Frugal Living

[JRudey]

"There are plenty of reasons to live a more frugal lifestyle. You might be saving up for a big vacation or new car. Maybe you want to reject consumerism and trim unnecessary expenses from your life. It could be that times are tough and everyone has to make sacrifices somewhere. Or maybe there are simply other things you'd rather be spending your money on. Whatever the reason, you've decided to make personal budget cuts and keep more money in your own pocket."

I copied that off a website. It reminded me of vaping. Many people are switching to vaping to escape the high cost of cigarettes. But, if you have to have all of the best equipment and you buy only the top shelf e-Liquid, vaping can be costly. I'd love to read about the ways people have found to stretch their dollar.

I just started to inventory all of the e-Liquid I've bought. There are several flavors I've lost interest in. They're not really bad, just not great. I've been blending them in small samples with more desirable flavors and coming up with some good results. Have you come up with any tricks like that? Would a 49 cent drip tip be just as good as one for $3?

Transluscent Drip Tip, Smoke

 

[Myrany]

FOr me it is simple.

I make my own juice for every juice except my morning vape (a menthol from myfreedomsmokes.com) that I vape all of about 10 minutes a day. A 15 ML bottle of that lasts me MONTHS.

I rebuild/recoil my protank, CE5, and vivi heads.

A carto in a tank will last me a month (nothing special just boge).

When at home I pretty much drip on a RBD (cheap IGO-L or Octopus). Once again self coiled.

I have a VERY strict vape budget. Most months I do not spend more than $35 with a top end of $50.

On the drip tips I tend to use metal ones so my juices do not melt or crack them. Bigger investment up front but less replacing later.

 

[TruckDrivinMama]

I have something like that drip tip you posted but i stripped that from a broken Vivi Nova and slapped it on my protank 2. It works wonders.

How i stretch my dollars are: rewiring/ rewicking old PT2 heads or Vivi Nova heads instead of buying new replacements, DIYing liquids.
Used to spend about $70 ish for me and hubby per month for vaping including replacement heads and liquid. Now i spend only a max of $15 per month depending how crazy i go with creating exotic liquids. BIG difference. Or i pounce on the ECF coupon section every once in a while.

 

[xpen]

Make your own liquids, definitely. Use rebuildable atomizers, and use organic wicks in them. Use quality mods, so that they can be repaired if needed - instead of thrown away.

My 2c

 

[HauntedMyst]

I do the same thing where I mix so so juices with others. I've even started to by DIY flavorings to make them better.

 

[WattWick]

"There are plenty of reasons to live a more frugal lifestyle. You might be saving up for a big vacation or new car. Maybe you want to reject consumerism and trim unnecessary expenses from your life. It could be that times are tough and everyone has to make sacrifices somewhere. Or maybe there are simply other things you'd rather be spending your money on. Whatever the reason, you've decided to make personal budget cuts and keep more money in your own pocket."

I am confused. Is this some kind of consumeristic double-think?

I make my own juice and stick to rebuildables, so for me that part is very inexpensive. I think I'm well below a dollar a day in terms of juice and rebuilding costs. The occasional, yet rare longing for a new piece of gear is my main vaping expense.

 

[KjAthena]

I am relatively new to vapeing, I dont recoil, I buy boutique juices I love, I have egos/protanks/a second hand homemade mechanical mod and am part of a co-op for a shiny new VTR. I am still spending less than smokes would have cost me. Now that I have my equipment, the cost for consumables (juice,coils, a battery even once a month) will cost me well under $2 a day. My eyes don't work well for small work so I dont know that I will ever recoil, but someday I may decide to try some simple flavors DIY to save a bit more

I am a long time cheapskate...my daughters always say "Mom will squeeze a nickle till the buffalo poops"

 

[Oomee]

"There are plenty of reasons to live a more frugal lifestyle. You might be saving up for a big vacation or new car. Maybe you want to reject consumerism and trim unnecessary expenses from your life. It could be that times are tough and everyone has to make sacrifices somewhere. Or maybe there are simply other things you'd rather be spending your money on. Whatever the reason, you've decided to make personal budget cuts and keep more money in your own pocket."

I copied that off a website. It reminded me of vaping. Many people are switching to vaping to escape the high cost of cigarettes. But, if you have to have all of the best equipment and you buy only the top shelf e-Liquid, vaping can be costly. I'd love to read about the ways people have found to stretch their dollar.

I just started to inventory all of the e-Liquid I've bought. There are several flavors I've lost interest in. They're not really bad, just not great. I've been blending them in small samples with more desirable flavors and coming up with some good results. Have you come up with any tricks like that? Would a 49 cent drip tip be just as good as one for $3?

Transluscent Drip Tip, Smoke

I've said it before :
Buy quality equipment
Read the manuals , understand
Maintain.

It essentially boils down to research before investment in this thread .

 

[AttyPops]

....

I am a long time cheapskate...my daughters always say "Mom will squeeze a nickle till the buffalo poops"

Nickel? That's for you rich people. Here, we squeeze a penny twice, just to hear Lincoln scream.

@OP: DIY e-juice is the biggest savings I know of. Also removable battery mods where you can swap the battery out rather than buying an entirely new PV. Also recoiling as mentioned above.

 

[KjAthena]

BTW never attempt to bring up vapeing on a Frugal forum...they come after you with with virtual pitchforks....I found out the hard way

 

[JRudey]

I've said it before :
Buy quality equipment
Read the manuals , understand
Maintain.

No doubt, buying quality equipment is frugal if you can afford it and hang on to it. Unfortunately, not everyone has the upfront cash available. Also, there is the risk of loss. You might drop it on pavement, it might get stolen or you might simply misplace it. It sounds like you know how to care of the equipment well.

I've gone a different direction. I've purchased several inexpensive eGo batteries. All of them are simple. None have a LCD screen or any other bells and whistles. I've focused on redundancy. My wife and I always have a charged battery there when we need it. If she forgets her PV at work there is no issue. If one goes missing, it's not a problem. We have spares.

 

[Iffy]

OK, I've found my vaping niche and even DIY. But not everyone is ready to mix their own joose.

Therefore my biggest $uggestion is to only buy ONE, at da most TWO, of what tickles your expectations! Otherwise, it will take ya a lot loooonger to realize what satisfies your vaping needs and then try to brag 'bout monie$ $aved.

Some/many folk will buy a half dozen of a 'gotta have'/'latest & greatest' and then spend all too many efforts and much time to justify their purcha$es. Don't ask...

Really, today's vaping environment/supplies are NOT rocket surgery nor brain science. Just don't over think/anticipate beyond what got ya to da grand dance 'smoke free'!

 

[AttyPops]

BTW never attempt to bring up vapeing on a Frugal forum...they come after you with with virtual pitchforks....I found out the hard way

Those are only the non-vapers. Get used to it. Most are probably ANTZ.

 

[AttyPops]

No doubt, buying quality equipment is frugal if you can afford it and hang on to it. Unfortunately, not everyone has the upfront cash available. Also, there is the risk of loss. You might drop it on pavement, it might get stolen or you might simply misplace it. It sounds like you know how to care of the equipment well.

I've gone a different direction. I've purchased several inexpensive eGo batteries. All of them are simple. None have a LCD screen or any other bells and whistles. I've focused on redundancy. My wife and I always have a charged battery there when we need it. If she forgets her PV at work there is no issue. If one goes missing, it's not a problem. We have spares.

THAT is the other way. You can buy 10 or more inexpensive mods for the price of one "high end" mod that may be out of date in two years. The Mechs don't really go out of date (until new smaller battery tech hits) but they don't have features like VV or VW.

I'm in the..."If I lose it no big deal...it was $18.00 for a 15 watt VV" camp. Some mechs are inexpensive too.

(Pinch, pinch. Also low cash flow right now.)

 

[swampman]

When get interested in something i feel like i NEED to know exactly how everything works inside and out..That often leads me to DIY after i become educated enough. I like to do things that way to save money but also because its fun to me.

I fully plan to make my own juice and build my own coils and wicks after i study up on it more,im only 2 weeks in and loving it.. The desire to quit smoking and looking at all of the cool DIY mods is what attracted me to vaping to begin with...I stay for the flavor though

 

[bluecat]

FOr me it is simple.

I make my own juice for every juice except my morning vape (a menthol from myfreedomsmokes.com) that I vape all of about 10 minutes a day. A 15 ML bottle of that lasts me MONTHS.

I rebuild/recoil my protank, CE5, and vivi heads.

A carto in a tank will last me a month (nothing special just boge).

When at home I pretty much drip on a RBD (cheap IGO-L or Octopus). Once again self coiled.

I have a VERY strict vape budget. Most months I do not spend more than $35 with a top end of $50.

On the drip tips I tend to use metal ones so my juices do not melt or crack them. Bigger investment up front but less replacing later.

That is my self imposed vape budget as well. 35-50. I have a feeling the month of november will be zero or I may stock up on some nic base, although I have a 6 month supply now.

I tried cotton yarn. Gonna have to re think it. Man, that is cheap wicking though. Just not sure if I like the taste, but is easy to re wick.

 

[bluecat]

I am relatively new to vapeing, I dont recoil, I buy boutique juices I love, I have egos/protanks/a second hand homemade mechanical mod and am part of a co-op for a shiny new VTR. I am still spending less than smokes would have cost me. Now that I have my equipment, the cost for consumables (juice,coils, a battery even once a month) will cost me well under $2 a day. My eyes don't work well for small work so I dont know that I will ever recoil, but someday I may decide to try some simple flavors DIY to save a bit more

I am a long time cheapskate...my daughters always say "Mom will squeeze a nickle till the buffalo poops"

I gotta say i can't see when i recoil the wick. First one was 1.8. The next 10 2.4 which is good for me. It isnt a work of art but looks okay under a magnifying glass. Yarn for 2 bucks 100 feet of kanthal for 6 bucks.. too cheap for me not to try. Yes I am cheapo in vaping. I like to spend it on the wife and kids...

 

[bluecat]

BTW never attempt to bring up vapeing on a Frugal forum...they come after you with with virtual pitchforks....I found out the hard way

Same. I'll take my 36 dollar svd and my 6 dollar top coils any day. It looks better than the p word. That thing is ugly. The only thing I would drop any serious cash on is an otto carver.

 

[JRudey]

Therefore my biggest $uggestion is to only buy ONE, at da most TWO, of what tickles your expectations! Otherwise, it will take ya a lot loooonger to realize what satisfies your vaping needs and then try to brag 'bout monie$ $aved.

Therein lies the rub. If only it was that easy. Finding that favorite e-Liquid is a quest. I thought I found the Holy Grail a few times only to grow tired of it. My wife's favorite right now is Mojito. My favorite is Azure Vaping's Smooth. We have plenty of both on hand. But, there are times we need a break from that taste. So, we blend flavors to try to find a balance. I've added Belgian Waffle with Smooth and come up with something pretty nice.

Sure, I'm trying to justify the money I spent in my head. I'm also trying to avoid waste.

 

[KjAthena]

I like to switch flavors 4 or 5 times a day...it did take a bit of trial and error and some horrid juices my cheapskate self had bought( I only dumped one REALLY bad bottle made myself vape the rest)...but now I have a couple of favorite vendors that make yummies for my vape and keep to 1/4 of what smokes would cost me.....I am still in the stockpiling phase but soon will be cutting that down too...approaching 200 ml on hand

and yes Virtual pitchforks hurt my virtual bottom...havent been back to a longtime forum for a couple of weeks