Interactive Tool: How Much Is Smoking Costing You?
What does this tool measure?
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This interactive tool calculates how much money you have spent on cigarettes in the past or how much you will spend on them in the future. When computing future costs, this calculator does not take into account inflation or the rising cost of cigarettes or the taxes on them. The actual amount you spend will be higher.
Although you may be surprised at how much you spend on cigarettes over a period of time, smoking costs even more when you consider illnesses caused by smoking. The more cigarettes you smoke and the longer you smoke, the more costs will add up from smoking-related medical problems such as lung cancer, heart disease, or emphysema.
Perhaps most importantly, this tool can't calculate the costs that aren't measured in dollars. Smoking will eventually cost you time and will take a toll on your quality of life, and it will likely have an impact on the people you care about.
| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS Debby Golonka, MPH | Last Updated: August 1, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine John Hughes, MD - Psychiatry | |
I smoked for 30 plus years, got up to 5 packs (100) cigarettes per day. I tried everything to quit - but I finally figured out how to quit and now I have been smoke free for seven years. I do not crave to smoke, and I don't care if people smoke around me as long as they open a window for the smoke to roll out of.
I had all the apprehensions everyone does - "what will I do with my hands," and "I really love to smoke," and "smoking is my best friend." Well, now, we all know that smoking is a killer, not a friend.
How did I quit? Pretty simply - I said to myself, "When I get paid, I am buying the Nicoderm Patch instead of cigarettes. I am going to quit, I am not going to try to quit - I will quit and some day I will be glad - No matter how hard it is, I will quit."
I did - I used the patch and learned that you can't wear it at night, or you will have nightmares. It was a very hot day in August - and I had to duct tape the patch to my arm. The most important thing I did was make a record of how I felt while I quit. As soon as I would get a craving, I would get out my note book and start to write my feelings and attitude until the craving went away.
I wondered how I could sit through a t.v. or news show without a cigarette - or get in my car to go somewhere without making sure I had cigarettes with me. I even started smoking in the shower before I quit. It was an expensive, obnoxious habit - the cigarettes controlled me and governed my entire life. Every picture of me was of me holding a cigarette in my fingers.
What did I learn? I learned that your brain wants a a reward when you do something good or something bad - it wants a reward - but it doesn't have to be cigarettes -it can be chewing on a toothpick, eating a piece of sugarless candy or gum, your brain just wants to be rewarded. The process has nothing to do with what will you do with your hands. It is the brain, stupid.
And, I was stupid. I could have bought a house with the money instead of buying cigarettes.
I do not crave cigarettes at all - and the notebook and diary is the biggest key to quitting. At first I was making an entry every five minutes, because that is how often I smoked - but then it went down until after a month or so - I forgot to write in the diary at all.
By the way, I couldn't stand the patches for very long - I couldn't go through the whole program - they made me sick to my stomach - all that nicotine in the body - so I got the strongest patch and cut them into three patches = saved a lot of money and I only used one or two sets of patches. You don't have to go as many weeks and steps down as they say in the direction.
I am the happiest person in the world that I quit. I had put a sign in my kitchen that said, "Someday I will be on the other side of this rainbow" and I got there, and you can, too. One thing, the days get long, because you aren't wasting the time smoking, and your chest quits feeling wierd and scary.
Quit - you will be glad you did. Don't try to quit - QUIT !
I am a smoker for the last 43 yrs. I have many health issues that require me to quit smoking but I love to smoke. I am considerate with others who don't smoke but I feel my life is my life. Because I don't smoke around others, I am only hurting myself and I will die from one or more of my health issues. The government has raised the taxes so much that now I don't have a choice. I HAVE TO QUIT!!!!!!! I am very disappointed that the manufacturing companys and the stores have the prices extremely high for their "Stop smoking products" and how do you truly know which ones to buy??????
Nobody attacks other items that can kill people such as alcohol!!!!!!
What happened to "Freedom of choice??????????
Whoever said that obesity does not affect the health others around as does cigarettes is correct. However, obesity does cost all of us a lot of money. I see many obese people on a daily basis who are disabled and unable to work due to problems associated with obesity. Guess who is paying for their room, board and medical care in many cases? We, the taxpayers, are!
I feel sorry for these people. They never intended to get themselves into this condition. However, we have a medical system that puts high priority on breakthroughs in treatment of disease. But very little effort goes into educating people on the prevention of disease.
From what I have been reading recently, most of the risk factors leading to the major diseases of cancer, heart problems, stroke, obesity and adult onset diabetes are preventable. What is being done to get this information into the hands and minds of people so that they can prevent a large portion of these diseases?
I agree with william III. I may be overweight but my being overweight doesn't affect the health of others around me. On the other hand, I AM very sensitive to smoke and can't help but cough, and cough, and cough when around smokers. Smokers don't appreciate how damaging their smoke can be to others.
Smokers might also want to consider that whether or not they are smoking at the time, they exude the stench of smoking from their clothing and bodies. An old adage also points out that "Kissing a smoker is like licking a dirty chimney..."
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