If you are trying to save money, budgeting is a must. Not only does a budget help you save money by controlling spending and purposefully saving, it also shows you spending categories you need to cut back or eliminate completely. The hard thing to deal with is that these categories usually involve personal hobbies and habits we enjoy and naturally don’t want to give up. Some of these hobbies and habits are harmless and you shouldn’t have to totally eliminate them. However, some particularly bad habits such as smoking are detriments not only to your finances but also to your health. Here are a few of the most common reasons to quit:
- It’s obvious that smoking is an expensive habit. Simply do the math or use an online savings calculator, and you’ll be amazed at how much of your money is literally going up in smoke. Cigarettes and tobacco are also heavily-taxed items. State taxes on cigarettes have continued to increase in recent years, with the highest tax rate at more than $4.00 per pack.
- Smoking poses a major health risk, which can raise your health care costs and insurance premiums. Over the last few decades health professionals have become very vocal about the link between smoking and a host of serious health problems, particularly lung cancer. More and more businesses and public settings have converted to non-smoking due to the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. Most insurance companies consider the use of tobacco products to be a serious risk factor when calculating premiums and may require a blood test to verify your tobacco-free status.
None of this may be news to you if you are a smoker who has been trying to beat the habit for these very reasons, but it doesn’t make it any easier to break the addiction. The following are a few solutions to kicking the habit for good and saving both your pocketbook and personal health.
- Nicotine patches. These can be expensive initially, but not as expensive as continuing to waste money on cigarettes and health care costs. There are different systems based on your level of nicotine addiction, i.e., how many packs you smoke on a daily basis. Name brand patches have been proven to be highly effective in helping many people stop smoking.
- E-cigarettes. These are a more recent technological development which are more expensive than the patch but cater to the psychological comfort of smoking. E-cigarettes produce no harmful smoke or tar, but are designed to look like cigarettes and deliver a nicotine dose. Unlike the patches, which are designed to gradually wean smokers off of nicotine dependence, most e-cigarettes are not specifically endorsed as a quitting method. However, by changing from higher doses of nicotine to light and nicotine-free formulas, they can be used to help someone who is having a hard time giving up the act of smoking without other harmful tobacco by-products.
Whatever method you choose, you will be taking steps to improve your personal finances for the long term as well as significantly reducing your health risks, payouts which are more than worth the discomfort of giving up your smoking habit.
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