How Thrifty Can You Be
- Thread starter Heypat
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Don't smoke cigars! Just teasing, but the difference between pipe smoking and cigar smoking is huge. Four mediocre cigars, four smokes, cost what one tin of premium pipe blend will cost you and give you twenty smokes. I do like a good Dominican, but I rarely buy one.
When buying a pipe on eBay, I only buy if I can get it at my price. I consider my price a bargain. When what I want is available during a sale, I try to buy. I smoke 5 to 6 bowls per day, I enjoy smoking my pipes a lot. The difference between smoking the tobacco I like in a pipe I like can be measured in pennies per day over time. Doesn't make sense to me to work hard at cutting corners.
Move to NZ! I’ve already saved by not buying a pound of tobacco and it’s only been 2weeks since the ban. If I keep this up, I might be able to afford the duty on a tin come Christmas.
You're a man of means....eh?I smoke old stogies I have found, short, but not too big around..............
The middle of my pipe cleaners seem to stay relatively fluffy and clean. I have thought about getting a pipe cleaner coil. Snip off the dirty part, use the "new" clean end. I wouldn't be having a clean middle that I can't use. So far I've been to lazy to try it.
The steepest expense for many pipe smokers are the excess pipes we buy. I'm fairly circumspect with blends, accumulating more than I need, but not boxes and boxes of jars. I have about three months pipe rotation for one bowl a day, a little less for two. Every pipe I smoke is well dried out. My joke of the week is, I'm down to my last 91 pipes.
These two practices have "saved" me a lot of money:
1. Realizing that 10 or 15 pipes is really all that you need for a full and complete pipe smoking experience (and that's assuming you divide up your pipes by tobacco genre to avoid ghosting issues). I have a few more than that, but there are probably only ten or so that I smoke regularly (excluding cobs) and if they were all I had, it would be plenty.
2. Realizing that 90% of the "new" (new to me, that is) tobaccos that I try never make their way into my cellar. Basically, most of the time when I try a "new" tin, I don't like it enough to buy more. As such, I stick to my core favorites and generally try something new only if I have reason to believe it might be a real stand out. I do make exceptions for readily available blends that come in bulk if I can add an ounce or two to one my orders for a few bucks.
1. Realizing that 10 or 15 pipes is really all that you need for a full and complete pipe smoking experience (and that's assuming you divide up your pipes by tobacco genre to avoid ghosting issues). I have a few more than that, but there are probably only ten or so that I smoke regularly (excluding cobs) and if they were all I had, it would be plenty.
2. Realizing that 90% of the "new" (new to me, that is) tobaccos that I try never make their way into my cellar. Basically, most of the time when I try a "new" tin, I don't like it enough to buy more. As such, I stick to my core favorites and generally try something new only if I have reason to believe it might be a real stand out. I do make exceptions for readily available blends that come in bulk if I can add an ounce or two to one my orders for a few bucks.
I love getting good deals, and I know how to shop. Now a good deal to me may not be to you. I bought 65 3;5 oz tins of Mac Baren OLd Dark Fired in 2012, half I paid 9.99 the other half I paid 10.99. I liked that deal.
I bought all kinds of good deals on estate pipes because I knew what they were worth. I recently saw a Michael Parks pipe of the year sell for over 400.00 at Great Estates, I paid 140.00 for the same pipe. That was sweet.
I also buy new pipe from American artisan pipe makers because I feel I am getting a good deal in relation to other makers. I will take a 350-400 Rad Davis pipe over a 2000.00 Former. Why you might ask, because the Rad smokes better, has a better stem and I can buy 5 for the price of one. I once owned 6 Formers, 4 Rainer Barbi's, 3 Matzholds, 2 Balleby's and not a one remains in my collection. I used to own half a dozen hand made high end Winslows, gorgeous pipes but they were heavy and had acrylic stems. I owned hallf a dozen or more Castello's that smoked great, but the stems sucked. I owned some nicely grained Upshall P grade pipes that smoked well but they used older sulfur laden vulcanite that sucked. I owned a few older Caminetto's from the Asocrti/Radice era that wwere great smokers but again acrylic stems. I got great deals on all of those pipes especially the high end Danish Formers and the others. Back of a trunk, traded fot Cuban cigars meant I paid half the wholesale price. Now that was some fun shit.
I bought a bunch of Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls for around 10 bucks a tin when they had a buy 2 get one free. I was buying pounds of Samuel Gawith Flakes for 52.95 a pound. Bags of Stonehaven for 35.00 a bag. I like buying what I enjoy but getting a good deal is even more fun.
The deals are out there for low end stuff, medium grade and high end, just gotta know the markets and prices that are good or great.
My best deal was trading for Jesse's Barling Magnum unsmoked. I gave him a Yello Bello and he couldn't have been happier. Thanks buddy.
I bought all kinds of good deals on estate pipes because I knew what they were worth. I recently saw a Michael Parks pipe of the year sell for over 400.00 at Great Estates, I paid 140.00 for the same pipe. That was sweet.
I also buy new pipe from American artisan pipe makers because I feel I am getting a good deal in relation to other makers. I will take a 350-400 Rad Davis pipe over a 2000.00 Former. Why you might ask, because the Rad smokes better, has a better stem and I can buy 5 for the price of one. I once owned 6 Formers, 4 Rainer Barbi's, 3 Matzholds, 2 Balleby's and not a one remains in my collection. I used to own half a dozen hand made high end Winslows, gorgeous pipes but they were heavy and had acrylic stems. I owned hallf a dozen or more Castello's that smoked great, but the stems sucked. I owned some nicely grained Upshall P grade pipes that smoked well but they used older sulfur laden vulcanite that sucked. I owned a few older Caminetto's from the Asocrti/Radice era that wwere great smokers but again acrylic stems. I got great deals on all of those pipes especially the high end Danish Formers and the others. Back of a trunk, traded fot Cuban cigars meant I paid half the wholesale price. Now that was some fun shit.
I bought a bunch of Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls for around 10 bucks a tin when they had a buy 2 get one free. I was buying pounds of Samuel Gawith Flakes for 52.95 a pound. Bags of Stonehaven for 35.00 a bag. I like buying what I enjoy but getting a good deal is even more fun.
The deals are out there for low end stuff, medium grade and high end, just gotta know the markets and prices that are good or great.
My best deal was trading for Jesse's Barling Magnum unsmoked. I gave him a Yello Bello and he couldn't have been happier. Thanks buddy.
I have thought about this too. I will probably add a coil to my next order.
This is true. I am getting back into cigars but the cost is insane
Buy when on sale. I'm well stocked on Cult Blood Red Moon and the average price I paid is less than $7 a tin--I got several for $6.
Do an internet search for blends you like. You may find a new, cheaper source. One of my favorite blends is John Bull, and it can be a little hard to find. Doing an internet search I was able to buy several pouches for about a third of what I was paying.
Do an internet search for blends you like. You may find a new, cheaper source. One of my favorite blends is John Bull, and it can be a little hard to find. Doing an internet search I was able to buy several pouches for about a third of what I was paying.
It's kind of like PA without the humectants. Maybe moves it a little closer to C&D burleys due to the lack of mellowing additives -- but it's no where near as heavy as the burleys they use either.
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