Working the Smoking Math - How Much Does it Cost? | Lifestyle

Working the Smoking Math - How Much Does it Cost?

by AmberEamen

A good reason that might just make you attempt to quit smoking is when you check your total budget. Sometimes simply trying to quit to improve your health may not just be a strong push for you. You have to open your mind to be able to see how much does smoking really costs you each year. This can become even more expensive when you have to shell out a great amount for health care because smoking related complications come out. However, at the minimum, smoking will cost you the price of the cigarettes themselves.

If you had a chance to think of how much cigarette smoking had cost you, you had certainly noticed that it involved a rather surprising amount. Prices are continually increasing, and this is primarily due to the extremely high imposition of tax levied on cigarettes to help compensate for the health problems that it resulted. All around the country, a pack of cigarette is bought at a price of $5 on average. If your smoking habit makes you consume a pack per day then you will have consumed seven packs per week.

This might seem little, but then when you already do the additions, it surely accumulates faster. If in a day you are spending $5 for a pack then at the end of the week, you have already spent $35 on your cigarettes. For many people, this already means a tank of gas, a movie enjoyed in a cinema, or even a new clothing purchased in the store if you are a keen buyer. You might probably see your bank account grow bigger, instead of letting your money burn to ashes.

Though the idea of $35 might seem like big money but for many people it is just a measly sum to pay for something that they find enjoyable. But what if we consider a whole month, with 30 days on average times a $5 pack of cigarettes per day. The price already goes up to $150. This is already a rather significant amount that could have covered other household expenses like gas bills, power bills, water bills, or phone bills. It might even allow you an out of town 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 cigarettes that are added up in one year is shocking! If you think of smoking for a period of 5 years and without any intention of quitting very soon then you would be looking at an amount of $9,125 for a pack a day habit and a horrendous $18,250 for two packs a day habit. What you can save from buying cigarettes is extremely huge.

Thinking about the cost of smoking may be more effective a push than the thought of improving health for you to quit. Prices of cigarettes steadily rise and when this is combined with the mounting price of living expenses, many families would certainly live under very strained budget. Whatever means of saving money would be a big assistance to the family. Even the costly stop smoking aids come much cheaper in the long run than when you stick to 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. Read about ways to quit smoking so you can be healthier and a little richer with all the money you will save.