Vaping on a budget

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Hello, my name is Dave and I'm new to the forum. I've been vaping now for 5 months trying to spend as little money as I can and I'm always looking for ways to save more money and to find affordable quality equipment. I thought I should share what I have found so far. The cheapest juice I found comes from azurevaping.com where I get 120mL bottles of premixed VG juice for $20 each. They just increased the price to $25 per bottle unless you buy 3 of them in which case they go back to $20 each. Then for the batteries and tanks I use Ali express. You can get ego ce4/5 starter kits for like $12 ego batteries for $5, VV X6 for $7, and my favorite tank, the clear 16 5pk for $11. The only problems with that site are that shipping takes 2 weeks to a month cuz it's from China and you have to watch out for fakes. Mostly I use an MVP 2 with an iclear 16 so if anyone has any other ideas on how to save money on better equipment/juices I would very much like to hear from you. Thank you, and happy vaping.
 
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nyiddle

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MtBakerVapor has good juice, you can get a 236mL for ~40$ (it's like 45, but they almost always have 10-20% discounts). If you really wanted to save on juice, you'd just DIY. You can get a 15mL bottle of flavoring for ~4-8 bucks, and then you just get a messload of food-grade VG. You can easily find a gallon of the stuff for 30$ or less. Getting nic is sometimes slightly challenging, but if you can find yourself some 50mg (suspended in PG or something like that, some online stores can hook it up), that's ample for most small-batch concoctions you'll be wanting to brew.

Building your own coils is a great way to save money. I've been vaping the same coils in 2 of my RDA's and my RTA for about 5 or 6 months now. Just rewick 'em, and cotton/Japanese cotton/rayon is so cheap, you can get a lifetime supply for under 30 bucks.

If, for some reason, I was completely cut off from spending money on vaping, I'd say I have about 6-8 months worth of supplies. I'd probably run out of juice before anything else.
 
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Wolfenstark

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Fast tech is good , yeah long shipping times but I get the upgrade shipping and they come as fast as most other places.
Juice prices as well as peoples opinions on them are all over the place.
One person loves their $30 juice another loves their $10 juice.
DIY juice has been good for me and plenty of info on it like most things for vaping in here.
You can hunt around for stores that have good prices, though probably more up to the manufacturer.
For me even though I don't have one a $200 kayfun 4 is not floating my boat when Im happy with my $35 lemo.


ETA - Rebuilding your own coils although seems daunting at first is a great way to go.
 

nyiddle

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Thanks for the advice. I think I might try to make my own juice/coils when my stash runs out. What do I need to buy for equipment besides the juice ingredients and cotton?

Well first you'll need an RDA or RTA that is capable of being rebuilt. You can rebuild Kanger heads, and some other pre-built heads, but personally it's just not for me. They're always so finnicky and tiny, and my hands are way too fidgety for that.. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of choices, and I'm sure someone will be popping in here with some suggestions.

Additionally, you'll need to understand certain things about what you're doing. Ohm's law, when you're potentially stressing a battery or creating a hazardous situation, simpler things like figuring out when it's time to rewick. There's quite a bit of learning involved.

For DIY juice-brewin' you can head over to the DIY e-liquid section on this forum. I'm fairly certain there's a stickied post with everything that a first time DIY-er should get/be aware of, as well as resources (like sites to buy flavorings from, sites with certified high-quality nicotine, bottles, syringes, etc.)

It's all surprisingly basic, and even more surprising is how cheap it can be. It just takes a little bit of learning. Going the route of iClear 16's is probably one of the most expensive/least cost-efficient methods of vaping. They're basically disposable (although people have rebuilt them), and ultimately you'll find a much better vaping experience in something you built yourself, both because it's like an "I did it myself" thing, and just because no pre-made coil can replicate what you know you enjoy (ie: I like large surface area coils that take some time to heat up).
 

TaketheRedPill

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Hi Dprzondo Dave and welcome to ECF!

Up at the top of the page is 'forum suppliers' . You might want to explore their forums and check their prices as you might find that you can get the things you listed in your post at very comparible prices from US suppliers and you'll be able to get them in a matter of days. Also, if you click 'what's new', and then "supplier posts", you can catch the beginnings of some great sales. You have some eliquid and some equipment already, so now is the time to just kick back a little and do some windowshopping. . Have fun !
 

Das Auto

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My thoughts as soon as I hear "on a budget" is DIY. How else can you save almost countless dollars but do it yourself! It's truly not rocket science. Wrap a coil around a drill bit. Easy! Mix three different liquids in a bottle, drop a couple drops of flavor and shake it all up. Done!! Twist some cotton, stuff into coil. Bam!! Flood your cotton with your shaken juice and vape! 20 minutes and your vaping all night. Its just too easy! Especially with all the calculators that are FREE to make sure your on track, it's just too easy and too much potential to save money!!! It's what got me DIYing!!
 

Brkdnc

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If you want to go real cheap on the juice try unflavored I know it Sounds nasty but it really isn't bad. The reason I tried it is I wanted something that didn't have a big smell for stealth vaping at work. Mixing a Higher VG blend it does have a kind of sweetness to it and making it your self is CHEAP. I can do a 120ml bottle of 18mg in a 70vg/30pg mix for $2.40, 12mg would be $2.13, 6mg is what I am using right now is $1.87 for 120ml

These guys have a good price on the nic and it even goes on sale every once in a while for even cheaper. This bottle should last me 3+ years!
https://www.myfreedomsmokes.com/nicotine-base-flavorings/nicotine-solutions/unflavored-nicotine-smoke-juice-e-liquid-liter-sale.html
 

edyle

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Hello, my name is Dave and I'm new to the forum. I've been vaping now for 5 months trying to spend as little money as I can and I'm always looking for ways to save more money and to find affordable quality equipment. I thought I should share what I have found so far. The cheapest juice I found comes from azurevaping.com where I get 120mL bottles of premixed VG juice for $20 each. They just increased the price to $25 per bottle unless you buy 3 of them in which case they go back to $20 each. Then for the batteries and tanks I use Ali express. You can get ego ce4/5 starter kits for like $12 ego batteries for $5, VV X6 for $7, and my favorite tank, the clear 16 5pk for $11. The only problems with that site are that shipping takes 2 weeks to a month cuz it's from China and you have to watch out for fakes. Mostly I use an MVP 2 with an iclear 16 so if anyone has any other ideas on how to save money on better equipment/juices I would very much like to hear from you. Thank you, and happy vaping.

ce4/ce5 ego batts vvx6 iclear16 5pack! That's terrible!
If you want to vape on a tight budget, get an rda.
check the fasttech site for stuff from china.
and to keep you going long after your mvp dies, get a mech and a kick module.

You can save of batteries by using a ac/dc power adapter, and a bolt and rubber washers to fit in the mod.

To save of eliquid, buy high strength eliquid and dilute it with vg from the pharmacy
 

Paramaniac413

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Hello, my name is Dave and I'm new to the forum. I've been vaping now for 5 months trying to spend as little money as I can and I'm always looking for ways to save more money and to find affordable quality equipment. I thought I should share what I have found so far. The cheapest juice I found comes from azurevaping.com where I get 120mL bottles of premixed VG juice for $20 each. They just increased the price to $25 per bottle unless you buy 3 of them in which case they go back to $20 each. Then for the batteries and tanks I use Ali express. You can get ego ce4/5 starter kits for like $12 ego batteries for $5, VV X6 for $7, and my favorite tank, the clear 16 5pk for $11. The only problems with that site are that shipping takes 2 weeks to a month cuz it's from China and you have to watch out for fakes. Mostly I use an MVP 2 with an iclear 16 so if anyone has any other ideas on how to save money on better equipment/juices I would very much like to hear from you. Thank you, and happy vaping.

Azure does have some good juices at some good prices. When you're ready, I would try rebuilding - it definitely saves some money on coils. DIY Juice is also apparently a good way to save $, but I haven't gotten into DIY yet...although the way things are going with legislation, I should probably think about it soon. lol
 

93gc40

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Oct 5, 2014
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Since Vaping on a Budget to me means.. Costs less than smoking. That $5.50 per day or more I spent on cigs, buys all the High end juice I need and allows for occasional purchases of tech. By my calculation I am saving rough 50% while buying hand crafted juice from specialty suppliers. Figure if I went the DIY route with juice I could get into 60-80% savings. When compared to funding Philip Morris.
 

Alien Traveler

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Jul 3, 2014
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MtBakerVapor has good juice, you can get a 236mL for ~40$ (it's like 45, but they almost always have 10-20% discounts). If you really wanted to save on juice, you'd just DIY. You can get a 15mL bottle of flavoring for ~4-8 bucks, and then you just get a messload of food-grade VG. You can easily find a gallon of the stuff for 30$ or less. Getting nic is sometimes slightly challenging, but if you can find yourself some 50mg (suspended in PG or something like that, some online stores can hook it up), that's ample for most small-batch concoctions you'll be wanting to brew.

Do not buy food grade VG and PG!
Buy only pharma (USP) grade. A lot of places, relatively cheap stuff.
If you wish to DIY go to DIY subforum, you'll get really good info.
 

Alien Traveler

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About 10 day ago I have calculated I am spending about $11.60 per month on vaping including hardware.
You can see it here:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-vaping-discussion/654812-how-much-do-you-vape-4.html

I am not suggesting to use the same hardware as I do, you may have your preferences. My preferences: to have reliable and pleasant way to deliver nicotine into my bloodstream to keep me out of smoking without excessive lung contamination with supplementary chemicals.
 
I'm already overwhelmed with all the info out there. I have a shopping cart at myfreedomsmokes.com with a 1L bottle of 100mg nicotine($50) 3parts VG 1 part PG, 1L USP VG($17), and 500mL USP PG($11). Is this a good deal? I can use a coupon code for 15% off my first order. Flavoring seems expensive. I have been mixing tobacco flavor with hyper mint at azure to get a liquid I like. Any ideas for finding flavors for cheap?
 
My favorite place to buy from that has low priced juice and still great quality is ITCVapes. You need to try the Spoon Licker OG, it's amazing. 15ml is $4.99, 30ml is $7.99, 120ml is $19.99, and 240ml is $35.99. They have flavor shots, 50/50, 30/70, and "max vg" options. They also have all the nicotine strength options you could want. I think I'm going to be ordering all my juice from them for a while.
 
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