My opinion on how to vape on a budget. (Especially if you were a smoker.)

[Signal30]

The following are my opinions on how to vape on a budget and actually be able to say that it's cheaper then when you used to smoke analogs.

1) A good mechanical mod. Keep it simple. A good quality mechanical mod with quality parts should last a indefinite amount of time. If you want a little control, look into getting a kicker. Variable voltage Mods have electrical boards can fry making the mod useless unless you have the skills to bypass the board and make it a mechanical Mod.

2) Good tanks. Whether you want to rebuild them or buy replacement coils, find a good tank that you can live with as well as a good online source to get replacement coils. Of course you can also learn how to rebuild them.

3)juice. When you smoked analogs you didn't have 20 different brands and flavors of packs of cigarettes. Pick the main juice you enjoy and if you want, buy a few others. Don't spend money on hundreds of bottles of juices.

4) Batteries. Find good and safe batteries and take care of them. Good rechargeables last longer if cared for.


Again, this is just my opinion. If you budget for vape toys, then God speed.

 

[shakeytails]

What's a budget?

 

[murphyramone]

Yes thats a good list for this week......what about next? haha

 

[Abe_Katz]

The best way to control your budget while vaping is making your own juice I've found. When I bought vendor juice I was paying 50¢ per mL. With all my home made juice (which in my view is as good as anything I can buy most of the time--because I work hard at perfecting my DIY) runs between 15¢ and 9¢ per mL. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I can make a fine 30ml bottle of a juice I really like for 3 bucks or I can buy the same for 15 bucks (a difference of 12 bucks)

As far as tanks (I prefer kanger's so need coils for them--but rebuilding is an option if your comfortable with that--I'm not yet) and cartos as back ups. But it works out to about 30 bucks a month which is about what I was spending on pipe tobacco when I smoked.

 

[minimalsaint]

The best way to control your budget while vaping is making your own juice I've found. When I bought vendor juice I was paying 50¢ per mL. With all my home made juice (which in my view is as good as anything I can buy most of the time--because I work hard at perfecting my DIY) runs between 15¢ and 9¢ per mL. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I can make a fine 30ml bottle of a juice I really like for 3 bucks or I can buy the same for 15 bucks (a difference of 12 bucks)

As far as tanks (I prefer kanger's so need coils for them--but rebuilding is an option if your comfortable with that--I'm not yet) and cartos as back ups. But it works out to about 30 bucks a month which is about what I was spending on pipe tobacco when I smoked.

DIY was one of the biggest savings I made, rebuildables being a close second.

 

[Butters78]

DIY juice and John Tesh CD's!

 

[soba1]

Is it really that easy to make your own juice?

 

[Ken_A]

I DIY my own juice and rebuild my Kangers. I do buy vendor juice to try out the flavors, but if I really like one, I try to replicate it. Here we are with the month almost over, and I have not spent any money on vaping so far. That is quite a LOT of savings.
Sticking to a budget was going to allow me to break even by June 2014. Now, if I buy that carto extender I've been meaning to and some more of a flavoring I ran out of, I will still break even in May 2014 instead.

A mech mod may or may not do it for you. Try going to actual stores and vape meets to find the best device for you. Once you have that, the rest comes much more easily.
It's nice to have the latest and greatest if you can afford it, but it's much better to have what works.
People talk about vaping nirvana, but the problem with nirvana is that it only lasts until something else comes along. Find your happy instead and it should last longer.

oh, and DIY juice is VERY easy. PG, VG, a safe nic base and flavoring. It's actually very hard to do it wrong. But you can if you try hard enough

 

[Abe_Katz]

Is it really that easy to make your own juice?

DIY E-Liquid

It can be as easy or as complex as you like. That said, juice consists of only a few ingredients two of which make up the bulk. PG and VG. Most flavors used in DIY and vendor juice is food flavorings in pg (may also contain alcohol and/or water).

 

[Rickajho]

Seriously, I've never viewed this as a competition, of sorts, to see how fast I could spend as much - if not more - on vaping as I did on smoking. I'm not being quite as ascetic as the OP suggests, but I'm still only spending 1/3 of what I used to for smoking. And I have shiny pretty things to show for it too! It isn't hard to actually save money when you switch to vaping. Compared to smoking - very budget friendly - if you bother.

 

[Micgyver]

Is it really that easy to make your own juice?

Yep nothing to it. You need a few basic supplies for measuring (pipettes, a syringe or two of different sizes, blunt needles (I like 14guage), and I like to use a graduated cylinder. Don't forget safety equipment. Then flavor concentrates, PG,VG and of course Nicotine. Get a Juice calculator from the internet ("E-juice me up" is a good one) and have fun. Costs should run 7-9 cents per ml when you are done buying hardware. Plenty of videos on Utube to show you how.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[Knittinglady]

3)Juice. When you smoked analogs you didn't have 20 different brands and flavors of packs of cigarettes. Pick the main juice you enjoy and if you want, buy a few others. Don't spend money on hundreds of bottles of juices.

This, is my best advice too.

 

[cocacola31173]

I have seriously tried to just narrow it down to a few flavors a month but I can't! I get bored! I know its crazy cause I smoked the same brand for 20 years with no problem but vaping is a whole different world. Too many flavors do narrow it down to just a few.

I guess if I was looking to quit vaping I would just pick one and thats it but I don't wanta quit.

 

[BlueMoods]

DIY and rebuilding are the best money saves but, even if you are not going to do that, if you shop around, you can do it for around 200.00 USD per year, if you want to order in bulk, use an inexpensive device, like and ego and, don't go for a big variety of flavors (2 at most if going bulk.)

On average the cheapest analogs (not roll your own) with taxes and all run 40.00 per carton and an average of one carton a week so that would be 2080.00 USD 10 times what vaping CAN cost - you decide what you want to do.

 

[Spazmelda]

DIY has been a huge money saver for me. Takes an upfront investment of money and a little time. Once you get some experience, you can start ordering some components in bulk and save a lot. It is definitely not difficult. Kind of like cooking really. The main thing you have to be careful of is the calculations, and there are calculators to help. If you feel nervous about the calculations, you can always ask for a double check of your numbers on the DIY board, and people will be delighted to help. My juice comes out at pennies/ml, and it's good!

I just learned how to rebuild a protank coil, and I've got an aga waiting to be tinkered with. Just rebuilding the protank coils I can see will be a money saver. Maybe not as much as juice. I like fresh coils, and I had been using cartomizers. I bought cartos in bulk, but still about $1 each. With my love of fresh coils, I'd use a new carto every few days. So, maybe $3/week, not too bad for the cartos, but rebuilding can be cheaper. With a ~$30 investment in wire and silica wick, I can see how rebuilding will be a money saver as well. I got 100 ft of 32 gauge kanthal for about $6. if i use 4" for each coil, that works out to less than 2 cents per coil. The silica wick contributes more to the cost, but it's not bad. Using cotton would be cheaper, but you can't dry burn those as easily. Plus, the DIY coils in the protank are very nice to vape on.

With this money saving stuff, there seems to always be an initial investment. From there you can go on to saving money, or you can spend as much as you want and make it a hobby. Whatever floats your boat, and your bank account. And whatever fiddle level you want. Some people like to tinker and play, others just want to vape.

 

[MrSelf Destruct]

I figured out how much I spent on smoking in a month. I then cut that in half and use that for my vaping budget (after getting initial gear etc). That way I get my nicotine fix and also save some money I wouldn't normally be saving.

 

[Signal30]

I found that I get sick of one flavor rather quickly. That's why when I found a flavor I liked and didn't get sick of, I stayed with it.

 

[thinkingaboutit]

DIY and rebuilding are the best money saves but, even if you are not going to do that, if you shop around, you can do it for around 200.00 USD per year, if you want to order in bulk, use an inexpensive device, like and ego and, don't go for a big variety of flavors (2 at most if going bulk.)

On average the cheapest analogs (not roll your own) with taxes and all run 40.00 per carton and an average of one carton a week so that would be 2080.00 USD 10 times what vaping CAN cost - you decide what you want to do.

You'd be hard pressed to get a carton of name brand under $70 around here.

I have more than enough DIY supplies for juice to go the next year. If I didn't want to spend anything, I could EASILY vape for the next year for the cost of a replacement battery or two and some coil material or even pre made coils. If I tossed an evod or nova coil each week for $2 I'd spend as much vaping for two weeks as a day of smoking would cost.

 

[SpinDr480]

I have found it really hard to budget myself, because I have been wanting to jump into all aspects of vaping since I started. First it was trying out different tanks/clearos, then trying out different batteries, then trying out different juices, then getting into rebuilds and trying out different wicks/coil combos, then getting in to DIY.

I have spent way more than what I would if I was smoking, however I have invested so much that it is actually a good deterrent from going back to smoking. If I ever get a craving, I just remind myself I have spent way to much to give this up and go back to smoking.

In any event, the good news is that I have narrowed my search and costs in my initial obsession to try everything.

I have found my battery of choice: Vamo V2
I have found my clearo/tank of choice: ProTank and Evod
I have found how to rebuild: square braided cotton wick over 32G Kanthal Wire
I have found two vender juices I as ADV: Chai Tea & RY4

Now my costs are into DIY. It is easy to get started, but there is an initial investment especially if you want to have a good stock of flavors on hand to test. Plus, it may be easy to get started but I haven't found it easy to perfect. It could take some time to find the perfect batch to vape. However, it is cheaper than going online and trying juices from venders. So I'm happy, but I do need to take it easy on buying stuff for a while.

 

[HughDaHand]

You can really vape on the cheap if you put a little effort into it. I do DIY for most of my liquids, with a larger order of supplies from wizardlabs I put the price of my liquid at $0.05 per ML. If I average 5mL a day for a year that puts my juice cost at $91.25 a year. That is a tiny budget on juice.

Lets say that I wear out 2 ego twist a year that is another $50 for a year on battery's. Lets throw in a new charger every year just incase things go bad. So lets say $60 for a year of battery's and chargers.

I rebuild my evod heads for pennies. Lets say I go through 100 ft of 32 ga kanthal a year at $6. I use cotton balls I get at the dollar store for wicks and they work better than silica IMHO. $7 a year on rebuildable supplies, these will probably last me well over a year in at the pace I have been using them. I'll also add in 5 boxes of 5 evod coils as the grommets will wear out after many rebuilds. That is another $30 in new heads. I will also throw in 2 new evods a year in case you break some, add another $12. making the total here for delivery devices at $49.

This puts a total for a year at roughly $200 for a year of supplies. You will need a little extra at the start for measuring equipment and things like that but that is still vaping on the cheap. At $6.50 a pack on cigs and my PAD habit I would have spent $2372.50 in that time just on the cigs. Yeah vaping can be done cheap as hell if you really try.