RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
I quit smoking.
How I Saved $14,500. In About 4 Years
- Thread starter RadishRose
- Start date
applecruncher
SF VIP
- Location
- Ohio USA
Yep, that'll do it.
Catlady
Well-known Member
- Location
- Southern AZ
I have LOTS of regrets, but smoking is not one of them. I am so glad I never started it. Congrats for quitting and saving all that money.
GeorgiaXplant
Well-known Member
- Location
- Georgia
Today is the end of week one for me. So far so good using the patch. At approximately $6/pk, I've avoided spending $18. At that rate in four years, I will have saved about $4K...and probably spent it all on my flower garden. LOL
Anyway, I know better than to say I've quit, just that I haven't had a cigarette in a week. Good thing about the patch is that I don't even want a cigarette. If I can get past the next couple of weeks, I'll consider myself actually on the road to recovery. And once I don't need the patch anymore, maybe the cardiologist will change my BP meds to something that doesn't make my feet and ankles swell (please!).
Anyway, I know better than to say I've quit, just that I haven't had a cigarette in a week. Good thing about the patch is that I don't even want a cigarette. If I can get past the next couple of weeks, I'll consider myself actually on the road to recovery. And once I don't need the patch anymore, maybe the cardiologist will change my BP meds to something that doesn't make my feet and ankles swell (please!).
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
GeorgiaXplant
Well-known Member
- Location
- Georgia
That alone would have made me quit. Holy cow, that's a lotta lettuce!One day at a time. You're on your way.
* our cigs are 10.00 a pack!
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
Most of it is tax.
applecruncher
SF VIP
- Location
- Ohio USA
Popular brands are about $8 - $8.50 a pack here in Ohio last I checked, generic brands cheaper.
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Knight
Well-known Member
You need to set a goal, and if you put that money you would have spent into something to increase it. A goal for example could be paying cash for a new car or a vacation to some place you have always wanted to visit. Any goal for use for pure enjoyment will help keep you on track to not smoke again.
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
Great!
I quit all tobacco use 20 years ago, either in September or October, don't remember. So how much did I save, and where would I find this big pile of money?
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
Hubby and I quit together 36 years ago when we (well, mostly I) started talking about starting a family. I was up to at least 1-1/2 packs a day, though like most smokers I lied about how much I smoked. Even to myself. Especially to myself.
I stopped all nicotine, (fun) drugs, and alcohol for 6 months before attempting to conceive.
There are times when nicotine's siren song still calls to me, particularly when I'm having a few drinks.
I stopped all nicotine, (fun) drugs, and alcohol for 6 months before attempting to conceive.
There are times when nicotine's siren song still calls to me, particularly when I'm having a few drinks.
yup
Ronni
Well-known Member
- Location
- Nashville TN
See, if I could smoke like this I'd still be a smoker. I know people who will have one or two a day, or none at all unless they have a drink and then they'll have one.
I started in my teens and quit when I got pregnant. Stayed quit till 1999 when things got really, really bad with my ex and I started up again.
I've tried so hard to do that, after months of no smoking, thinking I've got it licked, one puff or one cig won't hurt me. Nope. Just like a typical addict, one puff led to one cig led to a couple led to buying a pack and thinking I'd make it last for a month to full relapse of smoking a pack a day inside of a couple of weeks. Can't do it. Tried it three times till I finally, irrevocably realized that I'm just not that person, and that I AM addicted. Quit completely in 2008 and have stayed quit so far.
But just like an addict I recognize that I'm still a smoker, just a smoker in recovery. One day at a time. I still get the urge. I still want one every so often. But I'm still prevailing!!!!
Sorry....didn't mean to make this about me.
WAY TO GO @RadishRose !!!
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
Good for you Ronni!See, if I could smoke like this I'd still be a smoker. I know people who will have one or two a day, or none at all unless they have a drink and then they'll have one.
I started in my teens and quit when I got pregnant. Stayed quit till 1999 when things got really, really bad with my ex and I started up again.
I've tried so hard to do that, after months of no smoking, thinking I've got it licked, one puff or one cig won't hurt me. Nope. Just like a typical addict, one puff led to one cig led to a couple led to buying a pack and thinking I'd make it last for a month to full relapse of smoking a pack a day inside of a couple of weeks. Can't do it. Tried it three times till I finally, irrevocably realized that I'm just not that person, and that I AM addicted. Quit completely in 2008 and have stayed quit so far.
But just like an addict I recognize that I'm still a smoker, just a smoker in recovery. One day at a time. I still get the urge. I still want one every so often. But I'm still prevailing!!!!
Sorry....didn't mean to make this about me.
WAY TO GO @RadishRose !!!
Like you, I know if I pick up one cig, I'll be right back to it.
Like you, I want one once in a while, but it's not a craving like before; just a vague feeling of "something missing" and it passes quickly.
RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
36 years, Star? That's so wonderful!
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
Thanks, RR. Hoping that you get through this. As @Ronni said above, it's important to remember that we remain addicts.
In those 36 years I've only had a cigarette in my mouth one time: while visiting a friend who was dying of end stage AIDs and had already gone blind from CMV. He was a smoker and asked me to please light a cigarette for him. It had been about 12 years since I gave up smoking and I briefly debated with myself. Do I say, "No can do, I promised myself to never touch another cigarette!" or do I suck it up and stop making this about me?
I chose the latter. As I'd always done, I inhaled as part of the lighting process. Like my first cigarette at 17, I started coughing, the smoke tasted gross, and I felt slightly sick. Unlike my first cigarette at 17, I handed the cigarette off to dear Mario and never picked up another.
fmdog44
Well-known Member
- Location
- Houston, Texas
$6/pk X 2 pks/day =$12/day X 7 days = $84/wk X 52 weeks = $4,368/yr. X 20 yrs = $87,360. (the increase in the cost of a pack not included.)
I was in my neighbors condo last week and it stunk of cigarettes while being spotlessly clean. Then a few days later I gave him a ride to the store and he smelled like his condo. So not only are saving money and getting healthy, you don't stink!
I was in my neighbors condo last week and it stunk of cigarettes while being spotlessly clean. Then a few days later I gave him a ride to the store and he smelled like his condo. So not only are saving money and getting healthy, you don't stink!
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applecruncher
SF VIP
- Location
- Ohio USA
When I was smoking what I found interesting was the "little" lies people will tell.
Many people will say they don't mind if a guest/friend smokes, when in fact they DO mind. They don't like it at all. Nowadays people are more outspoken about it, but I recall several situations when I wish people had just said "We don't want/allow smoking in the house/on the property" instead of fanning the smoke, coughing, rubbing their eyes.
Many ex-smokers can relate to this: The first several times that I"quit" I used to keep a couple lighters that weren't quite used up... on the mantle beside a couple candles....in case the electric power went out.
That's BS. First of all, I've never liked candles; they're a fire hazard just like cigarettes. I have several readily accessible flashlights if the power goes out. Those lighters were there for when I wanted to start smoking again.
But - putting $$ not spent on cigarettes in an envelope every day/week/month was certainly an eye opener.
Many people will say they don't mind if a guest/friend smokes, when in fact they DO mind. They don't like it at all. Nowadays people are more outspoken about it, but I recall several situations when I wish people had just said "We don't want/allow smoking in the house/on the property" instead of fanning the smoke, coughing, rubbing their eyes.
Many ex-smokers can relate to this: The first several times that I"quit" I used to keep a couple lighters that weren't quite used up... on the mantle beside a couple candles....in case the electric power went out.
That's BS. First of all, I've never liked candles; they're a fire hazard just like cigarettes. I have several readily accessible flashlights if the power goes out. Those lighters were there for when I wanted to start smoking again.But - putting $$ not spent on cigarettes in an envelope every day/week/month was certainly an eye opener.
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TravelinMan
Rapscallious Curmudgeon
Congratulations!!!
You may have saved $14,500 in 4 years, but when I look at the friends that smoke/have smoked I begin to see the true saving by you quitting now. The health issues often catch up with the tobacco users in their "Golden Years" and they start to incur large medical charges to help them deal with their poor health. My own brother-in-law died at age 63 of complications of of his COPD. He was buying meds and taking nebulizer treatments frequently.