So how much did it *really* cost you to get going with this?

[erich]

This thread is for vapers at any stage that would like to share similar stories. I know a lot of people have their banners that track days smoke free, and that's great! Kudos for what we're all trying to achieve here: replacing that unpleasant, expensive habit that is the use of analogs with vaping. However, I have to laugh at the portion of those banners that lists the dollars saved on analogs. I think, "What are they? Nuts?!" The entry to vaping, at least for me, led me down a path of: read stuff. buy. read more stuff. buy. remember something I read the other day. go back and buy. My dark, ulterior motive for starting this thread is to see where I sit on the scale of crazy "new hobby mania". Also, I'm sure there are some interesting stories out there.

So, I'm about 2 months in. Haven't even had time to think about analogs. I've tried them all...
808D1 with carto, 510 with carto, with drip attys, attys with foam cart, attys with tank cart, then stepped up to ego-T, type A tanks & type B tanks, LR & SR of both. As much as I really wanted to love the tank system, it's just so hard to draw air through to get a good drag, so I went back to carto shopping. LR carts. dual coil carts. XL carts. XL mega momma said knock you out carts... the works. Oh, and juice. PG, VG, PG/VG, fruit, mint, tobacco, coffees, blah blah blah about 100 different ones from a dozen or so suppliers.

So now, here I sit in a pile of wreckage rivaled only by a house full of kids who manage to tear into Christmas before the parents wake up, and I have the cartos I like on the battery I like, with a tank setup that works with the cartos I like while at home. I have a daily vape juice and a handful of more-type novelty juices that I expect to replenish when they run dry. If I had to replace my comfortable set, including batteries, chargers, juice, my preferred carto, etc. all with appropriate backups: Maybe $300, depending on the quantities of consumables (juice, carts). Grand total of my foray into trying every damn thing that looked interesting for a second: around $1100. Not peanuts but not negligible either. Effectively I "wasted" somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 on stuff I'll likely never use again, and another $300 or on stuff that I could use, but probably won't because I've found better.

I had a time frame when I started this little hobby at the end of which I wanted by completion to have a setup with which I was comfortable by near-end of Sept. when I'm leaving the country for a few weeks. For personal reasons, I needed to be analog free for those weeks, and access to a power outlet will be daily but oft sparse, so I really wanted to get my comfy carryall together with the setup that I really wanted.


So fellow vapers, what were your first few months like? Any big "aha!" moments in there that made you regret some barely unwrapped gear for which you waited so patiently the week before?

 

[jj2]

MY first months were dictated by the panic of an FDA ban. I stocked up on hardware big time.Then the new stuff came out and Judge Leon pretty much told the FDA where to stuff it.
Tried some of the new stuff and like it better and ended up donating most of the stash to a good cause (good tax write off if nothing else), a proceeded forward.
Still got the mentality of stashing so I got about 60+ Clearos in a drawer and got about 30 I'm using. Yep a bunch of money spent but I haven't spent much in the last few months and don't plan on spending but a little here and there for hardware.
Nic to mix liquid I'm probably good for a couple of years.
All in all, I'm money ahead.

 

[erich]

Nice, yeah, that's pretty much where I'll be... in another 6 months if I buy nothing from here to there. Saying that it's cheaper to vape isn't lying, it's just that if you're not extremely lucky to just love your first setup, there is a lot of experimentation to do.

 

[Ande]

Okay- I don't have a "money saved" banner, and I won't be getting one any time soon. I've lived outside the US (my country of origin) for most of my adult life. And lots of places, the cigs are still cheap.

As a smoker, I spent anywhere from $10 (yes TEN) to maybe $75 a month on a habit that hovered around a pack a day for nearly 20 years.

As a vaper for six months- I have spent probably:

$250 on starter kits.

$100 on more batteries, atties, carts, and associated nonsense.

$100 or so on other toys. (pass throughs, cartomizers I wanted to try, vaping toys.)

$200 or so on juice. (But won't be buying more for a while- I have a nice stock.)

Probably some more dough spent on stuff I've forgotten.

Plus shipping.

Oh, and more juice.

All in all, I've probably doubled what I was spending on analogs. And not yet finished- I need a good mod.

But yesterday when I went jogging, I didn't feel really winded till the 9 mile mark.

Money well spent, imo.

Ande

 

[Dicot]

I definitely caught the new hobby mania during the first 3 months as well!

When I first started back in april I wasn't sure if this e-cig was going to do it for me so I came in with the mindset of not investing too much money. I did a lot of research on here and made a decision to jump in with an eGo starter kit and a few juices from LF and a sample pack of juice from Bluemist. That way if I decided this was a waste of my time I would break even in 2.5 weeks.

Well it turned out I absolutely loved vaping, and like you said I quickly fell into the buy, buy, buy frenzy. Nearly 20 weeks later here I sit still about $175 in the hole. Most of the money I spent on juice, I guess I got lucky as far as gear goes. I still use my eGo the most, despite my newer purchases of a 14650 e-power and 2 diy box mods. But as the saying goes... backups, backups, backups! So I don't consider those money wasted.

When it comes to juice though, I've wasted a considerable amount of money on juice I hated from the get go or juice I used to like but now hate. I bought a couple of 30 ml bottles early on in this adventure that I loved at the time, but when they got here I had already found better juice. I've maybe used 2 ml out of each of those 30's and just have no desire to vape them anymore. Oh well...

Lately I've stopped buying juice until I use up some of this 400mls I have sitting around. The plan is to hold steady until I finally break even in 6 weeks and then I'm free to buy again. And buy again I will...

 

[THEDert]

If I count all the crap start up brands and monthly rip offs....I spent around $600 before I spent the $60 for a ego starter kit and some $8 juice =) I got lucky with the juice, as my buddy already found SV =)

 

[Sinlak]

So far..300$ on Reo's, 50$ on kgo kit, 200$ on attys/cartos, prolly 120$ on juice and another 100$ on a Prodigy that im waiting for..and I am now flat as* broke...Im obsessed

edit: forgot to mention, been vaping only 3 weeks..

 

[Happiemeals]

Started vaping 3 weeks ago on a basic Ego-T. It's working pretty well, guess I was one of the lucky ones with a non-leaky Type A and a battery that can last 3 days (am going at it about half a pack a day equiv).

I'll probably sit on this set another month or so before shelling out on a different atty, bigger battery, or maybe both. $80 in 3 weeks? Might balloon to $400 in 2 months if I printed money, though.

 

[erich]

But as the saying goes... backups, backups, backups! So I don't consider those money wasted.

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not going back to a micro ecigs... and I have tons of those batts and accessories. I keep a few around for when my smoker friends ask what it's like so I can break out the thing that looks just like a cig and hand it to them loaded with myBoro. I also have tons of quite functional cartos and tankomizers that just lost their shine when I found something better. Still have a theory that the tank type b will be nice to have when going out for a long time with nowhere to refill. Football game or something.

 

[erich]

If I count all the crap start up brands and monthly rip offs....I spent around $600 before I spent the $60 for a ego starter kit and some $8 juice =) I got lucky with the juice, as my buddy already found SV =)

Yeah, double edged sword, there. I think unfortunately most of the hits you get on the web before you know what terms to look for will drive you to one of these retailers that must be quite aware that their primary business model is selling everyone's first, quickly discarded startup kit. However, had one of them not made enough money to advertise on tv, I'm not sure when I would have heard about it. I think it was blu that ran an ad that sent me digging on the internet.

 

[erich]

Started vaping 3 weeks ago on a basic Ego-T. It's working pretty well, guess I was one of the lucky ones with a non-leaky Type A and a battery that can last 3 days (am going at it about half a pack a day equiv).

I'll probably sit on this set another month or so before shelling out on a different atty, bigger battery, or maybe both. $80 in 3 weeks? Might balloon to $400 in 2 months if I printed money, though.

I know opinions are like certain body parts, but as much as I wanted to love the tanks, I just couldn't get over how little airflow there was... like trying to drink through a stirrer straw. After all this what I've found is to drop a dual coil 1.5-ohm cartomizer on that ego and I'm pretty content.

Last guy to respond to me here gave me this link as a great price on them: Smok Tech Dual coil Mega 510 Cartomizers LR 1.5 Ohm, 5 Pack - E Cig : Joye eGo & eGo-T | Boge Leo | Cartomizers | E-Liquid | Electronic Cigarette | eGo Tank

 

[Incognito™]

$40 for my first kit (gas station crap)
$43 for my eGo kit (which I love)
$23 for my first bottle of juice

So the total to get me started was: $106

After that, its probably averaging about $10 per month for juice and attys.

Cigarettes (at $6 per pack per day) was costing about $180 per month (and thats not even counting my ol lady who also made the switch).

The difference is like night and day.

 

[Wingapo]

I've had a bit of bad luck from the get go. I dropped my first KR808 which was part of a rather expensive kit, luckily over time that battery just sort of fixed itself. Problem is it sent me into a frenzy. I was determined to quit smoking and vaping was my best shot at achieving that goal. So I sucked it up and raided the emergency fund like a crazed lunatic. Got a few more KR808 batteries from various companies, about half worked and of course when you consider shipping it was just to expensive to send them back. I looked into mods and found one that was praised by a couple people in similar outdoorsy occupations and went with it. Of course as it turns out that mod was supposed to be a standard 510 connection only after trying over 30 different kinds of 510's did I find one 510 to 510 connector that would allow me to use a standard 510 atty or carto on it. I was going to return this particular mod when another mod I ordered arrived. To bad for me that one didn't work at all, so I sent it back instead. Searched for another mod, chose one that people raved over, it arrived and of course didn't work and got sent back. Now the first mod that was supposed to be sent back ended up being my most trusted piece of gear even though it didn't work right from the get go. Ordered another mod, VV this time, got all excited, packed up first mod to send back, this was when highly regarded VV mod tried to kill me, so unpacked first mod to find that now the switch was dead so it was useless. Oh, and I picked up an ego with an order for clearos which has now become a custom of mine whenever I need something else buy another ecig, PV, mod of some kind just in case it might actually work and not because I really want it. Thankfully that ego works! I can't taste diddly of any of my juices with it but it works! Knowing my extremely bad luck I ordered a few of the most highly endorsed mods around here after talking with many many owners and reading and viewing every video review multiple times: REO Mini, 2 GLV's one off the classies because I had to have a mod that supposedly works NOW, Precise 16340, and yet another potentially scary to me VV, a Provari. The REO arrived about a week ago and I have to say it is the first e-cig or mod that does what it is supposed to do, IT WORKS! If anything goes wrong with it I can fix it myself in some way with what I have on hand. One GLV arrived this morning along with the Provari in a week I'll be able to say if they look to be any good or if I got more duds. Like many others I'm still waiting on the Precise 16340 but I have a feeling that a full mechanical mod will end up being the only way to go for me. I don't sit in an office all day and I don't care to adjust my habits to suit the eccentricities of my equipment. In fact it's supposed to be the other way around If I'm paying disgustingly large amounts of money for something it better work for what I need it to do and that is get my nicotine impregnated juices into my lounges in a flavorful fashion repeatedly for years on end. I don't mind purchasing the consumables like batteries and DIY stuff for juices and attys and cartos but I do get really upset that gear that supposedly works for others usually takes one look at me and refuses to do what it is supposed to do.

Money-wise let's just say it would have been a lot cheaper to stick with smoking cigarettes until I either magically quit or died as a result. Right now I'm scared senseless because I'm not sure yet if any of this stuff will work like it's supposed to and I am officially for the first time in my life flat busted broke and it's all due to trying to find one, just one, PV or mod that works for me. Like I said I've just received a few mods that on first inspection seem as if they may work the way they are supposed to but only time will tell if they actually do. Honestly for now, after what I've been through, I don't trust anything enough to go out with just one PV and I really hate carrying more weight than I have to as each gram adds up when you're out in the middle of nowhere where extra weight can literally kill you. At least the REO is looking like it may be a mod that will do what it is supposed to for a decent amount of time. And at first glance the GLV may just work out. The Provari stays at home and will be my what should I use with what check this combo out mod. I am really excited to try the Precise 16340 as someone in my state who does similar things as I do swears by his. If any of these new mods work out the way they should then I'm buying a truckload of them just in case and I'll be done with the search for newer better stuff. When I smoked I had my cheap brand and a bic and they worked. All I'm asking is that somewhere out there please let there be a PV atty/carto/tank combo that works for me and will continue to do so.

I don't intend to abuse my gear but it will happen. I will drop it. It will get banged. It will get wet at some point. It will sit in the heat. Why, because I"m out doing what I need to do and it is my gears job to be able to handle those rare times when I am accidental, careless or forgetful.

Sorry for the rant but you asked and the cost is far more than every dollar in my bank account. At this point it is the very edge of my own sanity that is at stake.

 

[mistinthewoods]

I started with an ecig so crappy that my first step up was to a DSE-901 which I got just two days after I started. I was mixing my own juice within a few weeks and had built my first box mod six weeks after I started vaping so I was practicing vaping frugality right off the bat.
When I did my taxes last February I added up all of my vaping receipts (yeah, I saved everything vaping related in a little box) and found that I spent $2,100.00 less on vaping than I would have spent in that time on my Benson & Hedges.
I have a handfull of mods that I bought but considering that I spend very little on my juice and cartos I could afford a nice new mod every month for the $250.00 a month I used to spend on the stinkies.

 

[x-smok3]

I have not done too bad on cost. I have been vaping for 3 months and have spent in the neighborhood of $400. $90 of which was on mini's that I did not like. I don't count these as a loss as I have given both the starter kits away and converted 2 others to vaping with them. I found the Riva 1100Mah and have been happy with that and while I look at the mods on ECF I have no real desire for one. I am experimenting with Boge cartos, DCC, and CE2 fluxomizers trying to decide which I like best but that is not too expensive as I buy 5 or 10 at a time.
My biggest expense has been finding liquids. I have tried many vendors only to find that I have simple tastes and like tobacco liquids the best. I kind of bought into the hype with some of the more popular companies and find they are all OK but not for me. My favorite vendors for flavor have also turned out to be the least expensive and most flexible for mix and content. ECblends is my favorite. Now that I am getting dialed in on my likes my expense has dropped dramatically. I have only saved about $50 over analogs (150 a month habit) but I am seeing the savings catching up to the expense now.

 

[THJahar]

1.5 Months:
Ego-T Starter Kit: £40
Megaladon Kit: £130
Sky Mods Cutlass: £120
Atomisers/Arry Tanks/Repairable atty: £100
Juices: £150
Total = £540 or $882 (My smoking cost me about £200/$326 a month.)

If asked by a stranger if I'd be willing to pay $882 dollars to completely stop smoking (after 25 years) guaranteed, would I pay it?

I'd say YES....YES.....OH HELL YES!

 

[Spazmelda]

I posted this on a thread last night, but I'll post again here. I don't feel so bad after reading some of the other posts, lol!

~$50- drug store kit and cartos
$84- Go-go kit, cartos, and whistle tips
$15- 10 extra empty cartos for the drug store kit
$18- set of juices from classified section here
$29- Vapor God juices
$18- more Vapor God juices
$13- nic from Box Elder
$10- juices from honeyville
$30- Lorann flavorings from a local cake shop
$12- quart of PG from Home Essentials

So, about $280 so far.

I'm very happy with my go-go, and I should be set on juices and DIY stuff for quite a while now, so if I can cool the spending I will actually be breaking even in about 1 month (contrary to what my banner down there says).

 

[wizard10000]

Almost two months in and two people vaping - about $450 but there's two no-longer-used starter kits and 150ml of juice in the drawer

The spousal unit says she's all set - I want a couple of 1100mAh KGO batteries and *I'll* be all set. If I planned to make vaping a hobby I'd buy a Darwin and be done with it - but the plan is to wean myself off these things.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

My fiance and I started off completely wrong when we decided to switch. We bought Green Smoke kits for $360, loved them for about a week and then hated them. I joined ECF and decided to get a refund for the GS, bought Riva kits and haven't looked back. I think I went completely bonkers in the first 3 or 4 months of vaping; bought eGo 900mAh batts and tried all the "latest, greatest cartos", started doing DIY and bought my first mod. I must have spent around $500 in around 4 months. Still, that a considerable savings over what we would've spent on cigarettes.

The spending has slowed down to around $40-60 per month, if that.

 

[Nomoreash]

I was lucky and came across ECF before I bought and purchased a Riva Kit which I still use on occasion. I did purchase a disposable 510 for $9 before that just to check things out and still use the atty from it when trying new juices. Probably spent $50 on juice the first month trying different ones so my first months cost was right at $100 which has dropped considerably since then.