Five Years and Counting

December 30, 2002 I quit smoking....so today is my fifth smoke free anniversary. My only regret is that I didn't quit sooner.

The other day at Safeway I was walking past the glassed in, locked display case that holds their tobacco products. I happened to notice a carton of the brand I used to smoke with a price tag of $47 and some change. That is outrageous!! I have no idea how people afford to smoke any more. When I started smoking, cigarettes cost 3 packs for $1 at the Clark gas station in Prairie du Chien. Too bad they didn't cost $5 a pack then, I couldn't have afforded them!!

So lets really think about this for a minute. How many days have I been smoke free?? 365 x 5 + 1 (Leap Year) equals 1,826 days...

How many cigarettes haven't I smoked?? I am going to average 1.5 packs a day so let's see 1,826 x 30 equals 54,780!! My lungs must be ecstatic!!

Now lets talk money....when I quit 5 years ago cigarettes were $3.50 a pack so 1.5 packs would cost $5.25 a day. So the math for this problem must be 5.25 x 1,826 equals $9,586.50 Wow is that right??? Just for shits and giggles lets see how much money this would be based on today's cigarette prices. That would bump the daily cost to $7.50 if we are figuring a $5.00 per pack price. Here goes...1,826 x $7.50 equals $13,695. Wow how sad that so many people burn up that kind of money on a daily basis and shame on me for burning up the amount of money that I did smoking for 40 years....not to mention the havoc I wreaked on my one and only body. In fact that is the real tragedy of smoking..what it does to our bodies and, by association, the bodies of our friends and families.

I know quitting smoking is not easy.....but do yourself a favor and make the effort. It is soooooo worth it!!