How Much Does Smoking Cigarettes Really Cost Me?
The price of cigarettes is just getting beyond sense, but wait
there’s more. The purchase price of the smokes is just the beginning of
what you will pay.
Government’s everywhere are increasing the taxes on cigarettes in an
attempt to encourage people to quit smoking, but it’s surprising that
not many smokers have calculated exactly how much their smoking habit is
costing them. If you have never calculated it, now is a good a time to
do so.
Start by calculating how much you spend on buying your daily/weekly
quota of cigarettes. The current prices of cigarettes in Australia put
an average smoker’s everyday cigarette expense at around $10 per day.
That makes it $300 a month. In a year, this amounts to $3,600. If you
smoke for the next 20 years, you will end up spending more than $72,000
on smokes.
If you are someone who thinks that this isn’t much, well, this is only
the tip of the iceberg. This is, after all, only the money that you
spend on buying your smokes. Smoking simply will cost you a whole lot
more.
The actual cost of medical services that a smoker bears during their
lifetime will almost certainly be higher than would otherwise be the
case, but may vary from smoker to smoker, and depend upon how lucky or
unlucky you are. But the certainty is that smokers will typically pay an
additional 5 or 10% on life and medical insurance premiums throughout
their lives.
If you are someone who pays particular attention to grooming, hygiene,
and appearance, then you have a whole array of expenses to look forward
to. These would come in the form of dental bills (to get your teeth
whitened), face creams (to battle the smoke induced premature aging),
perfumes (to keep the cigarette smell at bay), air fresheners for your
home and car, etc.
Take into account the money you would lose in soiled or damaged clothes
that have been rendered useless because of cigarette embers that have
burnt holes through them.
There is compelling evidence to suggest that smoking can effect the
value of your home or car when you sell it. If you do not intend to
spend money on making your car or home appear smoke free, then do expect
to get offers that are lower than the existing market value.
So what’s the real financial cost of smoking? Well maybe you should add
it up for yourself? The money that you spend on buying cigarettes alone
is only a fraction of what smoking actually costs you. But of course the
elephant in the room is that not only can it be a high financial cost,
the reality is that it may cost you your life. |
