Switch to vaping, they said...

[RainSong]

You'll save money, they said...

I don't know about anyone else, but I've certainly spent more on vaping than I've saved from smoking! So many things to try! I'm completely addicted to stalking my mailbox for vapemail... I'm hoping now that I have some of the basics, a decent mod and a backup, a few batteries and tanks, external battery charger, DIY stuff I can back off for a little while until I need more DIY ingredients. Next up in the learning lineup, building coils. Hopefully my amounts saved from smoking will catch up or surpass what I've spent on vape gear. I neeeeeed to experiment with more tanks though.

The struggle is real.

You know what though? I can breathe and don't smell like an ashtray. Can I really put a price on that?

Vape On!

 

[VapJak]

Eventually you realise most of the new stuff, is just a re-run of the previous new stuff !!!!
You then find what works for you, and the buying everything slows and then stops
Then sometimes you'll be lulled back into getting new juice to find out it is not any better
In the end from 30/day - I'm now saving !!!!!

 

[RainSong]

Eventually you realise most of the new stuff, is just a re-run of the previous new stuff !!!!
You then find what works for you, and the buying everything slows and then stops
Then sometimes you'll be lulled back into getting new juice to find out it is not any better
In the end from 30/day - I'm now saving !!!!!

Oh, I'm not too worried about being tempted to buy juice. Most of the commercial stuff I've tried is too sweet or too high of a flavor percentage. I like unflavored to lightly flavored, 12-15% max. Trying new tanks is where my wallet is itching now but I have a lot more reading and learning to do before I go overboard there. Building up the flavor collection is killing me now, along with starting the nic stockpile. I have a tiny apartment freezer though, so my stock up capabilities are (unfortunately) limited.

 

[sonicbomb]

Like you said, you can't put a price on not dying.
Vaping became a hobby and not just smoking cessation a number of years ago for me. It takes time to feel out what setup works for you, and this usually means buying some gear until you find it. Consider getting an RDA, they can't be beaten for flavor and performance.

 

[Two_Bears]

Oh, I'm not too worried about being tempted to buy juice. Most of the commercial stuff I've tried is too sweet or too high of a flavor percentage. I like unflavored to lightly flavored, 12-15% max. Trying new tanks is where my wallet is itching now but I have a lot more reading and learning to do before I go overboard there. Building up the flavor collection is killing me now, along with starting the nic stockpile. I have a tiny apartment freezer though, so my stock up capabilities are (unfortunately) limited.

This is why i tell people start with 50% of flavor the recipe calls for. You can add more flavor if you need it but once its in you can't take it back out.

 

[GeorgeS]

When I quit I had a ~$50 a week smoking habit. Investing 1-2 weeks smoking budget into vaping gear was a bit of a long shot but quickly paid off.

Once you find gear that works for you the buying will flatten out and eventually stop. There's a natural migration from factory pre-built coils to RBA's and store bought juice to juice you DIY.

 

[beckdg]

We spend less on vaping than we used to for just my smokes.

With that we completely support(ed) 3 other vapers other than the wife and I.

I have a complete home laboratory including a magnetic mixer for nic testing, ultrasonic cleaner, etc.

We're stocked up on enough high dollar nic and flavor to last for years.

Wicks and coils for life.

Cheap setups to one offs.

Wife's last setup ran just a hair over $800 all in.

I've still been in the green for a long time.

Again... that's not counting the price of anyone else' cigs. Just mine.

Seems steep at first. Then you figure out what works for you and even the most expensive equipment can be cheaper than cigs.

Tapatyped

 

[Completely Average]

Between my wife and I we could spend a fortune on vaping before ever coming close to the $4,700+ per year smoking would cost us.

 

[BreSha6869]

I went very heavy this year on vaping gear for my wife and I as it was our first year off the smokes. We may have spent more $$$ on vaping than smoking this year for a nic stockpile, lots of mods/tanks, building supplies, flavours, etc., but moving forward this won't be the case.

Still happy we aren't smoking and I do enjoy the hobby aspect of vaping.

 

[Eskie]

I was smoking a pack and a half a day, and packs run ~$12 where I live. When I started this whole vape road, I did spend a lot to start out. Then with the 8/8 FDA deeming, I spent even more to stock up. But in the least 4 weeks I actually didn't buy anything. All I did was make and vape about 200 ml of juice and rewick a couple of tanks, which cost me ~$3. For a month.

Unfortunately, I'm now experiencing vape mail withdrawal so those savings won't last much longer.

 

[sorrynomore]

Vaping for me is much cheaper than smoking the ciggies.My cigs (bootleg reserve smokes)cost $45 per week.The last time I'd purchased anything vape related was last June.I was running low on Nic./wire and I wanted to buy a serpent mini so last week I spent about a hundred dollars on that.I probably won't visit the vape shop again until into the new year sometime.

 

[Cheallaigh]

the way I'm viewing it... yes we are paying out initially...we've bought:

3 toptank mini starter kits
2 additional toptank minis
2 protank 4's
2 60w dripboxes
bought half a dozen spare RDA/RTAs (at 3.99 each, can't beat the price by much and I get to try different ways of doing coils in different setups, if it isn't rebuildble I don't want it)
stack of 8 lg h2 batteries
a charger
a lot of coils (but that should cut back now, hubby is now using the rbas as well)
quite a bit of juice, but we're still somewhat working on what we like and hubby doesn't want to DiY
RBA supplies and the little things- ohm reader/coil kit, wire/cotton, some bottles and stands for tanks...

sure there's a few more things I want, like 2 of the 160w dripboxes, a couple more of the protanks and definitely more of their rbas... but now it's going to be mainly juice, wire, and cotton...

 

[RainSong]

There's a natural migration from factory pre-built coils to RBA's and store bought juice to juice you DIY.

One week of buying juice and I knew I wanted to DIY

 

[Haktuspit]

When I first started I had spent thousands more than traditional cigarettes and didn't think I'd ever break even. Happened pretty quickly actually, I'm around $4.5k ahead right now even after the stockpile. It'll even out and then beginning to pay for itself eventually unless you're buying stuff just to buy stuff. Would have said have to have every shiny new thing... but there's no more new things.

 

[Str8vision]

Vaping can be as expensive or as cheap as a person makes it. A person can vape to their heart's content for $100 a year or spend thousands of dollars to do so, it's a matter of personal choice. Do you buy e-liquid in pre-filled cartridges? Do you use attys that require factory coil heads? Do you buy retail e-liquids? Are you constantly shopping for/buying new mods and attys? Do you buy supplies from local B&Ms in small quantities as they're needed or do you purchase them in bulk, only when on-sale from competitively priced on-line suppliers? Did you really need that third $250 YiHi SX Mini or would a single $25 Pico have worked just as well.... Vaping can be as expensive or as cheap as a person makes it. If you're spending -anywhere near- as much to vape as you did to smoke a quick look in a mirror will reveal the root cause. There's nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on vaping as long as you've got it to spend and doing so makes you happy. If you don't have it to spend or there are other things you need it for then vape frugally, it's -really- your choice.

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

The difference is, aside the liquid, batteries and coils that are the consumables, once you have a good mod and tank that you like, it's having maybe an extra or two for backups, anything more is just "for fun".

Compared to cigarettes that 100% of them goes up in smoke, including your health.. well it's not rocket surgery.

And for liquid and coils, if you build your coils and diy for liquid, it's even cheaper then. Every time I wince at spending 100$ or 2 every few months (we're three that vape at my house), I remember that it would cost more than that per month and that's per person.

 

[Stosh]

Starting out I went from $300 a month for smoking, limiting myself to 1/2 that for vaping purchases. Gave me time to research which mod, carto or juice I would like best. Now I DIY, wrap my own coils, gave up building my own mods but still only spend about two months worth of smokes in a year. What I spend now is simply "ohhh, shiny" driven, but not jumping on the latest, greatest mod or tank to come down the pike. My first Kayfun was bought off the clearance rack, just to see if it was as good as the reviews said...meh, can vape without it.

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

Starting out I went from $300 a month for smoking, limiting myself to 1/2 that for vaping purchases. Gave me time to research which mod, carto or juice I would like best. Now I DIY, wrap my own coils, gave up building my own mods but still only spend about two months worth of smokes in a year. What I spend now is simply "ohhh, shiny" driven, but not jumping on the latest, greatest mod or tank to come down the pike. My first Kayfun was bought off the clearance rack, just to see if it was as good as the reviews said...meh, can vape without it.

I'm pretty much the same, what I also did is joined multiple local vaping groups on Facebook, which included a lot of people that simply want to try everything, then resell it. I've been able to get a few tanks and other stuff for less than half the price (or even a lot less).

But overall, my aim is mostly to have backups of the items I enjoy the most, as in case something was to happen, accident and broken, or if regulations would be crazy hard to get replacement stuff. Same with the consumable, I'm somewhat fairly well stocked now, but will probably go a bit crazy at some point so not to worry about anything for a few years. Wire and cotton is fairly easy and small enough to have enough for several years, so it's mostly the DIY stuff. Shelf life is debated all the time, but so far, it's easily good for a good year, some people report that with proper care, a few years should be fine.

 

[SteveS45]

Even with all the gear and supplies I have purchased I did not even come close to what I used to spend in a year for cigarettes and I would have to spend at least $10,000 dollars to even come close to what I saved in the 2 years I have not bought a pack or smoked one Killer Stick.

 

[Hendog24]

Cigs where I am are $9 and I smoked a pack a day.

Even with all the vape stuff I have bought so far, I've still saved money.