At Quit Smoking in 60 Minutes I ask my clients when they come in for quit smoking what it costs them. This is not just from the health view but how much money it actually costs to smoke cigarettes. Most people cannot tell me. Why is this? I think it is for two reasons;
1. The cost to smoke is not seen in a lump sum. Payment is packet by packet and so the total cost is not seen.
2. People don’t want to acknowledge the cost.
The actual cost of cigarettes makes more impact in first world countries as taxation has made smoking expensive. This still does not prevent people from smoking. In fact if someone comes to me and their sole motivation to quit smoking is cost I turn them away. People will always find the money to smoke and drink.
When confronted by how much smoking costs them my clients are often horrified, especially when they see what it costs them over a year. That cost is frequently enough for them to have a family holiday or take a big chunk out of the mortgage.
What I love sharing with clients when they decide to quit smoking is what they will do with the extra money. For the majority of smokers they will save on an average of $6000 per year. That’s a nice bit of extra income that can go a long way towards a holiday or paying off debts.
Another interesting thing that I see is that most people do not consider the cost of smoking in relation to their health. People know that smoking cigarettes affects their health but they do not consider the cost when it does affect their health. They don’t consider the impact if they cannot work, the cost of care and most of all the emotional cost to loved ones.
All in all it makes sense to quit smoking so why not make the decision to quit smoking and do something about it?
