Recently, I asked one of my cousins who smokes how often he smoked. I thought he smoked maybe one or two cigarettes per day, but he told me he was smoking an entire pack! I was shocked, but it’s his decision, and he’s a good person and a really fun companion in all walks of life, so naturally I didn’t lecture him or anything. I actually personally train him, since I recently got certified with NASM for personal training, so I did tell him that he should try to reduce by a cigarette a week, slowly lessening the intake of nicotine and reducing the withdrawal symptoms. I’ll probably also suggest those cigarette craving chewables to him after I finish this post. Anyway, back to the point. His surprising response got me thinking, how much does he spend on cigarettes?

Well, he’s a Florida resident, and he smokes Marlboro 27s, which cost around $6 a pack. He smokes one pack per day, so the calculation is fairly simple, six multiplied by 365 yields a total yearly cost of $2,190. That’s $182.50 per month! That’s more than my motorcycle insurance and that’s double the cost of my internet/TV plan!

That amount surprises me completely, but let’s take a look at the cost in a bit more detail with some other calculations. A pack a day smoker is not super common, but there are worse. Let’s visit a few extremes, and then look at the costs of more common smoking habits. Let’s say someone smokes two packs a day. Simple, $4,380 per year. $365 per month. If they smoke three packs per day, $6,570 per year. Per month, $547.50. Alright, we get the point Cris, smoking a pack a day or more is expensive, but not that many people smoke that often.

Fair enough, but let’s look at the cost of smoking four cigarettes a day. That’s 1/5th of a pack, and is fairly common among smokers in this day and age. Well, four cigarettes a day equates to a pack every five days. 365 days per year, that equates to 73 packs per year, which results in $438 per year.

This may not seem too bad, as that equates to $36.50 per month; however, there’s an old joke that makes a good point. A guy is sitting at the bar drinking a beer, and a woman walks up to him and says “How long have you been drinking beer?” The man says “25 years.” The woman asks “How many beers do you drink a day?” The man ponders for a moment, and responds “Four.” The woman then says “A beer at the bar costs $5, you drink 4 a day, that means $20 per day, $7,300 per year. You’ve been drinking for 25 years, so that totals to $182, 500. If you had saved that money in the bank, with the compounded interest you could have bought a Ferrari.” The man takes a sip of his beer and asks the woman “Do you drink?” The woman shakes her head. “The man then retorts “Well, where’s your Ferrari?”

Obviously the joke can be seen from multiple perspectives. Yes, technically speaking the man could have saved that money, but instead, he would go to the bar with friends, or alone, and drink beers. It made him happy, or washed away his sorrows, or maybe he just did it for the shits and giggles, who knows? Either way, even though he drank beer, instead of saving, his retort shows the woman, and the person listening to the joke for the first time, that although he could have had a Ferrari if he had saved, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he would have had the Ferrari, and that the woman also probably did not save her money and most likely also spent it on things that are not technically necessary. We can apply this to smoking, and see that if you are a pack a day smoker, over 10 years, your total cost of smoking is $21, 900. Over 20 years, $43, 800. That’s a lot of money that could have been spent elsewhere. I personally don’t see a purpose to smoking, but I understand nicotine is physically and mentally addictive, so I don’t blame people or look down on them for being unable to quit by themselves. I think that if you know someone who smokes, ask them if they’d like to quit, and if they want to, help them however you can. Have them crash at your place for the week and hang out with them, do whatever makes them comfortable, but don’t push them too hard, and don’t get mad or angry at them if they smoke. It’s unhealthy, but there are worse things they could be doing. Just voice your opinion that you’re concerned for their health, and move on.

Well that’s it guys, that’s an analysis of the costs of smoking. I did not include the cost of lighters, gas to drive somewhere to buy cigarettes, medical bills if a condition occurs due to smoking, etc, due to most of those factors being completely situational, not easily calculable, and not really relevant.

Thanks for reading, I’m going to go recommend my cousin try out those nicotine chewables. Peace!