How much does vaping cost? A worked example

The formula#

Every version of this sum has the same shape. You need the cost of one unit (a disposable, a pod, a bottle of liquid, whatever you actually buy), and how many days one unit lasts you. Then:

The 7 is the days in a week and the 52 is the weeks in a year. If you'd rather count in units, that's simply units per week times cost per unit. A month is the yearly figure divided by 12.

How much does vaping cost? A worked example#

The inputs below are assumptions for this example. They are not what any product costs in a shop. The point is the method, so change them to match your own numbers.

• Cost per unit (assumed): $12 for one disposable.
• Days per unit (assumed): scenario A lasts 4 days. Scenario B is a daily device, one a day.

Working through scenario A: 7 / 4 = 1.75 units a week, and 1.75 x $12 = $21 a week.

Scenario B is not a pattern anyone should read as typical. It's there so you can see how fast the total moves when the unit count goes up. Every number in the table is the formula above with the assumed $12 and the stated days per unit.

Notice what moves the answer. The formula is a straight multiplication, so a device that costs 25 percent more gives a total 25 percent higher. A device that lasts 25 percent fewer days gives a total a third higher, because the units per week go from 1.75 to 2.33. Price is the number you can see on the shelf or in the app. Days per unit is the one most people guess, and it is often the bigger source of error. A habit that runs at one device every three days rather than every four costs a third more, even if every device is the same price.

Swap in your own prices#

To run it on your own habit, take three numbers from your last month of spending: what you paid in total, how many devices or pods that covered, and the number of days in the period. Then:

1. Cost per unit = total spent / units bought.
2. Days per unit = days in the period / units bought.
3. Cost per week = cost per unit x (7 / days per unit), which simplifies to total spent / weeks in the period.

The simplified version is the one to trust: a month of receipts gives you a weekly figure with no need to guess the device life. If you buy in bulk or pay for liquid and hardware separately, add those costs together before you divide. If you don't keep receipts, the count you log is the next best source. Logging each puff or device gives you the unit count the formula needs without a shoebox of receipts.

Convert to your currency by using your own prices throughout. The formula doesn't care what the currency is. Only the example numbers above are in US dollars. Here is the same scenario A in pounds, with an assumed price of £9 a device: 1.75 x £9 = £15.75 a week, £15.75 x 52 = £819 a year, and £4,095 over five years. The steps are identical, only the first number changes.

Two checks before you trust the total. First, the answer should move in the same direction as your habit: if you cut from one device every four days to one every six, the weekly figure should fall by about a third. Second, the year should be the week times 52, not the week times 12, which is the mistake people make most often when they reach for a monthly figure and forget to convert it.

What tapering saves compared with stopping on day one#

Stopping on day one saves the most money in the shortest time. Tapering costs a little more during the cut, because you're still buying devices, and then the savings catch up. The second table takes scenario A and runs two plans side by side. The taper cuts by a quarter of a device a week, from 1.75 units to zero over eight weeks. Those are averages, since you don't buy half a disposable.

Read the last row as the answer. Over the eight weeks, the taper spends $84 on devices, carrying on spends $168 and a day-one stop spends nothing. Once the taper reaches zero, the weekly saving is the same as a day-one stop. Over the first year, that means the taper saves $1,008 against carrying on and a day-one stop saves $1,092. The taper doesn't save more money. It spreads the cut out, and that's the reason to choose it, if you choose it at all.

Your own taper won't be a neat quarter-device every week. The real plan changes when your logged numbers change, so treat the table as a shape, not a schedule. Our guide to tapering off vaping covers how to choose the steps.

What the sum leaves out#

The formula only counts what you buy for the vape itself. It doesn't count the cost of anything you use in place of vaping, such as nicotine replacement products, which you may want to talk through with a doctor or pharmacist. It doesn't count the time spent on buying, or the fuel to reach a shop. Those are real, but they don't have prices you can copy from a receipt, so the table leaves them out.

It also ignores price changes. If you switch to a cheaper product halfway through a year, rerun the formula for each product and add the two totals. Do the same if your device life changes a lot, for example when you move to a device or liquid you go through faster.

Watch out for the opposite error too: a device that lasts longer on paper isn't the same as one that lasts longer for you. Count the actual days from opening a device to throwing it away, not the days the packaging suggests.

A habit check you can run this week#

Before you trust any cost figure, check the one input most people guess. Count your units for seven days, and write down the total and the device or pod you used. Then divide the seven-day total by 7 to get your daily cost, multiply by 365 for a year, and compare with the formula's answer. If the two are far apart, your days-per-unit guess is the likely cause.

ExHale keeps that count for you. One tap logs a puff or a craving, the Stats and Health screens show whether your use is falling week to week, and the step-down plan adapts to what you log. ExHale also shows the money you save, alongside your puff log and vape-free streak. Money is one reason people quit, and the count is the number that connects it to your week. The practical guide to quitting vaping sets out the rest of the plan.

Questions about vaping costs#