Do you smoke...?

[Dean3]

Well TY most gracious moderator lady! Your honesty is a fine example for us all.. And yepper,I know You were joshin me too.

Some day I'll prolly have a question for Larry(or is it "Harry"?-JK ),,I'm thinking if a 6-valve manifold right where the main water feed enters the floor then running PEX or some such from there to everywhere. I'm sure it would require high quality valves cause they would be left on most of the time.. But that's another thread for another time I think..

Back to smoking;;
After about 3 weeks or so I still have roughly 1/3 of the 1lb of tobacco I bought for $23!! Used to spend $35 a week on cartons!

Dean

[sd0321]

I bought three packs of my (off) brand cigarettes today, and saw that the price had jumped from around 3.63 a pack to about 4.14 a pack! And the cashier said in a few weeks it is going to go even higher......

So if a person wants to roll their own.....is the price of tobacco (in a bag or a can or whatever it comes in) going to go up also? If you buy the things you need to roll your own cigarettes are you still going to be saving money after the prices go up even more? Or is the increased price just on packaged cigarettes?

Send me the book, Dean and Yanita and Audie, when it's out Sherry

[oldfart]

Sherry...you ain't seen nuthin' yet. BBBbbaby you ain't seen nuthin' YET! Sounds like an old song doesn't it? Sherry let me explain. At present it costs me $13 for 1lb. of tobacco....$1.50 ea. for 3 boxes of tubes to "roll my own." Total cost....$17.50 to roll up 3 cartons of smokes. 600 cigerettes....or "roughly" $6 per carton of smokes not including the cost of the machine. ($40) I previously estimated the cost at $8 per carton to allow for the cost of the rolling machine and devaluation of same. As of April 1st. the cost of tobbacco will rise..with the new Fed. Tax to $38 per pound. Not a typo...$38 per pound. Factory rolled smokes will increase by $10 per carton...minimum.... regardless of brand. Now..will it still be "cost effective" to roll our own. Lets do some math. The cost of the tubes will remain the same..no tax on them. The cost of the rolling machines might jump a bit just to gig the consumers..this is expected. Soooo..the cost of a carton of smokes will rise to $53 and I can still roll up a carton of smokes for...$14 even gittin' gigged by the Feds. Now don't get me wrong...I'm still gittin' gigged..but I'm gittin' less gigged than you are..by about $39 PER CARTON! Now, given the inginuety (sp.?) of the innernet some enterprising individual is going to realize...."HOLY ++++! I could roll up smokes in my spare time and sell them here for 1/2 the price of Marlboros and make a fortune!!" Eh! EHHH? Sherry..this is what the term "cottage industry" is all about. All I'm saying is this is a perfect oppertunity for someone who wants to work at home with minimal investement...working in their spare time..to make a...considerable profit. Tax free. Audie..the Oldfart..

[Dean3]

Sherry,in IA there's an increase coming April 1st,dunno how big or where it's coming from but I assume it is tax. Also saw or heard something to the effect of "the price of all tobacco related products is going up",sorta wish I had paid a little better attention at the time. Back a ways,Audie mentioned that His bags of tobacco increased quite a bit in price,,so,,I assume it is tax that is state implemented and "getting around" from state to state,,dunno details of federal tobacco taxes either,but,would assume the ATF can always use some more funding!

My seeds should be getting here soon,I'm gonna mix the potting soil and humus and get the seedlings going soon as I can.. Now after a bit more study on the net I see that not only does tobacco need to be dried(several methods for that),,it should be aged to make it smoother for smoking..I believe it can be smoked before aging,,it will just be harsher,,might be able to deal with that by using light filtered cig tubes..I plan to buy as many pounds as I can before Aril 1st and also to grow as much as I can fit here effectively,,that way I have enough to last while much of it is aging..

This is taking more study and planning than i thought it would but I'm not giving up yet! Oh,and I'll have to make room for storage while it ages too..Then there's the varying info on yield of dried weight per plant(from 1oz-1/2lb),,not sure if that includes processing(removing stems/veins)or not.

Dean

[oldfart]

Aye Dean, I've already done the research and the cost/time/labor involved in growin' yer own..ain't worth it! I work with a feller that raised tabaccy as a youth and from what he told me it's slave labor. On the upside..and just fer chuckles...yesterday when I went into the local tabaccy supply I told the gal tendin' the counter that I was planting my tabaccy right in the garden next to the pot plants and the rubber tree and the Feds could K.M.A.!!!!! HAW!HAW!HAW! Audie......

[Dean3]

I intend to try to till as much area as the landlord will allow so I can plant as much as possible to give some leeway for all the stuff in My previous post,He already gave permission but now I want to ready(till/mix manure and sand/etc) more ground than I had asked for before,,We'll see how that flies in a few weeks,,He was very agreeable before tho.

I told some friends I was going to try to get around 200 seedlings going and whatever I can't transplant here they could transplant out at their farm..Depending on how many actually sprout and how much area I get to use here the seedlings for them could be reduced a bit! I do want to make them happy too tho cause they have outbuildings for drying and such if I run out of room here!

Also it is not recommended to grow tobacco in the same plot year to year,,well I have no room for a literal crop rotation so if I can yield well then I can skip a year and grow something edible! I suppose with more study and a bit more work when the time comes,,,the proper nutrients could be managed in order to grow tobacco year to year in the same ground,,,gotta look into that some more but have plenty of time to research before it is addressed.

Dean

[Dean3]

Audie,,LOL!! Reminds Me of that old song "Wildwood Weed" or some such name,,in the end the feds were leaving and the brothers "smiled and waved,,settin there on that sack-o-seeds"!!

I'm gonna give baccy a go and see how it works out..We have no clue just how far the Gov and goody-2-shoes groups are gonna go with raising prices in the future,,so,,slave labor just might be well worth it..If it doesn't pay off then I can switch to growing food to help offset the price of storebought baccy,,kinda goes against My grain to bow to them but sometimes Ya just gotta,,,,,,,,,for the time being anyway..

Keep the faith My Friend/s,,keep the faith.

Dean

[Dean3]

Just noticed this post Audie,didn't see it in there before!

"Now, given the inginuety (sp.?) of the innernet some enterprising individual is going to realize...."HOLY ++++! I could roll up smokes in my spare time and sell them here for 1/2 the price of Marlboros and make a fortune!!" Eh! EHHH? Sherry..this is what the term "cottage industry" is all about. All I'm saying is this is a perfect oppertunity for someone who wants to work at home with minimal investement...working in their spare time..to make a...considerable profit. Tax free. Audie..the Oldfart.."

I like the way You think! But,,not so sure about the laws for that cottage industry,,as-to selling it,,unless of course all the rules and fees are adhered to..Now that doesn't mean every road is closed by any means,,far as I know You can grow any legal substance and *trade* for goods or services,,as long as no cash changes hands..Considering that about 20% of folks still smoke that opens a fair sized market for trading.

I dunno tho,*maybe* it *is* legal to sell(for cash)tobacco on a smaller scale without regulations and such mucking it all up..I'm just saying I would check those carefully If Ya haven't already..Not just local details,,country-wide(federal)details too.

Dean

[Dean3]

I was just searching for any homegrown tobacco laws/regs or trading regs,,didn't have too much luck but did happen onto this interresting read;;

http://extras.journalnow.com/lostempire/tob2a.htm

I especially like the Huron Indian myth!! It's kinda cool/funny/perplexing all at the same time! LOL.. "from where she sits"?!?!

I see Iowa was the 1st state to ever tax cigs,,go figger dat one.. Iowa does lotsa weird sh&#,,but,,I still like it.

Dean

[sd0321]

Well, after reading the above last night, and since I'm not planning on stopping smoking at the moment....I got out the yellow pages and looked and we don't have a tobacco shop around here....there is a place in Watertown (not exactly right next door to me) that sells something that sounded like Mclintock (?) tobacco by the pound for $20.91 per pound, and they sell a type of the (whatever it is called) to roll them for $48 dollars.

Six dollars a carton jumping to fourteen a carton is quite a jump in price, but heckuva lot better that what it's going to cost to buy them already rolled.... Any regular stores sell tobacco and equiptment? Or shop online?

Why target tobacco products to get more revenue anyway? Why not ice cream?

[Yanita]

LOL,sd0321,

I just finished a bowl of ice cream, please no more taxes.

As I was reading our local news on line our wonderful Governor is going (trying) to pass a bill that will raise our cigs another 1.00 a pack, this follows the 71 (per pack) cent increase we got last week.

Oh, alcohol will get a 5% tax as well.

Today was the typical stop and get a cartoon...bought the cheapest, not regular brand...holy sh!t. $40.11 for the carton, by Friday I will stop at the local pharmacy and see what the patches cost...and probably skip over a few aisles and see what diet products cost while I am at it!

LOL, not overweight yet, but hear that everyone gains weight when/after/during quitting!

Our state needs to make up a 25 million deficit, looks like most of it falls on the backs of smokers...what did I say earlier in this thread!!!

If I get into a foul mood don't ask how quitting is coming along....

Yanita

[Dean3]

sd0321,,Audie's recommendation of the Premier Supermatic tube stuffer is the best one I know of and what I will try if I find one locally..I dunno about the Supermatic II,,have seen a few negatve reports on that model..

Tobacco taxes? Ugh,urgh,ack doesn't begin to describe it.

As far as I can find out it is legal to grow it Yourself and I'm sure givin it a try. If Anybody knows of a website that lists state/local laws about personal tobacco growing I'd sure love to see the link!! I can't find anything exacting as yet and haven't heard from My nephew(lawyer)if He found anything yet.

Just did My 1st flat of 48 pods,,testing My procedure with Virginia Gold in 1/2 and TA 101 Golden Seal Special in the other 1/2.. After trying to handle those tiny seeds I changed My strategy after the 1st pack,,this easier way takes more seeds so I'm going to order another 1,000,heck,maybe 2,000,,just to be sure they go where I want. I can barely see them! Too many seedlings will be lots better than not enough! Any extras go to friends farmhouse yard.

If anybody tries messin with tiny tobacco seeds *do not* try putting them on a styrofoam plate! LOL. The static electricity in the plate is enough to make the tiny things either stick or actually go uphill/backwards! I just nipped a bit off the corner of the baggie and sprinkled for the 2nd try,,worked much better.

Dean

[sd0321]

Thanks Dean ~

I must have missed the part where Audie said the name "Premier Supermatic tube stuffer".... good to know a brand name!

....and Yanita ..... you know it isn't really fair that some things....okay, habits or addictions...get taxed or otherwise paid more for, and others don't.

Health insurance, for example. On my previous health insurance we (ex and I) had to pay an additional 25 dollars per pay period because we smoked. But.....weight didn't matter. We could have weighed 200 pounds more than we "should" (as if charts really mean anything) and not paid any more. Yet aren't persons who are, say, 200 pounds overweight as much as a medical liability as smokers?

So, no offense to you, who surely doesn't need to lose weight, but why not ice cream tax? It's fair, we all eat it sometimes. Or beef jerky. I mean, the increase doesn't benefit the tobacco industry, does it? Probably just hurts them. Just saying, why not spread the pain around....to Ben & Jerry's or other companies? How about toilet paper producers? (We all use it, and we aren't likely to start rolling our own.....ha ha....) Sherry

[Dean3]

Sherry,,here are a few reults from the 1st page of a google search for "supermatic premier",they looked to Me to be from smoke shops but I have *no* exerience ordering from any of them. The 1st link is sort of a "primer" to learn more about stuffers.


http://www.ryomagazine.com/winter2003/injectors.htm


http://www.smokersoutletonline.com/prem ... -p-50.html

http://www.tobaccostation.com/Merchant2 ... gmach.html

http://careysmokeshop.stores.yahoo.net/supermatic.html

[sd0321]

Thanks Dean ~ going to check those sites out right now, Sherry