Posts Tagged ‘nicotine addiction’
Working the Smoking Math – How Much Does it Cost?
June 9th, 2009
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 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 $35 may be such a big amount, this might just be a measly price to pay for a hobby that many find immensely enjoyable. If we take the days of the month, 30 days on average, and each day you are smoking $5 per pack then in a month you have spent approximately $150. This is rather a big cut to your budget which could have gone to other expenses such as gas bills, power bills, water bills, phone bills, or even an occasional night out of town.
If you are interested to see how much smoking is costing you the whole year round, consider that each year you are consuming 365 packs of cigarettes. Multiply each pack by 20 sticks and you are inhaling 7,300 cigarettes each year which comes at a staggering $1,825! Talk about extravagantly spending money just for smoking! Do not forget though that we are only computing the cost for a single pack a day habit, and assuming too that it is only $5 dollars that you spent per pack. Many states have much higher prices, while other states may have a little bit lower. If you make a double pack consumption per day then you are spending $3,650 and smoking 14,600 sticks per year.
Adding up the price of cigarettes that you smoke for a year is shocking. If you make an approximation of spending 5 years of smoking and not thinking of quitting at the moment, then you are looking at a huge amount of $9,125 for a single pack a day consumption and an astonishing $18,250 for a 2 pack a day habit. The amount of money that you could have kept from refraining to smoke is certainly immense.
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.
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Posted in Quit Smoking Effects | 
Tags: addiction, habits, health, lifestyle, nicotine addiction, quit smoking, Quit Smoking Effects, smoking, smoking habits, stop smoking, stopping smoking | 
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Your Last Attempt to Quit Smoking Starts Now
June 8th, 2009
There certainly comes a point in life when everyone doubts his or her ability. This is not something unusual. This is often what a smoker trying to quit feels when he or she is under wraps of the stressful situation. Coming up with a good decision on how to handle the process of quitting smoking is very critical. If you devote time to carefully lay down a strong plan, then you have better chances of success. Envisioning yourself to succeed in your plan is very important in your venture, but being unable to picture yourself as accomplishing your goal will often result to an ineffective pattern of trying to quit.
What differentiates smokers who successfully quit from those who remain struggling in their habit is the former’s strong desire to quit and the determination to make it to the end. There are those who seem to be interested and played with the idea but only for a short period of time. Their interest might lead them to read a book, talk to a doctor but still remain unsuccessful because they have not done the necessary changes in their lifestyles. In contrast, those who are determined to quit, do the same and even broadcast their desire to quit and they take everything to heart. They ask for help from friends and family and act on their advice. In addition, they actively seek information to know the best options and aids that are suitable to their own lifestyle and in how to improve more their health.
This difference spells success or failure, why others completely break the chains of smoking while others remain to be caught in a vicious cycle of trying. You really have to decide firmly that you would stop, and you have to sell that idea to yourself. If you just thought of the possibility of succeeding, you are really going to have difficulty in making it to the end. But if you program your mind to succeed, the question will only be how soon you are going to realize your goal.
We people get bombarded by subliminal messages. Others make subliminal suggestions to us, but most of these messages are what we tell to ourselves. In out attempt to quit smoking, it is then important to train ourselves to only think of positive and constructive messages. If you are suggesting to your inner self that you are confident and you can succeed, you are building your will power which will not easily falter when temptation to smoke arise. Unlike when you constantly think that you are weak, most definitely, you would get weakened when temptations stare you at your face.
It is a known fact that quitting smoking is not easy. Acknowledging that quitting is difficult is not the same as seeing yourself failing in the process already. The difference between the two is that in the former, you know exactly what challenges are going to be and you are bracing yourself for them. It is difficult of course when you already have the mindset of the latter, expecting to fail before you even begin. Feeling weak and less confident can undermine your success and will surely bring you to failure.
Grooming yourself for success means that you have admitted that quitting will certainly take a lot of effort but you are willing to take the challenge and that you would stay committed until you accomplished your goals no matter what comes your way. Spotting the problem as they emerge and immediately looking for their remedies are important to finally overcoming the habit. You will find out that slowly reaching your goal is better than quitting for a weekend. While it might be a less difficult thing to do to just quit for the weekend and see how everything goes, you will soon discover that such kind of approach will just let you easily slip back to the habit again. The approach to quit will be more effective if you start thinking that you are really going to quit for good.
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Stopping Smoking Benefits
June 7th, 2009
It is a good idea to know how quitting smoking will benefit you. This can help keep you encouraged by knowing what you will gain from breaking your smoking habit. It also serves as a reminder as to why you decided to quit smoking in the first place. Knowing your benefits will serve as a huge advantage to improving your lifestyle.
The greatest benefit of breaking your smoking habit is your health. The risks of lung cancer, heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, and high blood pressure will eventually decrease over time. Being able to breath better and be in overall better health will be very encouraging to continue to not smoke.
Money is a great benefit to quitting smoking. Did you know that the average smoker spends over $1800 a year on cigarettes? By not spending the money for smoking, you have inceased your budget. Maybe you would like to spend the money on a sports car, new furniture, or pay off old debts. Investing the money in mutual funds or in a savings account will maximize your benefits.
Other benefits can include being able to keep your house, car and clothes smelling better. Everyone knows that cigarettes have a bad smell, and those who do not smoke can really pick up the smell. As your desire to smoke goes away, your desire to smell good will increase. This can lead to a complete top to bottom cleaning that will put you in a great mood. If you quit in the spring you could just consider it your yearly spring cleaning spurt. You will definitely love the increased sense of smell though, after all those gorgeous flowers in the yard will now have a reason to exist beyond just looking pretty.
When you quit smoking, you increase your expected life span by as much as 10 years. If this isn’t a benefit, I don’t know what is. The fountain of youth is often found by former smokers since life spans increase and the aging process decreases. A longer, healthier life is sure to be the greatest benefit of all.
Most who discover just how much they can add to their life are absolutely shocked, but taking care of yourself and breaking the smoking habit for good is a great benefit that you will certainly appreciate when you are older and enjoying those added years. Do not be afraid to live your life to the fullest, after you stop smoking you will have plenty of energy for a lot of great new activities that you can enjoy for years.
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