The cost of bad habits

[effzee]

Bumped into an acquaintance of mine at the supermarket today. Haven't seen him in about a year and don't really know him that well, we have some common friends and see each other from time to time at birthday parties and whatnot. He's a drummer, which might go some distance towards explaining this.

We talked a little about health and he said one major thing that's changed for him is he finally quit smoking. He's been a FOUR pack a day smoker for years. I don't think I've ever seen him without a ciggie stuck to his lip.

He said he doesn't feel any difference health wise, but he also didn't really feel any strong urge to smoke. It's like a switch flipped in his head and now he's a non-smoker.

Ok great. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

When I got back to my car, before taking off for home, I thought, wait a minute, what do cigarettes even cost these days? So I googled it.

A pack of name-brand butts, which I know he smoked, is up to €7 a pack.

Times 4

Times 365

Equals €10,200 per year he was spending on cigarettes per year! Holy cow!

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

A lot of dough. Thank God I never took up the habit.

 

[brookdalebill]

I gave em’ up for the last time almost 20 years ago.
I’m so glad I did!
I smoked from age 21 to 32, and from age 40 to 46.
I was able to quit easily the last time.

 

[Knows3Chords]

I smoked from 17 to 29. For me, quitting was easier than I thought it would be. I did gain a little weight after. I didn't really feel any better, except in the wallet. The biggest thing I noticed is that I could see through my car windshield much better at night.

 

[MarkieMark]

Some years ago I sat down a kid who worked for me, in an effort to convince him to quit.
I showed him the basic math, total annual cost, and went so far as to give him an example of what he could possibly accrue if he instead put that same money into his underfunded 401k.
The figures even shocked me at the time, and I expected it to be significant!

Last time I saw him he was still smoking 2X+. And worse things leading to other lifestyle issues.
I don't judge, but yes- our choices affect us in many ways.

 

[Engine Swap]

Cigarettes now cost $16 a pack in Chicago.

I quit when they were $1.75.

In other news, I figured out that I spending $60 a month on coffee. I began brewing my own, but then work started to give away free Dark Matter

 

[Dismalhead]

I was in a 7-11 recently and a guy was buying a pack and it was $11. I was saying "holy crap" to myself silently behind him. Glad I stopped a while ago.

 

[RodeoTex]

Well yeah, there's a lot of worry about what someone else spends on cigarettes.
The old joke about how much someone spends on cigarettes per day multiplied by months and years, etc. and it could have bought a Ferrari, except the questioner who doesn't have a Ferrari either.

 

[trev333]

Here are the latest cigarette prices in Australia:

• a packet of 20 cigarettes costs AUD$40.00
• a packet of 25 cigarettes costs AUD$43.48
• a packet of 30 cigarettes costs AUD$49.11
• a packet of 35 cigarettes costs AUD$55.95
• a packet of 40 cigarettes costs AUD$68.63
• a packet of 50 cigarettes costs AUD$77.95

many people can't afford to smoke down here.... big taxes on tobacco products to encourage people to quit...

 

[Killing Floor]

Lucky Pedals aren’t a bad habit.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Here are the latest cigarette prices in Australia:

• a packet of 20 cigarettes costs AUD$40.00
• a packet of 25 cigarettes costs AUD$43.48
• a packet of 30 cigarettes costs AUD$49.11
• a packet of 35 cigarettes costs AUD$55.95
• a packet of 40 cigarettes costs AUD$68.63
• a packet of 50 cigarettes costs AUD$77.95

many people can't afford to smoke down here.... big taxes on tobacco products to encourage people to quit...

"big taxes on tobacco products to encourage people to quit"

You're funny.

 

[Kandinskyesque]

I've lifted the odd packet in recent months when I'm stressed/frustrated/depressed.
Notwithstanding the health issues, the only upside is that it's got me out into the garden for 10 minutes 2 or 3 times per day.
The big downside is that it's £14 for 20 Marlboro.
They're now more expensive than their equivalent jazz version.

 

[getbent]

I chewed tobacco til I was 25. Never really smoked cigarettes. Habits are rough to break. good luck to those with those habits!

 

[ficelles]

September 2003 I gave up, not that I was ever a heavy smoker. I am stunned that anyone still smokes at UK prices!

 

[StratDal]

Plenty out there but we all make our choices. Many I don't agree with but if they're legal, ya gotta deal with them.

May we all do something healthy tomorrow.

 

[Trenchant63]

Had a neighbor friend growing up. We were your average suburban lower middle class kids. We tried things at the same time - first cigars, then cigarettes, then drinking - hanging out w Colt 45 “Q Balls” in the local park. Then came weed (we were about 14 at the time) again at the park w booze. We were “burnouts” that summer blasting tunes and getting high and just hanging out. School started that fall and didn’t see each other as much and I got back to work - maybe a beer or two on the weekends. My friend started hanging with the “dope” crowd and every time I saw him he was high at school - all day. Mescaline, acid, coke. He totally transformed. Telling his parents to f*** off right in front his friends and so forth. I ran into him about 5 years later all disheveled. It took him 30 seconds of looking at my face for him to recognize me. He wasn’t really drunk just spaced out. His parents died eventually and he is at that house to this day and is often seen walking along the road aimlessly. Bizarre how life unfolds sometimes.

 

[StoneH]

He's a drummer, while might go some distance towards explaining this.

 

[Knows3Chords]

I chewed tobacco til I was 25. Never really smoked cigarettes. Habits are rough to break. good luck to those with those habits!

A guy I used to play beer league hockey with used to chew during games. One time he and another dude accidently ran into each other on the ice and he swallowed his chew. I've never seen anybody puke that hard in my life.

 

[uriah1]

Yep. Pricey
Maybe this will be the year I quit after 5 decades of paying the man.

 

[archetype]

Cigarettes now cost $16 a pack in Chicago.

I quit when they were $1.75.

In other news, I figured out that I spending $60 a month on coffee. I began brewing my own, but then work started to give away free Dark Matter

Last week in NYC I saw Newports at $17/pack.