The Math of Smoking - What's it Costing You? | Lifestyle

The Math of Smoking - What's it Costing You?

by AmberEamen

If you are attempting to quit smoking, it might drive you more to see the overall impact that smoking does to your budget. If you only push yourself to the idea of quitting for health reasons, that might not just be enough. You really have to understand how much smoking is costing you each year that you are engaged with the habit. Aside from that, there are also health complications that smoking brings which add further to the cost. However, the minimum cost that you spend on smoking is definitely from the price of the cigarettes themselves.

If you have taken the time to do mental calculations of how much smoking have cost you, you would surely find it rather a noticeable amount. Prices are steadily rising, and that includes the price of cigarettes. A big reason for this is that many states as well as the federal government imposed an awfully high amount of taxes for cigarettes to offset the ill effects that cigarettes brought to health. On average, a pack of cigarette is sold at $5 all over the country. If your habit of smoking makes you consume a single pack per day then it would add up to seven packs a week.

You might have the impression that it really does not cost that much. But if you think of spending $35 on cigarettes, you might just be surprised how it has added up so quickly. Imagine in a single week you are burning your 35 hard-earned dollars! For a lot of people, this already translates to a tank of gas, a movie date, or a brand new outfit if you are a smart shopper. Or you can see your account deposit getting bigger and bigger, rather than have it burn to ashes.

Though the $35 may seem like big money for many, to some people it is just a little money spent for a habit that they love doing. Now consider this. If the average month has 30 days and everyday you smoke a $5 pack of cigarettes, simple multiplication would tell you that you are approximately spending $150 a month. This is already a substantial amount that could have gone to people's gas bills, power bills, water bills, phone bills or an overnight getaway.

If you really want to see just how big the impact of smoking does to your finances, just consider that in a year you have consumed 365 packs. Now multiply these 365 packs by 20 sticks and you will have burned 7,300 cigarettes each year at the price of an astonishing $1,825! That's how little you spent on cigarettes! Remember that we are only using a single-pack per day consumption as an example. It is also assuming too that the price per pack does not go any higher than $5. Some states have prices that are much higher, while other states have much cheaper. If you smoke for 2 packs per day then you have spent at $3,650 a year and have lighted 14,500 sticks to your lungs.

The price alone of the cigarettes that you have consumed in a year is already horrendous! If you consider smoking for the next five years, without any plan of quitting, then you can expect to spend a huge sum of $9,125 for a single pack a day habit and a shocking $18,250 for a two pack a day consumption. It definitely is enormous money that you can save if you skip buying cigarettes.

If the idea of stopping smoking for improved health is still not a very strong motivation, the cost of smoking each year may be. Prices of cigarettes keep on increasing and the escalating cost of living just make it doubly hard for families to live within their budget. Saving money, in whatever way possible is a big help to the family. Even the costly price of stop smoking aids is still least as compared to the cost of continuing the habit.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice.

For more information about the price of smoking - both financially and physically visit Breaking your Smoking Habit. Find out more ways to stop smoking so you can be healthier and a little richer with all the money you will save.