Juice cost is subjective. Some of the pricier juices I buy (like vermillion river) are just excellent. Some of the cheap juices I've bought are unvapable. Happens the other way around too.
If I had all the money back on juice that I put in the fail box I could buy $1/ml juice and still come out in the green.
Crafted juice that you love is worth the extra $ too. Cheap juice that you love is like getting a bonus check.
Rule of thumb is juice shouldn't cost more than 50 cents/ml. Unless you can personally justify the roi for more expensive juice.
I like +/-5c/ml a lot better than 50c/ml juice. So as you become more comfortable with your vaping, and have a good idea of what type of flavors you like, check out the DiY section here on ecf. I spend less than 50c/day on juice instead of 50c/ml.
IMO if it costs $20 or more for 30ml, I'm not ordering again if it isn't extremely good AND comes in glass bottles.
Looking forward to trying Elevated Vaping's "Jameson's Irish Vapor Juice" ($25 for 30ml in glass).
I'm in DIY mode now, too. And yes, DIY is a surefire money saver. However, there are some flavors out there that I consider MUST HAVE and I haven't learned to to replicate them (yet). I'm gaining on it, one drop at a time.