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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How the fuck do people afford to smoke?

208 replies

StrongerThanIThought76 · 03/01/2018 08:53

Let me start by saying I've never smoked. Never even tried it. My mum did, from her teens, all through my childhood, through some serious health issues and finally stopped after a smoking related cancer. Of course there are a hundred reasons not to smoke these days - health, social exclusion etc etc.

I worked out that over 50 years she's spent almost £150k on fags, conservatively basing that on 20 a day.

She's never had any savings, only been on a few holidays and still harbours resentment that my dad has a much wealthier lifestyle (bigger house, better car etc since they divorced 30 years ago).

So with the cost of a packet of 'premium' fags costing in excess of £10 a pack AIBU to think that smokers have got their priorities massively wrong money-wise?

OP posts:
shhhfastasleep · 03/01/2018 13:01

It's not about being or not being humble. It's about knowing it will kill you and not prioritising beating it. I know a heavy smoker who has been through bloody hell in their life and isn't in the right place yet to beat smoking. Maybe they never will be. I still love them (close family member) but I know (and they know) smoking will kill them. We never talk about it. That person loved my mum almost as much as I and siblings did. We watched her die from a life of smoking.

TitaniasCloset · 03/01/2018 13:02

Thank you for saying that x2boys!!! Rare that people will admit it just doesn't make sense. I did have one excellent care co ordinator though who was always honest with me and admitted that when the government puts up the prices of fags and booze all they are doing is taking food out of her clients mouths.

Fireandflames666 · 03/01/2018 13:06

Good lord. It's depress hearing that parents cut down on food, toys and clothes 😣

x2boys · 03/01/2018 13:09

They have to be seen doing something @TitaniasCloset but you know when I worked in acute mental health wards a lot of the time offering someone who was acutely psychotic a brew and a fag( if they were smokers) helped patients immensely to calm down enough to talk and often they would accept medication. after their brew and fag but you can't be seen to condone this these days.

TitaniasCloset · 03/01/2018 13:12

It’s ridiculous. Being told it’s healthy and will extend your life if you quit just doesn’t make sense to someone suicidal or psychotic and possibly battling other addictions, they are just trying to get through the day or the hour even safely. Shortening of life span might seem like a bonus at times like that.

x2boys · 03/01/2018 13:15

I agree but it's an emotive subject things were very different when I first qualified 20 odd years ago to whenbi stopped working 3 years ago and I'm not sure things have changed. for the better .

TitaniasCloset · 03/01/2018 13:19

I agree with that. There just seems to be less actual help available and more ticking of boxes.

RedForFilth · 03/01/2018 13:22

Thanks Cherrycokewinning Flowers

mydogmymate · 03/01/2018 13:38

I know someone who works in Bristol prison. Smoking has been banned there ( its at the governor discretion apparently) and the tension there because of it is very bad. Prisoners are locked up for 20 -22 hours a day with no smoking. There'll be a riot soon.

TitaniasCloset · 03/01/2018 13:41

These government methods to stop smoking just don't work with the harder cases. But no one will listen to that.

Parkingwarssaga · 03/01/2018 13:49

What happens in prisons if the person sharing your cell smokes and you don't. Surely that's contravening rights of the non smoker too?

Genuine question

Lovesagin · 03/01/2018 13:54

It's very easy to say "why not just quit" or similar if you've never been addicted to a substance. Very easy.

Zatsuma · 03/01/2018 13:57

It's very easy to say "why not just quit" or similar if you've never been addicted to a substance. Very easy

I went from 40 a day (that's 2 packs) to nothing. It's not that hard. Changing your diet is a million time harder

Ollivander84 · 03/01/2018 13:59

I honestly don't know how I afforded it. I quit a 30 a day habit 18 months ago, the app I use says that's over £4000 a year

Lovesagin · 03/01/2018 14:07

I'm glad it wasn't that hard for you zatsuma

Oldbutstillgotit · 03/01/2018 14:16

My husband smokes 20 cigarettes a day , sometimes more and , despite promises , has never tried to stop . His life however he constantly moans that I have more “ spare” money than him but I am not frittering away £70+ a week on an addiction!

MerryShitmas · 03/01/2018 14:19

The last time I was in the UK - less than a year ago my tobacco of choice (perfectly legal but shitty gold leaf) was £13.50 for 50g. Round it up to £15 to account for extra papers (they generally give you one pack but it'll never last the entire pouch) £1 for a multipacket of 10 papers, 50p because why not.
50g would last me 10 days but even if you round it up to lasting 7 days, that's 4x 15 = 60. So £2 a day. Considerably cheaper than £70 a week/£10 a day. Not everyone's buying a premium pack of 20 every day.
And yeah I've spent most of my life poor.
A coffee and a smoke is better than anything else I could afford at the time to have on a regular basis. I found it much easier to give up (have now btw) when I could actually afford to distract myself....

famousfour · 03/01/2018 14:22

I also just don't get it. Ex smoker here and I just couldn't justify buying cigarettes for a regular habit like 20 a day. But then I also would never buy two Starbucks a day and get antsy about my DH buying bottled water when you can just get it from a tap. Seems so unnecessary.

That said I do but nice wine on the weekends and have never added up my spend there... at least it doesn't stink and in moderation shouldn't kill me!

What is vaping and what's it for?

MorrisZapp · 03/01/2018 14:26

Nelson Mandela told all his fellow freedom fighters to stop smoking, as it was another thing for prison guards to taunt and manipulate them with.

See also the Big Brother House.

noeffingidea · 03/01/2018 14:26

Zatsuma it wasn't that hard for you. It's the other way round for me. I find it easy to control my diet. It was extremely difficult for me to pack in smoking, I had to make several attempts. I used to get suicidal thoughts for months afterwards, and I've never suffered from mental health problems.
People react to chemical addictions in different ways, and the fact that you didn't find it that hard has no bearing on other people's addiction.
Incidentally, I find it quite easy to quit drinking alcohol, but I'm not going to go onto a thread about giving up alcohol because it 'isn't that hard'.

moita · 03/01/2018 14:31

I had an ex at college who never had any money but always managed to buy tobacco. Used to drive me mad.

ohamIreally · 03/01/2018 15:18

I know the thread has moved on but just re-read my post and it made it sound like I didn't prioritise my DD when I was a smoker. Just to clarify I stopped years before she was born and she has always been my priority. Fairly regular poster so didn't want to be misunderstood. As you were.

maddiemookins16mum · 03/01/2018 16:16

Basically this thread is just a smokescreen to moan about smokers, nowt to do with how much it costs.

Ragwort · 03/01/2018 16:27

Regardless of the health/addiction argument it really shows just how differently people choose to spend any 'spare' money after all essentials are met (and of course you can argue about what exactly are 'essentials').

I don't smoke but I do spend quite a bit on alcohol and nice food - at the same time I only buy clothes from charity shops and would never have my hair done - yet other people think nothing of spending £75 on a hair appointment. Likewise some people spend a fortune on mobile phone contracts/ipad etc etc. And what about pets, I am not an 'animal person' and I find it incredible what people will spend on animals - my nephew who owes us a lot of money spent over £1k on a dog Shock. Let alone the costs of looking after it.

Everyone's spending priorities are different. Smile.

swingofthings · 03/01/2018 16:29

Basically this thread is just a smokescreen to moan about smokers, nowt to do with how much it costs.
Why would people moan? It's the smokers and their family who are suffering, not posters who don't smoke!

My step-mother smoked since she was 14. My dad tried so hard to get her to stop in the kindest possible ways, but she always responded with the 'leave me alone, I do what I want'. Thankfully, money was never an issue and children never missed out on anything, but what is so sad is that she has now reach the age of 60 and the health is ravaged by her smoking habit and it took getting to that point to finally agree to stop.

She did 6 months ago for health reasons, but it came as a total shock to her how better off financially she was! She had stopped considering the financial implication, just took it as part of the budget and that was that. Sadly, she won't recover from most of her health issues and it makes me so so mad that although she's known all her life that it would lead to where she is now, she chose to ignore it assuming that she wouldn't care when she reached that point, but of course she cares now and is full of regrets. The most frustrating part is that she didn't find it that hard to stop with the help of her doctor. Such a waste.