"I Typed 'Vape' Into My Banking App. £1,962." — The Leeds Dad Who Worked Out What His 'Healthy Habit' Was Really Costing Him
Mark kept his camera off in work meetings so nobody would see him vaping. Then his five-year-old asked why Daddy spends so long in the bathroom.
"I'd switched from cigarettes to save money and save my lungs. I hadn't saved either. I'd just made it invisible." — Mark, 39, Leeds
Mark works in IT, from the box room of a terraced house in Headingley. Two kids, a mortgage, a dog that needs walking at lunchtime.
He smoked from university until he was 35. Then, in 2022, he switched to disposables "for the kids".
"They were a fiver each, they were everywhere, and they were easy. I'd finish one every couple of days. Sometimes quicker."
When disposables were banned in June 2025, he switched to a refillable. "Different kit, same habit."
Camera off
Working from home turned out to be the worst thing that could have happened to his vaping.
"There's no smoking area at home. No going outside. It's just you and the vape, all day. I used to keep my camera off in meetings so I could vape. Every meeting."
He'd tell himself it was fine. No smell on his clothes. No ash. "Healthy-ish."
The bank app
Then, one evening this summer, he was moaning about the price of liquid going up again.
"I was going on about it to my wife and she said, go on then, how much do you actually spend?"
So he typed "vape" into the search bar of his banking app.
£1,962 in the last twelve months.
"That's a family holiday. That's Alfie's football club for five years. I sat there staring at it. And that's just what showed up as 'vape'. Never mind the ones I bought with cash."
"Why do you go to the bathroom so much, Daddy?"
The money stung. What came next hurt.
"Alfie's five. He's at the age where he notices everything. One teatime he says, 'Daddy, why do you go to the bathroom so much?'"
Mark had been hiding in the bathroom to vape so the kids wouldn't see.
"He wasn't being clever. He just wanted to know. And I didn't have an answer I wanted to give him."
Everything he'd tried
0mg liquid. "Like decaf coffee. Looks the same, tastes the same, I was on it just as much."
Cutting down. "I'd drop the strength and just vape more to make up for it."
Willpower. "Lasted until the first stressful call of the day. Every time."
"I'm not daft. I knew the nicotine wasn't the real problem by then. I'd been on 3mg for a year. It was the habit: the hand, the desk, the five-minute break that isn't a break. I just didn't know what to do about it."
The ad he nearly scrolled past
Mark found HÜM the way most people do: an ad on his phone, late at night.
"I nearly scrolled past. A wooden stick for vapers? But the line that got me was: it's not the nicotine, it's your hand. That was exactly it."
What HÜM actually is
HÜM is a stick of wood and metal, about the length of your finger. You hold it and draw on it, the same movement your hand already knows. A small flavour insert gives you cool, lightly flavoured air.
- No nicotine
- No vapour
- No battery, nothing to charge, no liquid, so the new vape tax (£2.20 on every 10ml since October) doesn't touch it
- A twist ring to set how tight the draw feels
"Honest review: the first week the flavour's light and it feels nothing like a vape. That's fine. I didn't want a vape. I wanted my hand to have something to do."
More than 22,500 people have tried HÜM, and 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days.
Camera on
Mark put HÜM exactly where his vape used to sit, next to the keyboard.
"First week I was on it constantly. By week three I'd forget it was there for hours."
Six weeks in, the vape is gone. The camera's back on in meetings.
"Fifty quid to start, against nearly two grand a year on the vape. I don't need to be good at maths."
And Alfie?
"He hasn't asked about the bathroom since. I'm hoping he never has to."
Try HÜM risk-free
HÜM Starter Pack — £49.99 £82.99 (40% off)
- 1 HÜM stick + 3 flavour inserts (around 72 hours each)
- Free UK delivery · ships in 3 days
- Or 3 interest-free payments of £16.63 with Klarna
30-Day Guarantee. Use HÜM every day for 30 days. If you're not satisfied by Day 30, email hello@feelhum.com and get a full refund. No questions. No hassle. Less than 1% of customers ever claim it.
★ 22,500+ customers · 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days
THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE OR BLOG POST. Mark's story is a dramatisation based on real customer experiences; names, places, figures and photos are illustrative. Results vary. HÜM contains no nicotine and is not a medical device. For medical concerns, consult your healthcare provider.