I Really appreciate all of the help and the words of encouragement from everyone. This is really a family. Everyone seems to genuinely want to help others in the quit smokingquest. Thanks so much!!!!
Hi JackieNC!
The biggest single piece of advice I can offer is -- DO NOT count your failures in the number of cigarettes you smoke, count your successes in the number you DON'T smoke! This is a critical mindset when just starting. I have been fighting with it since February when I got my first cheap cig-a-like kit, and so far, the best I have been able to do is go 3 weeks without a "real" cigarette, but I have NOT given up! I seem to average about 5 days before I break down and bum a smoke or 2 from someone.
If you are like most people, you will vape a LOT more in the beginning, until you get used to it and then it will settle down. Until you get past this point, be cautions on what nicotine strength you vape. How much it settles is dependent upon you and your vaping habits. I would NOT recommend vaping anything higher than 1.8 (or 18)mg if you smoked less than a pack or so a day. If you were more than a pack a day, then try the 2.4 (24)mg juices and see how they work for you. Less than a pack a day and I would start at the 1.2 (12)mg levels. If you pick a strength that is too strong, you will have signs and symptoms that will help you figure that out, in my case, I got "jittery" and even light headed sometimes, when I was vaping a juice that had more than 18mg nicotine.
As for cost, in the beginning, while you are figuring out what works for you, costs can (and likely will) be very high. I can honestly say that I spent a lot more money in the first few months than my smoking habit cost. However, once I found what worked best for me, my costs dropped tremendously, and overall, I have actually saved money. Like most vapers, I started cheap and kept spending to find the right device that would work for me, ultimately this cost me more money than just buying a good device up front. That said, I do have some tips that may help with lowering your costs:
1. When you order juice, ask if they can send you a sample or two of flavors that you may want to try. Many vendors will throw in a small amount of a juice for you to sample, hoping you will order more from them.
2. Look for discounts and coupon codes. These are invaluable for saving money. I have seen coupons go as high as 75% off of juice purchases, these are few and far between, but they are out there.
3. Call the vendor and ask if they offer any kind of discount. Some will have unpublished discounts and others will not.
4. If you find a juice flavor you like, buy it in bulk. It may seem more expensive to do this, but in the long run it will work out to be cheaper than buying smaller quantities. Don't do this for juices that you aren't sure you like, because then it becomes expensive to throw them away (ask me how I know ... LOL)!
5. Enter contests and give-aways. Between the forums and FaceBook, there are a TON of things being given away that you could potentially get for free to try. I was looking at a particular kit, and luckily won it in a giveaway, but if I had purchased it I would have been very upset because I was not happy with it.
6. Buy used stuff (batteries, mods, chargers should all be fine). NOT clearos/cartos/tanks that you can't sanitize. For example, if you buy a Protank 2 used, you can sterilize the entire thing (its all either stainless steel or pyrex glass). I would not recommend using someone else's used drip tip though, UNLESS it can be sterilized.
7. Read reviews and see what kind of issues people are having with their gear. If you are interested in something, look and see if there are any negative reviews. Check and see what kind of problems people are having with it before spending your hard earned money on it.
8. Get together with vaping friends to make "bulk" purchases. If you and a couple friends all want to try the same things, it can be cheaper for you to all pitch in on a large order of something (either juices or hardware) than for you to each buy the exact same thing individually.
9. Sell your stuff that isn't working. If you can find a buyer, you can recoup some (if not all) of the costs.
With regards to finding good flavors, this gets really tricky, do a LOT of reading and see what sounds good to you. I can personally recommend Spinfuel for their reviews, they have not steered me wrong yet. This also goes for their hardware and vendor reviews too. If you find something you want to try, and the company (or product) has no reviews, ask in the forums what people think. It may not be a foolproof solution, but it can't hurt and may actually help.
As for the cravings, I had the hardest time with this, and discovered that whole tobacco alkaloids (or WTAs as they are commonly called) helped me. They do NOT work for everyone. This is not the "normal" vaping experience, and there are very few places that even sell them, but they can help with the cravings under some circumstances. WTAs tend to be more expensive because they are harder to make, so keep that in mind as well.
The bottom line is that vaping is a personal experience. What works for someone else may not work for you. What is important is to remember this and keep at it. Don't give up when something doesn't work for you, try something else. Eventually, you will find what works best, and things will get better from there.
This has turned out to be a lot longer than I intended, so I will end here. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions I can help answer.
I hope this helps!
....and I was way overwhelmed with it all!! Well I've since learned about atomizers, cartomizers, clearomizers, tanks, blah blah, blah but I still have dang leaking issues and can't figure out why and I just never seem satisfied and feel like I vape constantly! Seriously....it's like a dam pacifier 
