Smoking -The money you pay !

Did You Know

The average smoker spends £1,750 a year on cigarettes.

Smoking is a costly habit in more ways than one. The financial cost of smoking should not be underestimated, and giving up can give you some immediate financial benefits.

Think about it, if you smoke an average 20-a-day, you will smoke 7,300 cigarettes a year. Even if you buy cheaper brands, that still means you spend at least £1,500 on cigarettes every year. So the cost of smoking really mounts up.

What could you buy with that? A holiday, maybe. Or a new wardrobe?

If you’re a younger smoker, stopping could still mean you’re around £8 per week better off. The average weekly cost of smoking for a teenager is roughly the same amount as the cost of a CD or DVD.

The cost of smoking

The cost of smoking can be a burden on your household budget. One survey found that if both you and your partner smoke, you could be spending as much as 15% of your income on tobacco.

There are other costs of smoking that you might not have thought about before. Some savings are less obvious:

Long-term, because you’re less at risk of developing a smoking-related disease or disability, you’re also less likely to need to take time off work from ill health, or have to retire early.

You will pay less for insurance premiums.

There is reduced risk of damage to your home from fire, and you will save money on cleaning and redecorating to get rid of nicotine stains and the smell of smoke.

But it’s not just you who stands to gain from stopping. Every year Scottish employers lose:

£450 million in productivity due to smoking

£40 million from smoking-related absences

The cost of smoking also affects the NHS – £200 million a year in hospital care. Cigarettes and matches are a common cause of fire – several million pounds worth of fire damage to Scottish homes each year is the result of fires caused by cigarettes left burning. Finally, cigarette ends, packets and matches are the most commonly found items of rubbish and therefore add to the cost of keeping our cities and towns tidy.