than 6 months ecig supply. Because chances are that you may quit analog and ecig eventually, faster than you may have thought initially. That's what happen to me..

I cannot put into words just how much I loathe you for having over 6 months e-cig supplies. I think the sum of my e-worldly-goods is two feeble 801 attys on their way out to join their breathen in the Great Atty Landfill (and no, don't even mention the Jaxx resuscitation
No amount of poking them with pins or paperclips does any good at all) and one steaming 801 atty of a red colour crossmatched with a white battery because the red batteries died; two cold dead M201 attys with two brand new M201 batteries sitting in a brand new box. They lasted a week, tops; and my supplier has spent the last 4 days running from pillar to post in the customs hall at the airport looking for replacements sent by the Chinese. Finally I have a battled scarred janty stick that has miscalculated the usb bungee jump from the desk to the floor, more times than I care to count. It's still working. That's all that matters. But you are right, one of these days all of them will conk out, qand as Murphys Law would have it -it will be at the exact same time as my bank balance hits 0 and I will probably be quitting my ecig faster than I even thought myself.