Normal is relative. Some of us are lucky to find our sweet spot fairly quickly. For me it was one very small battery express kit, $20, from there a full sized 510 kit with all the stuff, smart pack and everything, $80. Then a single battery mega 510 manaul $13. From there the LT kit $100. So I've spent about $213 in just the hardware. Then the juice delivery devices, I'd estimate around $50 in an assortment of clearos, cartos, attys, and drip tips. Juice, I go through about 100ml a month, so around $40 a month in juice.
You've just got to find the equipment that works best for you. That can take time and money. You can always sell some of your old gear in the classifieds here. But once you get your equipment figured out, and find juices you really like, the cost drops significantly. Right now you're probably still trying to find juices you like too. Once you get that all settled, and the new toy syndrome wears off
P) your costs will level out.
I'm over all that, I just recently got my LT, and that's it for me. Works great, all I could really want. I also, generally, know what I like in an eliquid. So I spend about $40 a month in liquid, maybe another $10-$20 a month in attys and clearos....though, some months I spend nothing at all, really just depends on when they decide to die. Clearos can be cleaned and reused pretty easily until they crack (or the heating element dies). So I'd say my max total cost for the month is around $60.
I used to smoke a pack a day. In my neck of the woods, that's $5 and some odd cents for a cheap pack of cigs, $6+ for anything decent (subjectively...I'm not sure any cigarette is really decent lol). So $6 every single day works out to about $180 a month for cigs. That's just the cost of the cigs, I had to buy lighters too, which I lost all the freakin' time, so another $10 for that. Then I needed gum and body spray to smell....alright I guess, I still smelled bad, but it made me feel better. Another $20 a month (mostly for the body spray, gum isn't expensive lol). So that's a cost of $210 a month to smoke. The measly $60 a month for my vaping habit is less than 1/3 the cost of smoking for me.
Then of course, you have to think of your health. Down the road, that smoking habit is going to cost a whole lot more in health care, especially if you don't have insurance. And there are indirect costs of smoking too. Cigarette burns in your car make it worth less, so does the smell. A potential employer might pass on someone who smells like cigs. Do you take any cough drops now to deal with that cig cough? Smoking in your car and home does pose a fire hazard if you don't pay attention, if you have an accident you'll be out a lot of money too.
