Great argument. Next you’ll tell us that we shouldn’t solve the gun-control problem because people who want to commit murders will just use a different weapon is guns are to hard for them to obtain and thus we won’t solve any problems. Interesting!

In your argument you neglected the long-term healthcare costs of a smoking habit.

Finally, in the “Quitting Smoking Saves You Money” argument there is an implicit ceteris parabis. If one quits smoking but one replaces it with a junk-food habit, that’s a different discussion. Methinks you might want to consult with Bishop Aringarosa.

I typed far too fast in my previous post. The first paragraph should read

Great argument. Next you’ll tell us that we shouldn’t solve the gun-control problem because people who want to commit murders will just use a different weapon if guns are too hard for them to obtain and thus we won’t solve any problems. Interesting!

A preview feature would be nice.

Not at all what I expected. I can see how this can be true for some people who quit smoking, but I’m not sure if it would be true of most (I have never been a smoker). First time I have ever heard an argument like this and may have some merit. I need to think about it a bit more. Thanks for making me think a bit more about something I had taken for granted.

Two intriguing blog posts from the last few days…

I try to catch up on all the blogs first thing Monday morning…

I agree with your argument. I believed I could invest an extra $120 a month (~$4 a pack, pack a day) when I quit (in January), but the truth is, that money was quickly soaked up by living a healthier lifestyle. When I smoked, I could get away with eating fast food every day (though usually only 2 meals) and not gain any weight. Within two weeks of quitting, I had put on a considerable amount of weight. I was lucky to catch it early and adjust my diet, but unfortunately healthy eating & having a gym membership costs more than a pack a day.

The long-term health care costs of a smoking habit were neglected, but how will they compare to long-term costs of becoming overweight or of living long enough to get some other high-cost problem?

This is a great heads-up article adding reality to theory with excellent detail on the specifics for one person.

I’ve never smoked, but I did learn that there are sometimes costs to quitting bad habits when I quit biting my fingernails and suddenly had to start cleaning them and trimming them all the time. They look better and they’re healthier and I don’t regret having quit, but now I always try to prepare myself for possible negative consequences of positive changes so I don’t get so disappointed.

Thanks for this very informative article.

To the doubters, just know that this is a very real and very common problem. I too quit smoking in January, and seem to have replaced $3.25 once-a-day at Quik Trip for smokes with $4.35 once a day at Quik Trip for junk food. Only now am I starting to get the weight gain and compulsive eating under control, and that’s only by replacing it with a lot of exercise.

You are failing to take into account a major factor, which is the long-term costs of smoking that you’ll incur when you start having health problems and have to pay higher medical bills. You’ll also have to pay higher premiums for health and life insurance on an ongoing basis for as long as you smoke, and probably even after you quit (when you apply, they always ask if you’ve used any form of tobacco in the last 5 or 10 years and how often you used it).

Developing some self-control is a great way to save money in all areas of your life.

I have battled with quitting smoking for years and each time I dropped the habit for brief periods of time I spent a fortune on ice cream!

In fact I spent more on ice cream than I did on cigarettes. I drank way more coke too…

Yeah, my weight soared…

So I bought a BowFlex home gym, a treadmill and a punching bag to try to help in curbing the cravings…

So…Quitting smoking has cost my thousands!!!

Yeah, I wish I could quit permanently, but I am certainly not going to be saving any money.

Saving money should never be the motivator in quitting only the health aspects should be considered.

As others have mentioned, you failed to mention the real financial benefit which will come in the form of health care costs.

But, beyond that, the reality is that you are saving money by not buying cigaretts. What you do with those extra savings is up to you.

It’s only common sense that if you replace one expensive bad habbit with another expensive bad habbit that you won’t save any money.

I’m not convinced that this is quite as common as you would suggest.

Instead of blaming the lack of cigarettes for your new bad habits, continue to develop your self-discipline, which is where, it appears, that the real problem lies.

This is a very silly argument. Your problem is not smoking, but a lack of self control. You are making excuses for continuing to smoke.

However, your argument does help me with my internet addiction, since I’ve now have one less blog to follow!

I do agree with your ‘argument’, but than spending the money on ‘comfort eating’ as a substitute, put weight on and BLAME it on the NON-smoking I disagree with. Where is the dicipline??????

I know from my own experience that quitting smoking has to be a choice and once you make that choice you have to be ‘committed’!!! So what is the point in eating more? I have heard that argument many times, but I think it depends on the individuals dicipline. I have had the dicipline to stop smoking. I didn’t gain weight, as I didn’t need a substitute for my bad habit and now I use the money for days out and even short trips.

I love all these people who claim no self control. Sorry folks, nicotine is an appetite suppressant and studies show that most people gain anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds when they quit smoking. It’s not only a self control issue. It is a physical result from nicotine withdrawal.

Ok, so you quite smoking and didn’t save any money, therefore this is a myth? Where is your logic, where are you statistics (the plural of anecdote is not statistics).
So I started catching public transport instead of driving, but I started burning a $20 note each time for a laugh. Therefore travelling by public transport instead of driving doesn’t save any money. I stopped taking herione to try to be healthier, but I took up russian roulette, so I died.

According to your logic, nothing can lead to anything. You are a true idiot.

You know you COULD try not eating excessively. You could put all that money you saved from not smoking into a jar instead of at the fast food place. All it takes is a little will power. But NO, you’ve got to go online and try and make a point instead of actually trying hard at something.

I would like to first comment on the article itself. Smoking is a disgusting habit, that I hate but, no matter how many times I try to quit, something always gives. It might be stress at work, home, bumming a smoke while drinking, or just a shitty day. For people that have not smoked, you really don’t understand how hard it is to quit, every smoker I know wants to quit, but there are to many variables in each person to say, that they are just too weak.

To the countless replys that bring up the long term health risks, guess what in a blog response you dont have to reiterate the same thing damn near verbatim over and over again, most likely I read the post above yours so you don’t have to say the same thing.

This is a paradox, we need to solve it, my mum smokes a lot. Me never. Im almost 90kgs, mum 50-55, im sure she will eat much if she could give up smoking.
How can i persuade her to give up?

Hmmm…how much does a new lung cost anyway?

Its important not to replace one bad habit with another. Once you close the door on something, its mandantory that you find the discipline to hang in there without opening the door to something else. I know that’s easier said than done. However, I know a Savour whose name is Jesus and He can totally deliver you from any habit no matter how long you’ve had it and He is able to make you brand new without all the hang-ups that we take on ourselves trying to get rid of one thing only to find trouble somewhere else.

Ok, I get it that nicotine is an appetite suppressant and people tend to eat more when they quit – understood. But why does the writer need to spend it on fast food? I can think of countless healthy, cheap snacks that can easily be packed in a lunch bag or even a purse/briefcase. And then to count the cost of diet plans on top of that? There’s nothing wrong with free exercise (walking, jogging, borrowing exercise tapes from the library, for crying out loud) and simply making better food choices as a means of weight control. I’ve lost weight and maintained it through sensible eating – I’ve never belonged to a gym, tried a trendy fad diet, or even bought diet foods or supplements. While there may be some initial cost increases due to an increased appetite, I think your article misleads as to the true ovreall cost of quitting.

Well a solution to ur problem mate would not to start smoking in the first place!! nerhhhhhhh!

well i thinkk youu. shouldd not quit youu have damage youur lifee alreadyy. no piontt stopping now!

[...] and invest the money that they would otherwise be spending on cigarettes but an article over at Personal Finance Advice states that quitting smoking will not save you money. Either way you would still be helping out [...]

Well, I have never smoked, unless you count a few puffs on a cig when I was 14. However, I did develop a weight problem as I entered my 30s, and now, at almost 50, I am obese and continuing to gain. I recently started using Nicorette gum as an appetite supressant, (in combination with Alli), and a low fat diet, and I find it very helpful even though I have no real exercise program. I think we need to think of nicotine as a drug with positive and negative aspects.

[...] habit with another, as people tend to do with addictions. Some argue that because of replacements, people don’t actually save money by quitting . This may be true especially of alcohol and cigarettes when you are looking at yearly [...]

[...] true that I did replace one expensive habit with another, as people tend to do with addictions. Some argue that because of replacements, people don’t actually save money by quitting . This may be true [...]

I don’t agree with your logic but I am excited to see that you are at least thinking and challenging people’s ideas out there.

Let me ask you this….what is your time worth? I get paid only around ten bucks an hour, but I think that will go up soon and I’d like to think my time is more valuable than that.

Now consider the fact that a pack-a-day smoker spends an ENTIRE MONTH out of each year puffing away. Literally, a full month out of each year. Now I know you can also do some other things while you are smoking but sheesh….that is just ridiculous. Think of all the lost productivity….

Smokers save a LOT of money
compared with non smokers….
Think of all those years of
retirement smokers don’t have
to worry about financing, LoL

Nice headline… but quitting smoking simply HAS to save you a bundle of cash.

OK, you may go and spend it elsewhere, but that’s a separate issue. :p

Joe.

As I said earlier, it ALL takes dicipline. You quit smoking – why would you want to substitute your bad habit with eating in excess? AGAIN, I have stopped, I didn’t chew gum, I didn’t start eating chocolate, cakes, crisps etc, I just continued as ‘usual’ and have NOT gained any weight. The opposite, I am fitter, more conscious about what I put into my body and so should YOU be.