Every time you buy a pack of cigarettes, you are benefiting tobacco companies and government through profits and taxes.
This is the reason why despite the fact that smoking can be so hazardous for health,
governments still allows for smoking in their countries due to the trillions of dollars in wealth.
Yet smokers are still not aware of the financial burden and amounts spent on the cigarettes they smoke.
Not only does smoking affect you financially directly, but smoking also affects a person indirectly in financial terms. For example, when you smoke, it consumes time. When you smoke at your work place, you will consume lots of time collectively and thus lead to loss of productivity.
When it comes to buying cigarettes, the accumulation of purchase can amount to a very large spending. A pack of cigarettes of smoked each day can amount to thousands of dollars each year.
The loss is not only the loss of the money spent on cigarettes itself, but also the loss of opportunity cost of spending the money elsewhere.
Imagine if you would to invest and compound your savings every year, you could basically have a huge amount for your retirement.
Even if you do save the money, your money could also be spent on other fruitful things such as a vacation with your family.
Smoking also makes it a burden on your family budget. It is estimated if both spouses smoke, 15% of the income earned will go to cigarettes and thus to a waste.
There also other matters that causes more spending in relation to smoking.
1. Once you decide to quit smoking, you will have to spend another sum of money for treatments. Normally treatments for smoking don’t come cheap. These include products like nicotine replacement therapies and other alternatives such as acupuncture treatment.
2. Smoking in the long term will affect your health and as a result, you will need more time off from work and may have to retire before the retirement age.
3. Money is needed to be spent on cleaning your surroundings such as your house from the stains of smoke.
4. Smokers will need to pay extra for premiums on insurance.
On the broader picture, the cigarette butts, empty packets, lighters and matchboxes are simply thrown all over the street which cost the government money to clean.
Either way, smoking is never beneficial and at all times causes people or government to spend more.
