Smoking that is, I was in line behind a guy in the local supermarket this morning and he was buying a carton of cigarettes, Total with tax came to $87.73. WOW that just blew me away, I made a comment that I was glad I had quit smoking about 10 yrs ago to him and he said he wished he could quit, also said that this was a weekly cost for him as he buy's a carton a week, Thats $350 a month.I know it's [censored] HARD to quit but spending that amount per month is nuts.I was a 2+ pack a day smoker so my monthly tab would have been higher.Yup I'm glad I quit,Athough its been 10 yrs,and yes there are times that I could pick up the habit again in a heart beat,but now knowing what it would cost me there's no way that's going to happen.
Glad I quit
- Thread starter kkat
- Start date
- Status
I smoked my last cig on July 7, 2009 after almost 50 years of smoking. Best thing the government ever did for me when they raised the taxes on cigs.
Still puffing on Quality Lighhts 100's. Mucho dinero even for a good off-brand. Cig tax and penalties?: The biggest re-distribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to a couple lwayers in the history of the world. Mad about that!
When the smokers start smoking less, how are they going to pay for things?
Glad both of you guys stopped.
But taxing the smokers is not right IMO. (and I've NEVER smoked)
Just my 3 cents...
Glad both of you guys stopped.
But taxing the smokers is not right IMO. (and I've NEVER smoked)
Just my 3 cents...
If everyone quits smoking they will TAX our oil.
I'm happy for you that you quit! I just wish my wife would! She did go the Chantix route and had stopped but started back, blaming it on her 34 year old son that can't let go of mama's coat tail.
Having never smoked myself, I need to ask this...
Is the desire or craving to smoke still there after one quits and stays off of them for say.....a year? Does the craving for one stay with you for a long time after you quit?
If so, that's scary!
Still, congratulations on quitting!
Having never smoked myself, I need to ask this...
Is the desire or craving to smoke still there after one quits and stays off of them for say.....a year? Does the craving for one stay with you for a long time after you quit?
If so, that's scary!
Still, congratulations on quitting!
Tobacco is grown here in the south and one can go to tobacco sales or farmers and pickup some good quality stuff for a couple of bucks a pound.
A good sharp large knife and a wooden cutting board work well for cutting it up. Put it in freezer bags and it will keep in the freezer a long time.
There are several gadgets to make your own cigarettes and any smoke shop has them or you can get supplies over the Internet.
There are people too that are now growing their own tobacco in a garden.
A good sharp large knife and a wooden cutting board work well for cutting it up. Put it in freezer bags and it will keep in the freezer a long time.
There are several gadgets to make your own cigarettes and any smoke shop has them or you can get supplies over the Internet.
There are people too that are now growing their own tobacco in a garden.
I was standing behind an older gentleman smoker in the grocery store the other day. The first thing I noticed was the stale reek of smoke from 6 feet away. Then I noticed the tar stains on his hands as he placed his items on the belt. As I waited I couldn't help listening to him speak with the cashier-I could hear him wheeze with every breath. The cashier was being polite, but it was clear she smelled his stale cigarette odor too. When the gentleman left I stepped up to the cashier, waved my hand in front of my face and said "yuck!". She giggled, scrunched up her nose and nodded.
I wondered to myself why anyone would ever smoke.
I wondered to myself why anyone would ever smoke.
My only resentment (other than the high tax) is the governments social control program that this amounts to. If they can control habits by taxing something out of existence they can do the same for any other social issue that a tax can apply to. Maybe alcohol will be next, since outright prohibition didn't work so well?
It bothers me so much that many of the legislators who support this were the "it's my body" pot smokers of my generation, which proves the saying that there is nothing worse than a reformed reformer.
I also resent the use of "the power to tax, is the power to destroy" strategy, similar to the decision of Chief Justice John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland.
It bothers me so much that many of the legislators who support this were the "it's my body" pot smokers of my generation, which proves the saying that there is nothing worse than a reformed reformer.
I also resent the use of "the power to tax, is the power to destroy" strategy, similar to the decision of Chief Justice John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland.
Originally Posted By: kkat
Total with tax came to $87.73.
About 5-6 years ago, I worked with a couple of guys who were constant chain smokers. I really didn't pay much attention to where they bought them except one afternoon after work I saw their full sized pickup backed up at the local post office. They had the back end of the pickup heaping full of brown boxes. I inquired at to what was up and they told me that their cigarettes had come in. It turns out that they had found a source in New York that would sell them discount cigarettes and they ordered several thousand dollars worth of cigarettes at a time to save money.......
I never did tell them that their rational of spending several thousand dollars to save money didn't quite add up, but I just chuckled with them and was just glad that I had never taken up the habit.
Total with tax came to $87.73.
About 5-6 years ago, I worked with a couple of guys who were constant chain smokers. I really didn't pay much attention to where they bought them except one afternoon after work I saw their full sized pickup backed up at the local post office. They had the back end of the pickup heaping full of brown boxes. I inquired at to what was up and they told me that their cigarettes had come in. It turns out that they had found a source in New York that would sell them discount cigarettes and they ordered several thousand dollars worth of cigarettes at a time to save money.......
I never did tell them that their rational of spending several thousand dollars to save money didn't quite add up, but I just chuckled with them and was just glad that I had never taken up the habit.
Smoked for more years than I care to think about. Quit on March 15, 1997. That is when they hit a $1.50 a pack. But the thing that made it easy, was that smoking was destroying my stomach. When I did not smoke, no stomach pain. Made it a lot easier to quit. But even coming up on 13 years smoke free, I still really want one every now and then, when a smoking trigger crosses my path. So far so good, "one day at a time"
I smoked Kools. When I stopped, I told myself that I would spend the money on fun stuff instead. It's worked really well. Instead of a pack of smokes, I buy a $5 nintendo or atari game every day or two, or I can save up and get something really cool like a computer.
I still puff on a pipe now and then, a pound can of Prince Albert will last me about 3-4 months. I still like a good chew on a cold winters day when I'm out shoveling snow.
Originally Posted By: ddrumman2004
I'm happy for you that you quit! I just wish my wife would! She did go the Chantix route and had stopped but started back, blaming it on her 34 year old son that can't let go of mama's coat tail.
Having never smoked myself, I need to ask this...
Is the desire or craving to smoke still there after one quits and stays off of them for say.....a year? Does the craving for one stay with you for a long time after you quit?
If so, that's scary!
Still, congratulations on quitting!
Can only speak for myself. I smoked 2 to 3 packs a day and quit back in 2000 my wife says, I never made it a point to remember, just quit.
Regarding the cravings, the first 6 months are the worse but after that it gets longer and longer between. After a couple of years it turned into only once every couple of months. Now it never even happens. I can say that the smell of someone smoking is sicking now. This was with cig's.
The one thing I do miss is the taste of my pipe which I smoked now and then. It meaningless as the brand of tobaco I smoked is no longer available anyway.
I'm happy for you that you quit! I just wish my wife would! She did go the Chantix route and had stopped but started back, blaming it on her 34 year old son that can't let go of mama's coat tail.
Having never smoked myself, I need to ask this...
Is the desire or craving to smoke still there after one quits and stays off of them for say.....a year? Does the craving for one stay with you for a long time after you quit?
If so, that's scary!
Still, congratulations on quitting!
Can only speak for myself. I smoked 2 to 3 packs a day and quit back in 2000 my wife says, I never made it a point to remember, just quit.
Regarding the cravings, the first 6 months are the worse but after that it gets longer and longer between. After a couple of years it turned into only once every couple of months. Now it never even happens. I can say that the smell of someone smoking is sicking now. This was with cig's.
The one thing I do miss is the taste of my pipe which I smoked now and then. It meaningless as the brand of tobaco I smoked is no longer available anyway.
I've managed to stop smoking cigarettes because of the fire safe chemicals they added to them, but smokeless tobacco is a bit more of a challenge. I have managed to cut back, but actually quitting is harder.
$87 for a carton is crazy. Around here name brands are maybe $40 at grocery stores.
$87 for a carton is crazy. Around here name brands are maybe $40 at grocery stores.
Since we're on a cigarette rant I'll throw my 2 cents in. I absolutely cannnot stand people who throw out their butts from a car, or when they are outside on the ground. I mean I just don't throw out my McDonalds wrappers and soda cans when I'm done with them and pollute our earth. I can understand the dumb kids who do it..but people who are 30, 40, or older should have a lick of common sense.
Whenever the dum bass kid above me in the apartment has his friends over for a party, they all hang out on his deck(right above mine) and smoke constantly. I wake up in the morning to find about 8 thousand butts in the grass next to my patio. Smokers just don't get it..they are always complaining about non-smokers bustin their chops...Most of their problems they cause for themselves!!!
Whenever the dum bass kid above me in the apartment has his friends over for a party, they all hang out on his deck(right above mine) and smoke constantly. I wake up in the morning to find about 8 thousand butts in the grass next to my patio. Smokers just don't get it..they are always complaining about non-smokers bustin their chops...Most of their problems they cause for themselves!!!
Last edited by a moderator:
I smoked for a few years out of high school, and then I met a man named Dave B. Dave had mouth cancer, and they had to carve away much of his mouth and tongue to save his life. Quit that day and never looked back.
Couple of random thoughts here, from a never-smoker:
First off, congratulations to anyone who is able to quit. I've seen both ends of the spectrum, my Dad just woke up one morning and quit, and never looked back, and I know people who have quit multiple times. One person in particular quit for 3 years, hit some rough patches at work and was back to his old levels within a month.
As far as taxing, if the tax is used for its stated purposes, which supposedly is to cover increased health-care costs and stop-smoking programs, then I don't think a reasonable tax is out of line. Sadly, I think like every other tax, the money goes everywhere but its intended purpose.
I have no problem with anyone who chooses to smoke as long as they're respectful; the butt's post above is a good example of the disprespect we see. A woman who I worked with and I would go out to lunch now and then and she smoked. Parking at the job was scarce coming back from lunch so we had an arrangement; if she wanted to smoke, she drove her car and lost her spot. If she wanted to keep her spot, I drove and she didn't smoke. Worked rather well.
I have a huge problem with governments making it illegal to smoke just about anywhere, like Illinois recently did. If a bar-owner wants to allow smoking in his bar, and makes it clear at the door that this is a smoking-allowed establishment, that's his business. If you don't want to experience the smoke, there are other bars out there. IMHO, there's a huge inconsistenty here; the government subsidizes tobacco's growth, taxes the heck out of its users, then doesn't let them use the stuff. If it's that bad, don't subsidize the crop.
First off, congratulations to anyone who is able to quit. I've seen both ends of the spectrum, my Dad just woke up one morning and quit, and never looked back, and I know people who have quit multiple times. One person in particular quit for 3 years, hit some rough patches at work and was back to his old levels within a month.
As far as taxing, if the tax is used for its stated purposes, which supposedly is to cover increased health-care costs and stop-smoking programs, then I don't think a reasonable tax is out of line. Sadly, I think like every other tax, the money goes everywhere but its intended purpose.
I have no problem with anyone who chooses to smoke as long as they're respectful; the butt's post above is a good example of the disprespect we see. A woman who I worked with and I would go out to lunch now and then and she smoked. Parking at the job was scarce coming back from lunch so we had an arrangement; if she wanted to smoke, she drove her car and lost her spot. If she wanted to keep her spot, I drove and she didn't smoke. Worked rather well.
I have a huge problem with governments making it illegal to smoke just about anywhere, like Illinois recently did. If a bar-owner wants to allow smoking in his bar, and makes it clear at the door that this is a smoking-allowed establishment, that's his business. If you don't want to experience the smoke, there are other bars out there. IMHO, there's a huge inconsistenty here; the government subsidizes tobacco's growth, taxes the heck out of its users, then doesn't let them use the stuff. If it's that bad, don't subsidize the crop.
- Status
