Does anyone else having trouble breaking even?

[sofarsogood]

Smoking a carton a week cost me $3,000 a year. I spent $1,000 the first year, $360 of that on mail order e liquid in 240 ml bottles. I started DIY a couple months ago. Cost of materials for a year will be $40-50. After the first couple of mixes it's a 15 minute job once a month. I started rebuilding 6 months ago. That's now a 15 minute job once a week. If I only bought what I needed I could have a quaity vape for about $100 a year cost of materials.

But I'm nervous about government interference so I'll spend a few hundred buying things I don't need. The important acquisition is done. There are 3 liters of 100mg nic in the freezer. The cost for that was $165 incuding amber glass storage bottles. I vape 6 ml per day of 12mg liquid. So 6 ml X 12mg = 72mg of nic per day. A 1 liter bottle of 100mg nic has 1,000 X 100mg nic = 100,000 mg X 3 liters = 300,000mg / 72mg per day = 4,166 days / 365 days = 11.4 years. I'm considering getting a 1 cu ft $200 medical freezer like this. http://www.amazon.com/EdgeStar-1-1-...id=1448667422&sr=8-1&keywords=medical+freezer I think a draconian ban on vape stuff is unlikely but if they are determined and there is a grace period I'll double up on nic and will have to have the litle freezer. (I ain't payin no more smokin taxes either.)

At the moment I only own 1 TC mod so I'll get a few more of those and store them as new after some testing. My favorite rda, the only one I use, costs $10 from fasttech. I'll get a few more store them in new condition. I'm going to test some 28 guage titanium wire coming from fasttech that cost $8 for a 50m spool. I use 8" of wire a week. 2 spools would last almost 10 years.

So let's say 100,000 of us stockpile and keep vaping and come to the forum but the government won't let us buy any new hardware or commercial e liquid except for menthal and tobacco flavored. What the hell will we talk about?

 

[goober]

Nope I am saving money hand over fist versus smoking, then again I never did catch the shinyitis bug. My biggest expense is the pre-made juice I love but I cut it at 1/4 strength with unflavored to further increase my savings. I know I will probably catch some flack for this but I never did understand why you need 20 mods and atties with only one mouth and set of lungs. Yes I have heard all the reasons multiple flavors, you enjoy it, etc. I'm just saying for me and how I vape it's not worth it.

but...but...how else can you show off your baller status on ecf????

 

[Str8vision]

The expense of vaping is comparable to that of eating. You can either buy groceries and cook/prepare your own meals, or, for convenience, just spend lots more and eat out every meal. As with eating, vaping can be as economical, or as expensive as an individual makes it.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

The expense of vaping is comparable to that of eating.

I must say that I agree 100% with that whole post. Even when I started, I was spending less than cigarettes cost me, and I was buying pre-mixed juices. In the past 14 months, I would've spent over $1700 on cigarettes, and that doesn't include lighter fluid, flints, wicks, vehicle wear and tear if just going out for a pack of smokes, butane lighters.. Now, especially with the sort of DIY that I do (I buy PG/VG/Nic all together, and sometimes add a little flavor to that), I've spent less than $600.

 

[VHRB2014]

Once you go to rebuildables and DIY its not even worth the time it costs to calculate it. :?)

 

[Hotwire]

I was only spending £9.50p every 5 days on cigs. With decent tank coils now costing about £3 a head and decent juice for them costing £1.80p per 1ml, for me vaping is costing me way too much. I try to keep costs lower by using a nautilus mini with Hangsen juice instead of subtanking and using US gourmet juices during the day, but I subtank 3ml a night, so yeah not too chuffed at the moment. Will be shopping around for deals or bulk buys I think in future. Too lazy to DIY coils and liquids.

 

[beckdg]

I support (ed) completely..
Mom
Dad (quit smoking despite believing it was impossible and went on to graduate from 24mg/ml incrementally to even quit vaping completely)
Step dad
Father in law
Wife
Myself...

PIF some joose and equipment to friends

Built a laboratory for DIY

Stock pile like a pack rat with dedicated pack mules

My last 2 mods were about $600.00 each.

I have storage and organizers for everything at home and on the road

I buy only top quality

To support all of this, I use only my personal smoking budget.

I'm several thousand dollars in the green.

Tapatyped

 

[gadgetkeith]

I was only spending £9.50p every 5 days on cigs. With decent tank coils now costing about £3 a head and decent juice for them costing £1.80p per 1ml, for me vaping is costing me way too much. I try to keep costs lower by using a nautilus mini with Hangsen juice instead of subtanking and using US gourmet juices during the day, but I subtank 3ml a night, so yeah not too chuffed at the moment. Will be shopping around for deals or bulk buys I think in future. Too lazy to DIY coils and liquids.

are you seriously paying £1.80p per 1ml

just done a quick calculation and that says you are paying around £54.00 for a 30ml bottle of juice and a quick currency converter puts that at around $81.28 for 30ml of juice

you need to find another juice supplier or start DIY juice

$80 for 30ml is a total rip off

either find another vendor and better price or DIY or give up vaping would be my idea

 

[Hotwire]

Oh I got the maths wrong, £18 for 30 ml so 60p per 1ml, sorry

 

[gadgetkeith]

Oh I got the maths wrong, £18 for 30 ml so 60p per 1ml, sorry

no probs

if you dont want to go full DIY juice

when buying juice select a higher nic than you use and extra flavor shots and higher pg content

then grab a bottle of vg and cut it yourself to make larger amount of juice with same or close to nic and mix content

first step towards DIY juice

 

[Hotwire]

I vape zero nic.

 

[Str8vision]

While I make my own flavored NETs for pennies a ml, saving money wasn't the goal, just a major benefit. The major NET retailers are -seriously- behind the times on extraction techniques, you can make far better NET than anything you can buy and its much cleaner, better performing as well. Tired of spending $3 for a single coil head of dubious quality? You can rebuild and re-wick an RBA all year long using the best materials available for $3. Better yet, there are several new RTAs that deliver the flavor of an RDA with the convenience of a tank and no "squonking" required. That $200 mod will provide no better flavor than will a $40 version, I use mechs and my favorite is a S.S. Kato that costs $25 shipped. Still buying mods with proprietary built in batteries? When one of my 2500mAh $5 Samsung 25Rs reaches the end of its service life I simply replace it with another $5 25R, I don't need to replace the entire mod. Even better, when a battery is running low I'm not "tethered" by a charging cable, I just pop in a freshly charged battery and - go. Vaping can be as economical, or as expensive as an individual makes it. The amount you spend has very little to do with how -great- your vaping experience will be, just how flat/empty your wallet will be.

 

[MyMagicMist]

To a point, yes, and the greatest savings will be achieved with DIY and rebuilding. Quality gear with replaceable 18650 (or whatever) batteries also really helps. Rather than popping $30 a month on average on pen style batteries (I vape constantly), it averages out to $3.50 per month on new 18650s.

Buying liquids, which for me is almost 10 ml per day, would set me back a pretty penny per month. I make liquid for $0.03 per ml, so my monthly cost is around $15. Online I'm seeing 300 ml for around $85, quality unknown.

Been thinking about a mod what uses batteries and been seeing good quality 18650 batteries at reasonable prices starting to become available. So far I've used regulated internals and been happy. The Xpro 22 has a mech mode. I've used it a bit in conjunction with the borrowed RSST. It gets a bit much for me, start feeling really hot vape. The air hole on the top cap was drilled out, think he told me 1/16. Know it is not stock AFC. So, that too me suggests in mech mode it fires the coil too hot.

Friend has confirmed too, PG or VG can be got for around $15-30 a gallon. Flavors I see run from $4-8 for four once bottles. I also have been looking at some recipes for juice. Not really dived into mixing. Friend has around $500 of a mixing kit around here, just not been too keen to get into it. Not really as friendly as could be with the friend ergo not too encouraged, told "there it is, go to it". But I always feel another shoe waiting to drop.

He told me nicotine can be got from Wizard Labs for around $15 a gallon I think it was. Think I may look further into more DIY in the future. Not doubting what you present here as your costs. It just seems so awesome that costs can be so low. Been also looking at RBA/RDA/RTA rebuild videos. I'm seeing that isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Of course, I may only stick to Genisis style rebuilds but at least I would be doing rebuilds.

 

[OpenUpShop]

Ive started looking at rebuild videos too. I am glad you said, " isn't as difficult as I thought it would be." I was kinda put off at first thinking I would need to have a lot of practice and tons of research before becoming good at the "rebuilding" facet of vaping. I am sure I still do but your optimism helps..

For me, its summed up by what Morpheus said,
"I make liquid for $0.03 per ml, so my monthly cost is around $15. Online I'm seeing 300 ml for around $85, quality unknown."

Since I can just get the ingredients let the calculator tell me the ratios, DIY juices seemed like the first (and easier) challenge to tackle when it comes to trying to save money. Of course as I am in the initial phases, I find I am no where near Morpheus's $0.03 cost per ml. But once I get some flavor ratios I like locked down, I can simply save the file in the calculator and I am set...

Again, the health "savings" are much more significant and central, but premixes seem to almost be wasting money at times when you consider the difference DIYing...

just my two cents..
Best Wishes Everyone...

 

[JMarca]

Been thinking about a mod what uses batteries and been seeing good quality 18650 batteries at reasonable prices starting to become available. So far I've used regulated internals and been happy. The Xpro 22 has a mech mode. I've used it a bit in conjunction with the borrowed RSST. It gets a bit much for me, start feeling really hot vape. The air hole on the top cap was drilled out, think he told me 1/16. Know it is not stock AFC. So, that too me suggests in mech mode it fires the coil too hot.

Friend has confirmed too, PG or VG can be got for around $15-30 a gallon. Flavors I see run from $4-8 for four once bottles. I also have been looking at some recipes for juice. Not really dived into mixing. Friend has around $500 of a mixing kit around here, just not been too keen to get into it. Not really as friendly as could be with the friend ergo not too encouraged, told "there it is, go to it". But I always feel another shoe waiting to drop.

He told me nicotine can be got from Wizard Labs for around $15 a gallon I think it was. Think I may look further into more DIY in the future. Not doubting what you present here as your costs. It just seems so awesome that costs can be so low. Been also looking at RBA/RDA/RTA rebuild videos. I'm seeing that isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Of course, I may only stick to Genisis style rebuilds but at least I would be doing rebuilds.

If your friend is paying 15 dollars a gallon for Nicotine Don't go near that stuff!

100mg/ml gallon bottle of nicotine from Wizard Labs wholesale is currently going for 269.99 (on sale)
100mg/ml Nicotine Solution - 1 Gallon Wholesale

Whatever he got stay away from it, do yourself a favor and don't touch those flavorings either prices are way off, pure PG and VG is generally cheap however, but again if it comes from your friend don't touch it.
Something painfully wrong there!

 

[MyMagicMist]

If your friend is paying 15 dollars a gallon for Nicotine Don't go near that stuff!

100mg/ml gallon bottle of nicotine from Wizard Labs wholesale is currently going for 269.99 (on sale)
100mg/ml Nicotine Solution - 1 Gallon Wholesale

Whatever he got stay away from it, do yourself a favor and don't touch those flavorings either prices are way off, pure PG and VG is generally cheap however, but again if it comes from your friend don't touch it.
Something painfully wrong there!

Oh hell! Had not seen what the price for a while. He got his sometime last year. Hang on ... I was wrong in what he had got. I think he got a 250ml bottle during a sale. I found this too. 100 MG Flavorless Nicotine Liquid I see they have the 60 ml at $12

 

[MorpheusPA]

My liquid is really cheap because I even make my own menthol flavoring out of USP grade menthol crystals and PG in a glass bottle. This is much easier than it sounds.

My price is probably lower than $0.03 per ml now as I'm down to 1 mg/ml nicotine and haven't recalculated it in some time.

And yes, rebuilding an atty sounds complicated at first, and then you do it and it becomes old hat, boring, tedious, and time consuming. I rebuild Kanger T3 bases, which aren't technically considered rebuildable (but, like most things, can be). It would be less tedious if I didn't let fifty build up before doing it... Your average RBA is built for it and should be a lot easier than my bases.

Plus I'm visually impaired and a major klutz. If I can do it, anybody can do it.

 

[JMarca]

Oh hell! Had not seen what the price for a while. He got his sometime last year. Hang on ... I was wrong in what he had got. I think he got a 250ml bottle during a sale. I found this too. 100 MG Flavorless Nicotine Liquid I see they have the 60 ml at $12

1 US Gallon = 3785.41ml

That link does go to RTS which does sell good Nicotine but you're bottle is 250ml of 100mg/ml Nicotine for about 30 dollars, not a gallon by any stretch. The link I posted is 1 US gallon (almost 3800ml), one gallon of Nicotine will never be sold for 15 dollars or anywhere near it.

 

[Douggro]

Late to the party, sorry.

I'm not sure I want to know when I'll break even with vaping because that's a question based solely on economics. Wife and I went through the bills for my heart attack in March; total cost, just over $70,000. My pack-a-day habit cost me around $33,000 over the 30+ years as a smoker to have that heart attack. And we'll keep paying the $800 per month family health insurance cost because that kick-... policy covered 100% of the $70K.

I figure I was spending $300 a month on cigs. I can vape for much less than that, easy, if I average out the capital expenses for gear.

How I feel as an ex-smoker is something I can't put a price on. I'll let you know when I get to hold my first grandchild.

 

[OpenUpShop]

Wow Douggro,

That is a deep story. Really sorry you went through all that.. I am really glad you got through it and are here sharing your story. Hope you get to see countless birthdays with your grandchild. I am in the same boat in the sense that I believe the savings to my health far outweigh any monetary savings... Even if it were more expensive to vape, it would be worth it from the health standpoint.

Hope everything works out great for you Douggro from here on out...Its a great community here as I have learned also being a recently new member...We are all pulling for you...

Best Wishes....