getting into DIY

[VNeil]

I just spent 66 at wizard labs...got a bunch of test size flavors... only got 120ml of 48mg Nic. Vg base. Then 250ml of vg and pg. Plus syringes and a few empty bottles.... probably got like 12 flavors to try lol I'm a bit leery about working with anything stronger for Nic as I have two young kids at home with me.even though I went to college for chemistry and I am well aware of safe and proper handling I would rather not take the chance... Plus only going to be mixing 8, 6 or 3.... maybe up to 10 for stealth vaping at work lol so should still last a while... once I get a couple batches made and I'm sure that I will continue doing it then I will buy by the gallon lol thanks for the info

I found pg/vg to be relatively expensive when shipping is factored in. Shelf life is not an issue, nor safety. Your 250ml pg and vg is only a month supply for you, and you have your fiancé too. When you rip through that 250ml you'll be ready for gallons .
If you have Amazon prime you can get pg/vg with free prime shipping for $13/qt or liter which is not bad. The gallon deal here is better and what I will do when I go through the last liter of vg I ever buy. Nothing wrong with sticking your toe in the water for your first DIY. Just showing the path to lowest cost.

 

[Jayrell]

I found pg/vg to be relatively expensive when shipping is factored in. Shelf life is not an issue, nor safety. Your 250ml pg and vg is only a month supply for you, and you have your fiancé too. When you rip through that 250ml you'll be ready for gallons .
If you have Amazon prime you can get pg/vg with free prime shipping for $13/qt or liter which is not bad. The gallon deal here is better and what I will do when I go through the last liter of vg I ever buy. Nothing wrong with sticking your toe in the water for your first DIY. Just showing the path to lowest cost.

Thanks much appreciated! I was only going to spend 50 at first but shipping was almost 11 dollars but any order over 65 was free shipping so I kept adding lol... not a prime member, not sure if paying 10 bucks a month is worth it when I don't do a lot of Amazon shopping online.... but I did get some stuff from them too as I'm going to be rebuilding from now on also lol I'm starting multiple projects lol I'm the long run though it will save us a ton and after this batch I'm sure we will be springing for those gallon jugs lol
Thanks again for your input

 

[sketchness]

After I got all my base and nic purchased I am free to spend what I want on flavors. I am contrary to most. I say go wild on flavors. For about 100 you can get enough vg and nic to last at least a year. You are going to mix some stuff that is wretched so you can't count on vaping every ml you purchase. For an idea of which flavors are the best take a look at bull city sort by brand and then best sellers. I haven't been disappointed by a top 10 flavor yet. Of course if you don't like a particular flavor it won't matter. For instance I don't like raspberry so it is all nasty to me.

I have a couple hundred flavors at this point and still want about 50 more.

 

[VNeil]

After I got all my base and nic purchased I am free to spend what I want on flavors. I am contrary to most. I say go wild on flavors...

You've made a hobby out of DIY. So did I. The OP wants to vape as economically as possible, and he is not going to do that "going wild with flavors" and that is the basis for my own comments. There is nothing wrong with making a hobby out of it.

If one's objective is to enter DIY as economically as possible, I'm not really sure how to go about the flavor aspect. After buying over 100 flavors, spending $600 on those flavors, and making 50-100 different recipes I know what I like, or at least what I would be satisfied with as ADVs. I don't know how I could have gone about this more economically. And that is worth a discussion in the context of the thread.

Following your suggestion, I looked at Bull City's TFA list, sorted by best sellers and yes, the top 10 are very close to my most used flavors. Only because I like Strawberry/Cream recipes the most. If I were more into tobacco flavor it would not work for me.

 

[VNeil]

Further thoughts... I think in terms of "theoretical cost" and "actual cost". The theoretical cost is the cost per ml based on price and quantity and the proportions in my own mixes. The actual cost is, well, how much I actually spend each month divided by how much I'm vaping.

I know my theoretical cost is around $0.035/ml.

I also know I was spending, on average, at least $100/mo just on flavors. And there seemed to be no end in sight. That doesn't count glassware, supplies, any juice base replacements I need. I vape about 300 ml/month. So I was actually spending about $0.30/ml just on flavors, and that works out to around $9/oz of juice. That is 10x the theoretical cost! I started DIY because I was spending $10/oz for commercial juice and I wanted to save money

Now I'm not suggesting I didn't have a lot of fun along the way- I did, and I'm glad I got into DIY. But when someone comes in here asking about DIY and people come back saying it costs pennies/ml I just shake my head and laugh because I know how theoretical that is

So I think you have to go into DIY with a plan. That plan may be to start a new hobby and have a blast making endless new juice creations. Or that plan may be to actually save real world money. If it's the latter, tread carefully and try not to get too wrapped up in the big recipe threads.