Stop Smoking To Save Money

Smoking costs more money every year. In 2007, the average price for a pack of cigarettes stood at $4.63 (American dollars, USA average). We will use this price to make our calculations.

Stopping today will save our ten-cigarettes-a-day example $64.82 per month, or $777.84 per year.

What if I smoke more?

Estimates of the average number of cigarettes smoked by the average smoker range from 15-40 per day. We will use 20 cigarettes per day (one pack) as our benchmark average smoker.

If you smoke one pack a day and stop smoking, you’ll save:

$129.64 per month (a very nice dinner or 2 new pairs of shoes)
$1555.68 per year (a week’s stay at a good European hotel)

Two-pack-a-day smokers save over $3000 per year!

Stop smoking and save money over the long term

Instead of spending the money you save when you stop smoking, you could save it. Please note that the following are hypothetical examples (but are easily achievable) and should not be construed as investment advice.

If you take the $1555 you save in a year and put it in a simple savings account, you’ll make about $30 extra dollars per year. Over the course of 10 years, your savings will grow to $1913!

If you smoke one pack of cigarettes per day and stop, and you save the money, you can save enough money to put a newborn child through college. Here are the numbers:

You save $1555.68 per year
You invest $1555.68 saved per year in a certificate of deposit (assumes 3.5% interest)
You roll all savings into a new CD at the same rate
You save for 18 years

Net result: $42,337.32

All that money was saved by you – by your decision to stop smoking today.

Save when you stop smoking with NicRx

Need help in your quest to stop smoking? The herbal stop smoking aid NicRx (a sponsor of this website) costs less per month than 10 cigarettes per day.

Do you smoke a pack a day or more? In that case, NicRx actually saves you money. A 3-month supply of NicRx costs $124.95 – about the same as a pack-a-day smoker spends on cigarettes in a single month.

Indirect savings when you stop smoking

In addition to the extra money you save that goes into your pocket, when you stop smoking you save on health and medical expenses as well.

In 2004, a Duke University study estimated that smoking’s real cost is about $40 per pack. This figure includes:

Life and property insurance increases
Additional medical care for the smoker
Additional medical care for the smoker’s family
Lost earnings due to disability

Think about that for a minute: $40 per pack. Suddenly, a plan to stop smoking makes a lot more financial sense.