Smoking, Quitting, and Money

[Julianna Wolfe]

Well, hubby and I just bought the Nicoderm CQ clear patch kit. (Step 1) Sometimes you have to spend money to save money. (Tried cold turkey, didn't work for me.)

We put our first one on tomorrow morning. Two of us at once in the same household. Should be interesting.

Here is to our first step in Saving all the money we spend on cigarettes.

[terry1156]

Good luck to you. Even with the extra help of the patch, it isn't an easy additiction to overcome. In addition you really need to have a clear goal of why you want to quit - and keep focused on that anytime an urge comes along. keep us up to date on how you're progressing.

Once you've been off for a few months, don't forget to contact your insurance companies as being a non smoker should help reduce your insurance premiums too

[Julianna Wolfe]

Terry1156, Thank you for your encouragement!!! And thank you sooooo much for the tip about insurance, I never even thought of it.

Do you have an idea of how many months you have to be quit before contacting them?

[miclason]

My mom quit smoking at around age 60....what she used to do was have a drink of water everytime she got the urge to smoke! (most of her smoking was done while watching TV!!)...
good luck trying!!
(perhaps you could make a chart or something simple where you could track, on a day to day basis, how much you are saving by NOT smoking??)

[terry1156]

Originally Posted by Julianna Wolfe

Do you have an idea of how many months you have to be quit before contacting them?

I think it varies from insurance company to company, so you need to contact them to see. Once you find out from your health insurance, be sure to contact your other insurance companies too - car, home, etc.

Rates are usually higher for smokers in all insurance due to the risks. If you're driving, you ahve something in your hand that can distract you. If you are smoking at home, this increases the chances of a fire. So the quiting can really save you a lot of money in areas you never even considered.

[shawni]

Congrats on your decision to quit! www.quitnet.com is a great resource for support when quitting. They even have a calculator thing that tells you daily how much money you have saved. I used it a few years ago when I quit. Unfortunately, through a series of problems, I started again. I am close to a new quit date though, having cut back drastically. Good luck!

[marjorie]

It is a very tough addiction to quit, good for you! Another woman in my office and I quit within a couple of months of each other. She saved an amount equal to what she was spending on smokes, taken right our of her pay and into her credit union. As the cost of smokes increased, she increased the deduction amount. So far, that fund has paid for a trip to Washington DC for 2 for a week, a month in India for her husband, and three weeks in India for their family of three. Hope this helps!

[mjrube94]

Congratulations and good luck!!! If you haven't already done this, check out ArmyWife's journal. She quit smoking earlier this year and has been racking up the savings. You may find it inspirational...

[bankruptcyonline]

Congratulations and best wishes! I think you made a great decision and there is nothing wrong with needing a little help, its not an easy thing to just quit

[BillsGirl]

Congrats on quitting, it'll get easier with time!! I quit 2 weeks before i got preggo last year and she's now 8 months and I am still smoke free, once you get through the 1st year it's a breeze!!

[amomof4]

It's been almost a month since your original quitting date. How is it going?

If you don't reply, I'm going to assume that you & your husband went at each other's throats while going through withdrawals & that you no longer exist.

Just kidding. I pray it's working for you.