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

[wdave]

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. I've 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 acceptable. 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?

I don't know who you think you are speaking to. You can try all you want to come up with logic to justify your actions. But we smokers know that you just have an obsessive personality. Stop sitting around chain vaping. K.I.S.S. Go find something else to do with your life

 

[Spazmelda]

erich- Could you maybe try to sell some of your stuff that you don't like in the classifieds?

 

[hairball]

In first month:
3 Joye 510 kits. One kit came with a bunch of extras. $135.00
2 Ego kits $65.00
2 Riva kits $60.00
Juice $100

After that, I won't even go there. Read my signature which does not include all the mods that I sold over the past year.

 

[Wingapo]

Way to go Hairball! I have a feeling that I shall be joining your ranks very shortly.

 

[erich]

Haha, yeah, all of the various mods would be the next stage of obsession. I've been trying to avoid going there just yet.

 

[YKruss]

In 28 months I have spent about $1600.

Still have like 10 bottles of Dekang juice labeled "Exp. 06/24/2011" and have no problems using it.

So, based on my signature, my savings are $4,125 - $1,600 = $2,525

 

[JustaGuy]

Wasted the first $350 on "branded" junk and prefilled cartos, spent next $350 stocking up good equipment and juice. All set for half a year, or more. Now, it costs me about $1 a day, much less than cigs. All I wanted was a working solution to replace analogs, paid some tuition. As a hobby, which isn't for me, vaping can be a bottomless pit. Despite $100 price tags on mods, the variety of juice is what can be costly. I stopped as soon as I found "adequate" batts and juice.

 

[Creniker]

I probably spent about 300 to 500 on various mods, cartomizers, atomizers, juice. Now I spend 35 on 10 atomizers (about 3 months of atomizers assuming that 7 or 8 work really well) 80 on 500ml of juice (about 2 to 3 months depending on how I'm doing) so its not to bad. I still buy mods occasionally, but overall I'm starting to save money.

 

[Devonmoonshire]

Hmmmm, Lets see how much this thing says I have spent and saved???



That should be right around close ^^^^

Nate aka Darth Vapor

 

[Torqueguy]

I spent almost a grand on 3.7v, then i discovered 5v on a $12 dollar PT. Gave away all the 3.7v stuff at work and went 6v.

Thats amazing.

IKV Gold 24pg, running on a 6v P18 with SS dualcoils is the only thing that ever replaced my Reds. This is my all day vape for sure. When you go vv, you can dial down and drip pure VG on hv atomizers. I do this at home, watching TV, not practical at work although now that i have vapers at work, sometimes we swap juice in meetings. When you get into DIY, then you go bigtime. I dont do that although i do blend ikv with a little mango VG, or Bobas with Bushmills, ratio one drop to three drops (and a little on ice for poppa ,) Real easy, dip the digit and drop in the atty last.

Its a good ding we got here

 

[donnah]

Hmmm I paid $108 for a mall kit and quickly discovered that each cartridge was not equal to one pack of cigarettes. I started out by buying juice from totally wicked (very expensive!) to refill my own cartridges on my mall kit. Then I switched to a 510 kit from cignots (which was also expensive) and then got a pass through and an ego kit from cignots. more juice.. then I discovered box mods .. more attys from vaporkings.. discovered tasty vapor juice.. got into diy... discovered boge cartos.. then a vv bottom feeder. I wasn't a heavy smoker to begin with so I may have broken even by now after a year. It's been a great journey and well worth it!

 

[reprisal]

I've spent more on vaping than smoking, but vaping certainly can be done on the cheap.

 

[Strigoi]

I've probably dropped around $1,000 on vaping supplies since I started (over a year ago). I checked my history with Tasty Vapor and have spent over $500 just with them.

 

[thejohnnymac]

160 on starter kits. I bought 2 of the exact same kind a week apart from each other.
120 on different liquids
30 on various accessories.

Week four starts on next Saturday.. In my defense I haven't purchased anything since Monday...

 

[DebiMax]

Let's see, I started vaping in Nov of 2010...
Hydro Imperial starter kit.. 50$
15ml Hydroo juice... 30$
10 new cartos for it... 30$

Then I tried Blu... 70$

The bought a V4l Ultimate manual XL kit... 100$
Bought another 100$ worth of their juice...

Just got 2 new Bloog Batts and 10 of thier cartos... $50
All prices have been rounded up to count taxes/shipping.

Total spent... about 430$ over an eight month period. I was buying the cheapest nastiest filtered cigarillos for a buck a pack. I smoked a pack a day on average. So I haven't come out a head price wise (which was my original goal). Buuuut... I can vape around relatives that have allergies problems, I feel better and my house doesn't smell like a stale ashtray all the time. So I think it still counts as a win! Plus, when I use up my 18mg 30ml bottles I'm going to drop down to the next step and get some 16mg bottles! One step at a time, right?

 

[Puffadder]

Lets See (Almost afraid to do this)

Mall kit to start with extra juice - $140
510 pcc kit with more juice and cartos - $100
GLV2 sm via classifieds - $70
More juice and cartos / Ce2's - Appx $150

So about $450 - 500 in 3 months next week but have enough to get me through another 2-3 months so not too bad. Not saving much money though since analogs are still cheap in Belize. Until a few minutes ago I though I was good for a while but then I saw this sweet Reo mini, green with black door( E A G L E S) and may not be able to resit.

 

[guitarmeetsjake]

I've paid maybeee... $100 or so total since I started. But that was mostly because I wasted my first few bucks on overpriced starter kits that were awful and juices that were wayyy overpriced. If I cut that out of the equation, I've probably spent around $50. Too bad I can't cut it out of the equation, though. xD

 

[charmed412]

I don't know.......nor do I really want to know. I am a bit of a vape hoarder and very much a juice junkie and a mod ........so it is probably best I don't know......and especially best that my boyfriend doesn't know....

 

[zerominusone]

My first month, I spent around $73 and about $98 the second month. It's been leveling out since then at about $60/month. I was spending about $130/month on analongs so yeah, I'm saving money.

 

[Lambch3p]

I am just now starting to break-even with my vaping. I have many egos, many beautiful mods, many atty's, at least a couple of every carto made, 100's of juices and DIY supplies to last me a long time. I love to try the newest vaping gadgets, its fun to try new stuff. I have spent what I would have spent smoking on vaping. I am now slowing with my purchasing, I own everything I could want or need. I don't regret a single cent I have spent, it has been worth every penny. I have been cigarette free for almost 9 months now and it is amazing! I thought I would smoke until the day I died. Now I know it is possible for me to be smoke-free and that makes me happy. I don't regret any money I spent, not even a little because I'm worth it and my family's and my health is priceless!