[cyclops]

Where I live cigarettes are relatively expensive. A normal brand costs at least $100 per carton, and even the cheap off-brand cigarettes are at least $70 per carton. My calculation is that I can afford to smoke only if I leave a gap of 30 minutes between cigarettes. That sounds easy, except that decades of habit lead me to light and smoke cigarettes unconsciously, without noticing, so that when I'm busy I can easily smoke one cigarette every 10 minutes and spend three times as much money as I can afford, on smokes.

One trick I'm trying is to keep my open pack and lighter at least 10 feet away, so that I have to think about walking over there and taking a cigarette out of the pack and lighting it. If I'm conscious of wanting to light a cigarette I can think about whether I'm going to enjoy the smoke or it's just my hands and face executing a physical habit, and usually it's pretty easy for me not to light a cigarette at that time.

I was wondering if anybody else on this forum knows of other strategies that could help in this fight against having cigarettes chew up too much cash. And I've tried vaping with nicotine included but it just doesn't work for me. I need a real, burning cigarette.

[masklofumanto]

Have you considered making your own?

[cyclops]

Originally Posted by masklofumanto Have you considered making your own?

You mean roll my own, as by hand or with a machine? I've heard of that but have not tried it.

[masklofumanto]

Originally Posted by cyclops You mean roll my own, as by hand or with a machine? I've heard of that but have not tried it.

That is exactly what I mean. Spend some time reading the threads in the RYO forum here, you can learn a great deal and then decide whether it's for you.

Given that you are in Canada, you'll probably have to buy rolling tobacco from a vendor within Canada, and that may pose some difficulty, as it doesn't look like there are any internet vendors in Canada. You could try buying online from a U.S. vendor, which will mean getting "dual purpose" pipe tobacco, but there's a risk that if Canadian customs finds it, that they'll either tax it or possibly seize it. I found that there are several tobacco shops in Toronto; you might also want to check gas stations and convenience stores. I checked amazon.ca and I was able to find cigarette making machines and filter tubes.

[cyclops]

Originally Posted by masklofumanto That is exactly what I mean. Spend some time reading the threads in the RYO forum here, you can learn a great deal and then decide whether it's for you. Given that you are in Canada, you'll probably have to buy rolling tobacco from a vendor within Canada, and that may pose some difficulty, as it doesn't look like there are any internet vendors in Canada. You could try buying online from a U.S. vendor, which will mean getting "dual purpose" pipe tobacco, but there's a risk that if Canadian customs finds it, that they'll either tax it or possibly seize it. I found that there are several tobacco shops in Toronto; you might also want to check gas stations and convenience stores. I checked amazon.ca and I was able to find cigarette making machines and filter tubes.

Yes, I had no luck finding a Canadian online vendor, either, but from American vendors, the prices of simple cigarette machines of decent quality appear to be about $3, and a box of decent-sized tubes appears to be about $2. If Canadian prices at local retailers are similar (adjusting for currency exchange), then two machines and a month's worth of tubes will cost less than half the price of a carton of retail cigarettes. In local convenience stores I've seen cans of Player's tobacco but not priced them. Perhaps there are other stores that sell other brands (as I dislike Player's), so I'll look around.

I searched the forum you referred me to and don't see recent posts about Canadian retail cigarette tobacco outlets for RYO. Do you mind if I post there asking whether anyone in Toronto knows of a store with a decent selection of cigarette tobacco?

[ohiophil]

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