Note: i refer to delta-8 and THCa flower
From what i can tell vaping appears to be the cheapest way to enjoy your herbs. A d8 .510 cart is $12-$20 for a 1g cart and each cart has ~150 hits so each hit is $0.08-$0.14. Now edibles on the other hand sound super expensive. A 1000mg (1g) thing of d8 gummies is $60 for 40 gummies or $1.50 per gummy. Each of these gummies have 25mg of d8 in them. To vape 25mg would need ~5 hits and cost $0.40-$0.65. Or am i way the fuck off base and fucked up my maths. Always did suck in that class.
Edit: i have also heard that vaping is better because it uses much lower temps and doesnt burn off most of the terps before they get to you.
So here’s what I did this year and it worked out pretty good. Note i live in us so if you live elsewere this may not b an option. I got a pound of cheap legal hemp flower from an online wholesaler for 400$ and use it as filler flower in between the good stuff of to occasionally mix it in to make good stuff last longer. Its lasted me 6 months got it beginning of summer and on the final maybe 10g. I am a heavy smoker.
Then I got my first dry herb vape. Dry herb vapes are definitely the most cost effective way to smoke, the smokes a lot cleaner, taste a lot better, and sessions last a lot longer. Its nice to be able to dial in on your preferred temp range. But nothing is quite like a hard combustion hit. Sometimes I indulge a good bong hit still even if its not the most cost effective .