The Peripheral Cost of Smoking ~

This weekend I surpassed the $1,000 saved thus far mark.

In less than a half a year, that's a lot of jack not going 'up in smoke'.

This is a conservative estimate. It's based off of buying two packs at a time; one 'cheap' generic brand and one premium brand and then smoking 30 cigarettes a day.

What is NOT calculated here is the peripheral cost of smoking. The high cost and frequent use of inhalers. Gum, mints, mouthwash, air-freshener and lighters.

Additional cost savings come from my decreased consumption of coffee, cola and beer. As a smoker I always had dry mouth and would get a scratchy throat if I didn't keep my mouth moist. Water was never enough to mask the left over taste of stale smoke in my mouth. It was always better to have the alcohol or caffeine -- I have seriously decreased the intake of these over the past five months.

None of this takes into account medical and dental costs. Did you know smokers have a higher percentage of root canals than non-smokers? As for me I've had at least Six root canals and crowns, maybe more, I've lost count.

Then there's the colds, cold meds, throat medications and other health issues that us smokers have to deal with.

This all adds up to signifiacant savings -- Something you may want to consider if you are quitting 1/01/10: keep a cigarette money jar and put in daily the price of a pack of smokes then count your jar in six months.