Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget
ol_smokey1
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 18
So I just set up an account this week, although I've been a lurker over the past couple. Something I've noticed is that there have been a lot of pictures/talk about Opus X in the "what are you smoking/what did you get in the mail/post a picture" threads....how do you guys do it!? I'm sure it's a great smoke (and nothing beats a great smoke on a perfect night), but how can you guys afford such a luxury on a regular basis? I think the most I've ever spent on a cigar is probably around $10-12, and even that was a stretch. Call me frugal (broke college kid here, sorry), but I guess it's just hard to wrap my mind around it haha
Comments
Everybody who chooses to get involved in any hobby has to decide how much they are willing and able to invest in it. It's easy to get carried away sometimes and spend too much, (especially on the "Devil Site" or Sprint Sale). Best advice I can think of is to just have fun learning about fine cigars, don't give in to peer pressure to overspend, and always pay it forward.
Figure out what you want to spend, then make a list of those you want to buy, check prices, see what fits with in your budget.
There are many times I will buy my cigars with the thought of purchasing one that is a higher dollar, along with others I know I like.
Other times, I will go after a single "unicorn" cigar. One that I've been searching for a long time.
Other times, I send an email to the rep at Ccom that I deal with and let her/him know what I'm looking for and how much I have to spend. Quite often, they come up with a pretty good deal.
If you hit the sprint sale, know the value of the cigar you are going after. And don't let the moment carry you away. Know what you want to spend on a certain cigar and if the price doesn't hit that mark on the sprint sale, let it walk away. There will be more.
Same goes for the bid site. If it goes above your mark, walk away.
Know what you want to spend, research the prices and what it's worth to you. If you can't get it for that price, walk.
Know your budget and stick to the dollar amount.
And be aware, there are a lot of killer deals out there, you just have to be willing to search for them.
And don't forget about trading. Some folks may be willing to trade what you have for something you are looking for. And remember, if it's a hard to find you are looking for, you might have to be willing to have the trade a little lopsided in their favor.
And put your wish list on your bio. (profile page). Take a look at some of the guys' bios and you'll get an idea. Stick around, this place has some very helpful people.
I too, like good cigars but don't want to pay a lot of money. I rarely spend more than $3 to $4.50 for a cigar. Look for samplers on ccom. If you can budget a $100 at one time, you can get the Thrifty 50, that's $2 per stick. There are several sticks in the $6 to $9 range in that sampler. If not, try the Thrifty 30, that's still a good deal, but there are a few better cigars in the 50 sampler.
Sprint sale from ccom here and 3 others I was introduced to, Then if I still end up placing a regular non bid site order I scour Google for "promo code" for all the cigar company sites I am wiling to buy from, then work from there checking price per item on each of those sites to compare
I will (usually) get anything from 10-15 % off the order / a super sweet deal on a 5 or 10 pack sampler to go with the order / free lighters or some type of accessory / and-or free shipping for the order (some times a minimum order for the "bonus" applies) usually around $50-$125, and I will cross check all discount/bonus deals to price per company's site price per item I want on the order
There are some companies I wont order from because of bad reviews on them from others here on the forum, (I want to learn from experiences they share in order to warn others)
Finally, when I started on the forum here I was "Hooked Up" into several "Blind trades" I had no idea if what I had was worth a crap or not and a few brothers here didn't care and traded with me anyway. I was able to try out many cigars I was looking at online and found quite a few affordable brands I Loved along with many I was not so fond of to know not to purchase in my future orders
Sorry to potentially blaspheme here guys lol ..............
Due to the GENEROUS !! spirit of many brothers here in trades or just straight out bombs to me I was able to try a few Opus-X, some high end Padrone's, some ISOM's, and a few other $20 + cigars,
And because of that was lucky enough to get some "unreachable to me" priced cigars like the Opus-X and higher end Padron cigars to experience and find out that I didn't even like them, (( - - - the blaspheme lol
So I know now that I don't ever have to waste my money or figure out how to justify the cost to buy them to try out
My last advice may not apply to your area, but I have a B&M here where I live that only sales there brand cigar (Hatuey), and I love quite a few of them, most of what I smoke from their inventory is $3-$5 a stick stuff, and (I go there every week, they are my staple daily smoke) they always give me 1 stick free for every 6 I purchase regardless of label/price of the sticks, and they have a nice bar 20 steps outside the door that lest you take your drink into the cigar lounge
Hope any of that helps you out, I know about being on a budget and needing to figure out ways to be able to enjoy a cigar every day (along side my wife) so 2 sticks a day means I need to be a little creative sometimes lol
EDIT.....
Also I forgot to mention, I was given a few bundles of 2nd's (Nicaraguan 90+ Rated 2nds) and loved em, they are fairly inexpensive also, a few other 2nd's were talked about on the forum here also I am going to end up trying. So that might help you also
I am not being flippant at all when I say welcome to the club.
I have yet to plan that perfect day to smoke the "Lost City" that was sent to me awhile back. Been close a couple of times....