75,000 cigarettes
 

Every other week or so I check the calendar and mark the days its been since I quit smoking. Well today was one of those days and I hit 97 days. I was wondering to myself how much money I've saved since I quit, then it just went number crazy from there.

Ok so 97 / 3.5 accounts for only smoking 2 packs a week. Thats about where I was at when I quit. 97 / 3.5 = 27.714 packs of cigarettes.

27.714 * $9.00 a pack (considering the change usually just ends up in a drawer) = $249.43 and thats 554 cigarettes.

That got me thinking about the visual of 554 smoked cigarettes in a pile and wondering how many it would be a year. So 365 / 97 = 3.76 * 554 = 2,083 cigarettes a year totaling 104 packs at $936 @ 2 packs a week. Jesus christ!

So then I started going back in time. I've been smoking for 10 years and some of those years I was at a pack a day. Sure there were a couple weeks here and there I slowed down and was barely at a pack a week, but other weeks I was probably smoking more than a dozen packs a week. No to mention the price was under $5 a pack back then.

To be somewhere in the middle I picked $7 a pack as my average. I also chose to go with an average of 7 packs a week. 7 * 20 = 140 * 52 = 7280 cigarettes a year with a total cost of $2548 a year @ a pack a day.

Lifetime totals I'm over $25000 to cigarettes and for those times I chain smoked 2 packs a day, I'd say I've hit the 75000 cigarette mark. Un-fucking-believable.

It reassures me that quitting was the best thing I could ever do. To all you guys out there that still smoke, play around with the numbers like I did and think about this shit. Such a fucking waste of money, not to mention how nasty it feels to think about having smoked that many packs. :drool:

I didn't do nearly as much math, lol, but after realizing that I was spending roughly 5-10 bux a week on cigarettes (light smoker) I quit too.
Haven't touched a single one since august.

So a giant +1 to everything you said:)

I wish you guys goodluck on staying clean. From what I have read and heard, quiting smoking is harder then quiting Heroin.

$9/pack?! I pay ~$5-6/pack over here. Around 1 pack per day right now, used to smoke about 3/4 of a pack per day before. Smoked for about 4 years. ~30,000 cigarettes and around $7,500 over the years.

I enjoy smoking though and I don't want to repeat that horrific experience of quitting (it's also documented on this forum) :p

I quit in May after I was sitting in my Dr.'s office sporting a 216/215 blood pressure. He asked me why I wasn't having a stroke right then.

I quit sometime in september. I still bum on occasion and fell like poo the next day. It helps your health so much and leaves more money for cars, so +1 for quiting.

I did that tally once for this girl I knew in high school. She was only in the single digit thousands. And then she started crying. Really fuckin awkward.

I quite 20 years ago. 75,000 cigs shows you it is as much a physical withdraw as it is a mental withdraw. Cig when you get up, cig when you go to bed, cig after you eat, cig when you drink a beer, cig after sex, cig on the way to work, etc

FWIW, I work in a chemical plant that makes all the menthol that goes into cigs. If you guys start smoking again you will make my job more secure!

I started smoking again (after quitting 5yrs ago) about midway through this semester. Stress was mounting up, and I really enjoy smoking.

My wife has just kind of looked the other way, but considering our current financial state I'm sure she'll lock on to my calculated $62/month.

I had originally quit for the health benefits as I was getting back into shape and wanted to be able to run long distances again. Maybe I'll go for a run here in a bit and see if I still want my morning smoke when I get back.

I still smoke 4-6 cigs a day. I enjoy it...but it's starting to lose it's flavor so probably not much time until I find it boring.

Ugh... I need to quit..

I tried those electronic cigs, they really aren't a replacement for the real thing.

I wonder if it would be if you could buy heroin at 7-11..

my dad looked like the marlboro man. he smoked for about 50 years and quit slowly over a year or two.

I smoked in Middle School. I was hardcore. I quit cold turkey. Cause Nicotine has nothing on caffeine.

:bowrofl:

My feelings too. Never liked smoking, it didn't do shit for me. Caffeine though..

There was a guy at work who used to always have a cup of coffee in his hand. I heard him talk about taking sleeping pills at night to get to sleep. I started thinking about how screwed up that was and I got off caffeine for about 4 years (used to drink at least two 2 Liter bottles of MDew every day). Never felt better. I started sleeping better and not getting up in the middle of the night to piss. Was waking up feeling refreshed and my wife said I wasn't moving around in my sleep. My doctor even said my triglycerides started dropping. I can remember drinking a Dew after being off it for about a year and I thought I was going to pass out (light headed). We were heading off for a trip somewhere and I couldn't drive so she had to. I've since started drinking three of four Cokes a week day but nothing like what I used to do.

Now Southern Comfort - that's another story...

I don't smoke..... I'm not a caffeine freak, although I do drink 6-7 sweet tea's a week.

But.... I do play WoW, as some on sc2 know lol. I've spent a lot of money on that game over the years (played on and off since closed beta)


I figure, if you don't start smoking, you won't have to stop.

lol @ smoking tobacco, that is so 19th century. They make much more potent smokables now ;)

Exactly. The stupidity of starting justifies the difficulty of quitting.

Shoulda woulda coulda I guess...

I want to quit. I smoked half a cigarette today and two packs the day before. Small victories, right?

gotta start small man. To all those people that kick it cold turkey- great well done. For the rest of us mere mortals it takes time not to quit, but to not want cigs.

I started smoking when I was 11, im now 22 so I have been smoking half my life! pretty much a pack a day ever since I can remember. I know I can quit but the hardest thing to oviod is smoking when im drinking (drinking and smoking go so well together)

plus, I dont wanna get fat (excersize can take care of that though) and if I go more than a few hours without a cigg I start to get really bad headaches.....

since 11? holy shit, that's kinda sad

Yep! My mother thought it was a great idea to let me try smoking.....

Seriously though...that sucks to have been roped into the trendy thing to do at 11, which in your case was smoking. Glad to see another member drop out of the addiction! Best wishes!

whats worse, was she thought it was an even better idea for me to do drugs....

are you Eminem? :giggle:

Haha no!

Just had sorry parents! Mother was always scared that I would hate her so she always tried to play the best friend/cool mom roll.

I'm quitting because I'm tired of smelling like a barmat. I went four years (age 18-22) without smoking and only picked it up again recently because my friend convinced me I just had to try Marlboro Skylines. I never liked menthol and, while I thought they tasted like poison, I got the desire to suck on paper dicks again. It's a nasty habit.

Gayest thing I have ever read, how old are you, 14?

I have never used heroin, but trying to quit smoking was my toughest ordeal ever.

I have been smoking for 37 years now.
(Today is my birthday, and I am turning 49. I started when I was 12)

I decided to quit back in 1995. I went cold turkey, and did whatever I could to not smoke for 18 months. I lived through 1.5 years of sheer fucking hell every single day during that time. Caffeine did not help, chocolate did not help, doubling my workout schedule did nothing.

I finally caved in after all that time, and smoked maybe one or two a month for about 5-6 more months. So, that was a total of almost two years.

One day, I bought a pack of smokes, drove all the way to a beautiful lake (Eklutna lake, breathtaking views) about 40 miles from home, sat down by the lake, lit a cigarette and enjoyed the hell out of it.


I also tried Zyban and nicotine patches under doctor's supervision. Lasted only 41 days. On day 42, I was on the bathroom floor, trying to not pass out, breaking cold sweat, and hosing myself with cold water all night.
I went out and got smokes the next morning.

I used to mountain bike, and we had a 36 mile route. I would stop halfway for a smoke break. People used to go nuts.
I would take a smoke break every hour when I was rock climbing.
I also used to really hardcore downhill ski, and I always smoked on the chairlift.
We used to stop for coffee, Bailey's and smokes while cross country skiing.
I played soccer (city league) year round, and I was the GK and the captain of the 7 of the 6 teams the club was fielding at the time. Yes, half time meant "smoke break" for me.

Anyway, good luck man, I sincerely hope you can kick it for good.
Oh, I just would not dare getting into the math of my own smoking habit. No way.

^^^^^ Damn.......

Happy Birthday BTW!

Thanks!

I had to change a number of things in my lifestyle in order to make it work. At first it was hard and I was overly agitated often (see thread about breaking my hand), but after the initial 50 days, it was just an old habit. You have no idea how hard it was to do something as simple as driving somewhere and not think about smoking. Usually the window would be down with my left arm resting on top of the door, smoking usually every 30 mins or so. Now I keep the window up and just listen to the music.

Another thing that went with the quitting smoking was the drinking. At one point in my life I would have considered myself borderline alcoholic. Like Wonton said, when your a smoker drinking goes hand and hand. Not to say I haven't had a beer since I quit, but they have been ultra far and few. Maybe 10 in the past 3 months, whereas before it would be 10 a night. I've replaced getting shitfaced from a 30 pack or bottle of JD with a glass or two of wine with my gf. Most of the time I'd rather toke on a bowl pack than drink anyways, plus that helped out major with the smoke fixation since quitting BTW.

I had a HUGE fall out with a good buddy of mine that I've known for years over a job we did together (when I took on painting the shop) and it was as close as it gets to a total ass beating. The stress, the anger, and the bullshit was just too much and I called it quits with him as well. His gf left him a year ago and since then its been a downward spiral with drinking, drugs, reckless behavior, etc etc, and I was right there along side of him trying to be the voice of reason, but many a times brought into the spiral myself. He was a good friend, but I hadn't seen my good friend in over a year, he was becoming someone else and I needed to un-associate myself with him before I ended up fucking up my own life.

Since all this I've been much more responsible with trying to run a business (now turning into 2), spending more time with my family and great gf, as well as just staying the fuck out of trouble. Not to mention its been nice having the extra cash in my wallet due to quitting and not smelling like a shitpiss. I used to fucking HATE how bad I stunk from cigarette smoke, so did most other people I was around that didnt smoke. Breathing in general is better, I don't wheeze at night or in the morning, cold weather doesn't hurt my lungs, etc etc. So many reasons to quit, no reason to start. I know its hard and most times its easier to say "ohh well I'll just have 5 or 6 today instead of a full pack", but if you can find a reason to think about quitting, 3 months later you'll be soo happy you did. :bigtu:

This is such a great feeling.