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There’s nothing quite like the feeling of having an abundance of great weed all the time. You ditch the pipe and the one-hitter, invite friends over for smoke sessions without a special occasion, and discover your ability to make giant cone-shaped joints.
But what about when times are a bit tougher, when you’re short on weed or you just don’t quite have the budget to be careless with your herb? Sure, you could buy some dirt weed and save a few bucks. Alternatively, you can try some of these easy tricks that can help you make great weed last through the thinner times.
1. Use a one-hitter
Assuming that the herb you bought really is one-hitter-quitter then this first tip is just common sense. For many cannabis smokers, if the bowl is packed, it’s getting smoked until it’s cashed, even if the first two hits were enough to get you where you wanted to go.
Using a one-hitter is similar to the wisdom of putting less food on your plate. You’ve served yourself a smaller portion, but it’s still enough to get two solid hits without using nearly as much weed as it takes to pack a bowl in a typical spoon “pipe.”
The one-hitter can also be a great “bridge” solution for those times when you want to smoke a couple of more hits, but prefer to wait till later to smoke an entire bowl in their pipe or bong. A one-hitter can bridge that gap, and save a little weed at the same time.
2. Set daily boundaries
Setting strict boundaries might not sound like something that goes great with weed, but it could help you spend less money in time. And it doesn’t need to be extreme.
If you’re used to a wake and bake session in the morning, then consider pushing it back and having that first smoke around lunchtime. If you really want to stretch it out, save it till the evening hours.
You could also set a late night “last call” for weed. For instance, if it’s already 11pm and you haven’t smoked yet, call it a night and save that weed for tomorrow. It’s already late anyway.
Another way to save money is to treat cannabis more like a daily medication. For instance, if you have an 1/8th of weed that you’d like to last more than a day or do, consider taking that 3.5 grams of weed and separating it into 7 half gram nugs, one for each day of the week.
3. Look for dispensary deals
If you live in a legal adult-use cannabis state, then you should have even more options to smoke weed without breaking the bank.
Most dispensaries should have deals that change on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and can really help you save money. This could entail deals that allow you to buy herb in bulk, like ounces for around $100, or deals that include a free pre-roll with the purchase of each eighth or quarter ounce.
Take a look at the website of your local dispensary and try to time your purchases for days when there are deals that will suit exactly what you’re looking for. Those dispensary deals also don’t need to mean that you’re bulking up on mediocre weed. You can buy big sacks of popcorn buds of primo weed at a great price, or just cheaper than usual eighths and quarters of perfectly frosted nugs of your favorite strain.
4. Save the scraps for later
For decades, an ashtray full of roaches was the go-to solution for people who were at home and out of weed. Nowadays, with most people rolling their joints with a crutch/filter, the roach clip and generous roaches of yesteryear may be more scarce, but they aren’t entirely gone.
Consider keeping a smell-proof box (or mason jar) around your house where you can toss half or three-quarter smoked joints, little bits of stems and shake, and other scraps that you’d otherwise discard when you’re flush with weed. It could definitely come in handy later, and not only as a “break glass in case of emergency” solution. Smoking those odds and ends even when you have some herb can make your stash last a little longer.
5. Use a grinder with a kief catcher
Many cannabis budgeting tips really just entail continuing to do what you’re already doing. If you grind up a little bit of cannabis flower every night before rolling a joint, make sure to use a grinder with a kief catcher. Kief is highly potent and can be used to get high in all types of ways, including smoking or making edibles or just a cup of really strong kief tea. Kief also doesn’t need to be used in lieu of flowers. Instead, you can pack a smaller bowl of cannabis flower than usual, and sprinkle some kief on top. Chances are, this will get you just as high (if not higher) while using less weed.
You won’t see a lot of kief after that first time you grind up a nug for a joint, but in time, it really adds up and then you can store it in a kief box and you can save it for later.
6. Roll smaller joints
There’s nothing Instagram-worthy about a “pinner,” but if you’re smoking by yourself they can definitely get the job done. People who strongly prefer smoking joints can easily go through their stash quicker than those who prefer pipes and one-hitters, especially if every session involves a cone-shaped joint.
But if you ever find that joint feeling a bit heavy about ⅔ of the way down your solo session, then you might want to roll a smaller joint. Consider putting a longer than usual filter in the pinner, or mix the flower with a little dash of herbal rolling mix.
7. Make a big batch of edibles
Not everybody loves edibles, and the high can be quite different than smoking. Still, they can definitely hit the spot, and could be a way to save some money on your weed expenses – especially if you’re used to buying store-bought edibles.
If you make a batch of cannabis oil or cannabutter at home, then you can easily make all types of edibles at home without having to pay dispensary prices for edibles. A tincture can also be a very effective way to make your weed stretch farther, especially if you have some extra cannabis trim laying around. And once you have a big batch of tinctures made, you may find that it produces a great high and lasts a lot longer than cannabis flower.
8. Use already-been-vaped (ABV) weed
Already been vaped bud (also known as “already vaped bud,” or AVB) is cannabis flower that has already been vaporized in a dry herb vaporizer. While its brownish appearance may look like it can’t be used again, there’s actually a lot you can do to repurpose weed you’ve used to vape, therefore saving you money.
When you smoke ABV it won’t be as strong as the original flower, and will likely be a harsher smoke, but some of the original cannabinoids and terpenes still remain, making it a worthwhile exercise.
Alternatively, you can add the already vaped bud to hot drinks in order to take them to the next level. If making coffee, simply add some ABV to the coffee grounds when brewing your coffee. For tea, add the vaped bud in with your tea bag or leaves and steep as usual.
9. Try using a vaporizer
This can be pretty subjective, but many people find that they use less flower when smoking with a vaporizer (though the opposite can also be true). A vaporizer can produce strong, even harsh hits of vapor that can get you very high even with just a small little nug in the oven of the vape.
And once you’ve finally cashed that bowl in the vape, you can save the already vaped bud and put it to use too, further conserving your weed.
10. Make a spliff (with tobacco alternatives)
A spliff is traditionally a joint made from rolling weed and tobacco together and it’s a handy way to stretch your weed a little further when you want to smoke a joint. However there are plenty of alternatives you can use instead of tobacco that may be cheaper, and also healthier.
Some popular alternatives include lavender, sage and rosemary and as well as making your joint go that bit further, these alternatives can help you make your weed go further without using nicotine and they also offer complimentary terpenes and flavonoids.
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