# Has Vaping Saved you Money ?



## Puff the Magic Dragon

I have just noticed the counter that I have on my profile on the forum.




It's been a long time since I looked at it but it tells an interesting story.

78 000 cigarettes divided by 20 per pack = 3 900 packs. This number seems high but just wait until you look at what those cigarettes would have cost.

I haven't bought cigarettes for seven years so I looked up the current Cape Town prices.




I smoked Camels so I took today's price and multiplied it by 3 900 packs.

*I would have spent R 206 700 from when I started vaping up to today!*

I will admit that I have spent a lot of time at the bottom of the vaping rabbit hole but there is no way that I have spent that much on vaping.

I'm not willing to count everything out accurately but the following are estimates of what I have spent but costing things at today's prices as I did with the cigarettes.

40 mods X R 1000 per mod = R 40 000
35 Attys at R 500 each = R 17 500
Batteries used +- 25 at R 120 = R 3 000
Coils (guestimate) - 10 000
Extra stuff like drip tips, spares, etc = 5 000
Juice is hard to estimate as I started DIY after the first year. Let's say R 30 000.

The total spent is R 105 500.

My total saving has been about R 100 000.

However I tweak the numbers there is no way that I am in the red or even close to it. Also, remember that the kit that I have must have some second-hand value which should be subtracted from the total. When you smoke, everything goes up in smoke..... literally.

Today's new vapers should spend far less than I did. In the early days, innovation took place at an alarming rate and we were forced ( OK, not really forced) to buy the new best thing because it was truly the new best thing. Apart from the pod invasion very little has changed over the last few years.

To illustrate this, I recently decided to use my RX200 mod from 2016ish. Believe me, the vape experience, as far as mods are concerned, hasn't improved over the last 5 years. What a great mod. I'm a wattage vaper so I don't include other modes here.

What I am getting at is that a new vaper would probably start on a pod system and may progress to mods and RBAs but anything he/she buys after that would only be for style or fun - but not necessary.

The amount spent would obviously be way higher for a vaper who doesn't DIY juice.

Reactions: Like 4 | Winner 9


----------



## Hooked

Puff the Magic Dragon said:


> I have just noticed the counter that I have on my profile on the forum.
> 
> View attachment 240490
> 
> 
> It's been a long time since I looked at it but it tells an interesting story.
> 
> 78 000 cigarettes divided by 20 per pack = 3 900 packs. This number seems high but just wait until you look at what those cigarettes would have cost.
> 
> I haven't bought cigarettes for seven years so I looked up the current Cape Town prices.
> 
> View attachment 240491
> 
> 
> I smoked Camels so I took today's price and multiplied it by 3 900 packs.
> 
> *I would have spent R 206 700 from when I started vaping up to today!*
> 
> I will admit that I have spent a lot of time at the bottom of the vaping rabbit hole but there is no way that I have spent that much on vaping.
> 
> I'm not willing to count everything out accurately but the following are estimates of what I have spent but costing things at today's prices as I did with the cigarettes.
> 
> 40 mods X R 1000 per mod = R 40 000
> 35 Attys at R 500 each = R 17 500
> Batteries used +- 25 at R 120 = R 3 000
> Coils (guestimate) - 10 000
> Extra stuff like drip tips, spares, etc = 5 000
> Juice is hard to estimate as I started DIY after the first year. Let's say R 30 000.
> 
> The total spent is R 105 500.
> 
> My total saving has been about R 100 000.
> 
> However I tweak the numbers there is no way that I am in the red or even close to it. Also, remember that the kit that I have must have some second-hand value which should be subtracted from the total. When you smoke, everything goes up in smoke..... literally.
> 
> Today's new vapers should spend far less than I did. In the early days, innovation took place at an alarming rate and we were forced ( OK, not really forced) to buy the new best thing because it was truly the new best thing. Apart from the pod invasion very little has changed over the last few years.
> 
> To illustrate this, I recently decided to use my RX200 mod from 2016ish. Believe me, the vape experience, as far as mods are concerned, hasn't improved over the last 5 years. What a great mod. I'm a wattage vaper so I don't include other modes here.
> 
> What I am getting at is that a new vaper would probably start on a pod system and may progress to mods and RBAs but anything he/she buys after that would only be for style or fun - but not necessary.
> 
> The amount spent would obviously be way higher for a vaper who doesn't DIY juice.



It would be interesting if you inserted a poll @Puff the Magic Dragon

Reactions: Like 2 | Winner 1


----------



## Hooked

*During the first two years of vaping:*
No, it did NOT saved me money. I'm not looking at actual figures, but I know that I spent a huge amount on trying different flavours in different flavour profiles. If I really don't like a juice, I can't vape it and throw it away. What an awful waste of money!

However, when I was smoking, although I tried different brands until I found my favourite, I still smoked the others which I had bought. I didn't throw them away! So - no money was wasted.

*Nowadays:*
I know that my favourite flavours are coffee and chocolate and I don't buy anything else. So now vaping saves me a lot of money compared with what smoking would cost.

Reactions: Like 5 | Winner 2


----------



## Grand Guru

I quit smoking with 2 Justfog S kits that I used exclusively for the first year and replaced them with 2 iStick Pico kits for the Whole of the 2nd year. So yes I did make a lot of economies during that period. Then vaping became a hobby! I don’t really have a budget for vaping but I spend around R2k on monthly average more on gear than juice….

Reactions: Like 5 | Winner 2


----------



## Timwis

Although I get sent stuff I also buy a lot of products but not really concerned if I have saved money or not (doubt it). With vaping a lot of the money goes on things that I can look at and continue to use rather than when smoking I might as well just be burning money!

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 1 | Winner 2


----------



## Rob Fisher

All I know is I have saved money... because the cost of ICU (where I would have been if I was still smoking) would have been way more than the collection I have collected in the last 8 years!

Reactions: Like 7 | Agree 3 | Winner 6


----------



## Puff the Magic Dragon

I thought about you when writing this thread @Rob Fisher. I thought that your collection may have resulted in an exception to the point I was making.

I'm pleased that this was not the case.

Reactions: Like 6 | Winner 1


----------



## Stew

6 x cartons of Camel Plain a month (Probably the most expensive brand to buy, but I did buy at the "Market" which was a bit cheaper.) It definitely is not costing me that much on average to vape. Plus have won a few things that with smoking you won nothing. I have bought a few package deals second hand but bought stuff I could see and check our before handing over cash. Bought one Gen Mod with a loose 510 that i nurse and it's still working so not a total waste.

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 6


----------



## KZOR

Initially the hobby cost me more because of curiosity and the chase for the ADV setup but for the past year or two i have saved bundles.

Currently :
1 x pair of White Collar coils = R150 ...... lasts me at least min 3 months (R50 per month)
1 x pack of CBPrime or Mavaton = R150 ..... lasts me at least min 3 months (R50 per month)
5 x 100ml bottles of DIY ejuice (R300 per month)
Mod used currently for almost two years = R1000 ( R40 per month)
Tank used currently for almost two years = R600 (R25 per month)
Buildkit and tools = been using it for a year now (R25 per month) TOTAL = +- R500

And this is all covered by revenue/sponsors generated from my hobby.

I smoked a pack of Camel a day for 23 years = R1200 (@R40 per packet) per month (besides lighters, replacing burnt clothes, ashtrays, air-freshner and possible medical bills)
Smoking SUCKS!!

Reactions: Like 5 | Agree 1 | Winner 7


----------



## DarthBranMuffin

What did I save
Oh let me count the ways

My wife's life.
My life.
Petrol money on not having to drive to go and buy stinkies (I never ordered stinkies online).
Not having to pay for a small heart operation.
My sense of taste and smell.
My daughter from saying her dad stinks (well, she still says my dad-jokes stink, but I can live with that).
OMO, for not having to wash my clothing every day.
Toothpaste, to get rid of that taste after chain-smoking.
Tissues and toilet paper, to get rid of that morning phlegm.
Air deodorizer to get rid of that stinkie smell all through the house.
Time, for I had to go outside to smoke, now I sit and work and vape at my desk.

Jip, Vaping has saved me money and a whole lot of other things too!

Reactions: Like 4 | Winner 10


----------



## DavyH

Not even close.

But it's a hobby and it's cheaper than some of the other hobbies I have. Once I've bought all the mods I'll start saving money...

Reactions: Like 4 | Funny 4 | Can relate 2 | Optimistic 2


----------



## Stranger

Great thread.

I was getting to the 25-30 a day habit and at age 50 I had a mild myocardial infarction (that's a bloody heart attack to you). I had my last stinkie after they let me out of ICU into the general ward. I remember smoking it, looking at it and saying to myself "stupid stupid stupid" I came home with three stents and my ears chewed off by my Dr's

When I came home I ordered my first cigalike from bid or buy. Then I discovered Walter and Tanya from Eciggies and they were my sole go to's for many years as the tech progressed. I struggled like mad in the beginning to get an ADV that I could vape 24/7 and ended up mixing 2 x Liqua flavours with 36 mg hell high menthol to get what was needed. This was costing me what I was spending on smokes.

It is only in the last 2.5 years that I have dared to explore and that has been a revelation. I pride myself on being a sponge for information and can be very selective when buying gear. I rarely buy what I don't use and have no qualms about buying pre owned. I use one shots and DIY and this keeps the monthly costs down. I think I am a heavy vaper and can use 500 ml + for adv and another 150 - 200 mls DIY flavours.

Roughly working off the chart, Thank you @Puff the Magic Dragon, I would be close to R300 000 over the last ten years. I do not believe I am anywhere close to that figure.

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 5 | Thanks 1


----------



## Stranger

DavyH said:


> Once I've bought all the mods I'll start saving money...



Baawwahhhh, chirp of the week that one.

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 6


----------



## Silver

Wonderful thread @Puff the Magic Dragon 

I have been vaping now for about 8 yrs

I'd say ive probably spent a similar amount on vaping in the first four or five years - just because I've bought so many devices and commercial juices. But the last 2 or 3 yrs, I have found my happy place and have spent a lot less on experimentation.

In any event, the saving to my health I think is priceless. At least that's what it feels to me. One cannot even consider the costs (monetary or otherwise) on getting a smoking related illness. So even if vaping was more expensive I would say its still worth it.

Reactions: Like 5 | Agree 1 | Winner 6


----------



## Viper_SA

Hell no!! 
Vaping is a never ending pit 

I do still miss the simplicity of smoking and it helped more for my stress than vaping, but he's, there are definite advantages to health etc. Then again, I've been on and off the wagon a couple of times. My issue is mostly my OCD. One nick and I don't want to use something. I want it perfect or not at all. Hopefully I can sit back one day and be as confident as some of the people who have replied so far. Coming up on my 7th month stinkie free on the 6th, but I still dual use with my IQOS HEETS. Not het ready to let them go. I must have them in the morning and straight after work.

Reactions: Like 6 | Winner 1


----------



## Grand Guru

Try wean yourself off rhe Iqos starting on weekends maybe @Viper_SA. You'll get there mate! It took me 4 years with very slow steps to go down from 18mg to 1mg juices and now I alternate them with nic free juices because 1mg is becoming too much for me!

Reactions: Like 4 | Winner 5


----------



## VansVapes

I would say yes. Would have been spent R1350 on smokes a month, now I'm spending about R980-R1100 on vape juice, PnP coils and gear. 

Just replaced my Pnp pod with an RTA so my total will be even less next month.

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 4


----------



## Munro31

Hell no!! But according to my wife it's almost a free hobby!!!

Reactions: Winner 3 | Funny 9


----------



## Viper_SA

Grand Guru said:


> Try wean yourself off rhe Iqos starting on weekends maybe @Viper_SA. You'll get there mate! It took me 4 years with very slow steps to go down from 18mg to 1mg juices and now I alternate them with nic free juices because 1mg is becoming too much for me!



I'll never survive with 1mg 
People will die.....

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 7


----------



## Resistance

Well done all!

Reactions: Like 6


----------



## ShaneDylan96

Definitely not... I'm vaping as a hobby and to satisfy my sweet tooth because I'm one of those people who picks up weight by just looking at food... Spent R3k this month on a new mod, an RTA and some juice and I'm starting to develop a hoarding problem

Reactions: Funny 5 | Can relate 1


----------



## Intuthu Kagesi

As a straight line comparison smoking to vaping ... it's a no brainer it's cheaper, said savings directly proportional to the level of DIY / rebuildable(s) you embark on, however ... if it's a hobby as well ... erm ... maybe not so much ... soooooo ... look a distraction over there ...

Reactions: Funny 9


----------



## vicTor

all of the above but if you get a mech, you will have a device that will last forever, simple

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Winner 1


----------



## zadiac

No, it hasn't and I don't care. Got me off the stinkies. That should be enough.

Reactions: Winner 7


----------



## Morix

If i had to only buy retail products, then no. But at this moment yes it saves some cash.

Buy the juice here from @ivc_mixer
Coils from @charln
Batteries from @Bossvape

Using these saves a pretty penny.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Winner 1


----------



## Morix

Morix said:


> If i had to only buy retail products, then no. But at this moment yes it saves some cash.
> 
> Buy the juice here from @ivc_mixer
> Coils from @charln
> Batteries from @Bossvape
> 
> Using these saves a pretty penny.


----------



## Rivera

For me, no, lol. But, I'm okay with that! 

I'd rather spend on vaping than medical bills.

Reactions: Winner 2


----------

