Smokers sitting on a goldmine

27/09/2017

Smokers are sitting on a goldmine

What if you could save close to R 8 500 a year?

Imagine paying off your bond earlier? Saving for a rainy day? Or getting those new shoes? That weekend away? So many things you can spoil yourself with if your money was not going up in smoke!

Spending money you don’t have?

Quitting this habit can save you between R 700 – R 900 per month! As a smoker you are paying an average of R 35 per packet and may be buying 4 – 5 packets per week. In this case you could be saving up to R8 500 per year.

Show me the money!

Here are 6 tips to quit smoking so you can start saving:

Make the decision to quit

A conscious decision is a commitment to yourself and those around you. Speak to a friend, family or doctor.

Write down your reasons for quitting

Your health, your children and your money are very good reasons to list

List your triggers and plan how to handle them

You know yourself; remove all traces of smoking from your environment like ashtrays, lighters and cigarette packets – even the empty ones

Swap out

Chew gum, carrot sticks or raw nuts when you feel like you are missing the habit

Decide whether to gradually quit or stop all at once

You know your body and your mental strength. Go cold turkey or cut down within a specified time-frame – do it at your pace to avoid anxiety

Reap the rewards!

Reward yourself! If you have gone without a cigarette for just 48 hours, keep the momentum and treat yourself. Reward yourself if you have cut down from a packet a day to 2 cigarettes per day and again when you cut down to one per day, and have an ultimate reward when you no longer need a cigarette.

Quitting has so many benefits, and health-wise over time you begin to see restoration and a decline in risks you would have otherwise been subjected to as a smoker. Smoking puts you at a far greater risk for heart attacks and strokes, and can lead to numerous forms of cancer, in addition to many other negative effects on health (impotence and fertility problems, oral health problems, increased risk for other infections, such as TB or pneumonia and chronic lung disease). Non-smokers who breathe in second-hand smoke suffer many of the diseases of active smoking. Second-hand smoke causes a wide variety of health problems in children including bronchitis and pneumonia, exacerbation of asthma, and middle ear infections.

Why burn what you earn?

Knowing the money isn’t in your pocket, consider this: a complete packet (which includes: cigarette sticks, paper, tobacco, filter paper, filter tips, cigarette box, wrapping inside and plastic wrapping outside) = R 1.37 (incl VAT) + SARS Excise Duty = R 12.45 (incl VAT). So the total cost of a packet of cigarettes = R 13.81 (incl VAT) and the rest is pure profit because you are paying between R30 and R40 per packet!

Since South Africans consume about 132 million cigarettes per day (that’s 12 cigarettes per day, per 7.7 million smokers), and the bigger manufacturers hold about 80% of the market share, there is an average estimate of R 181 million worth of profit being made daily¹…and your much needed R 700 – R 900 per month is a big contributor! Simply put, don’t burn what you earn!

¹http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/research-outputs/view/7539

Smokers sitting on a goldmine