To think that people who smoke aren't totally skint?

[Greedymiss]

Probably going to get shot to pieces for this, but aibu to think that if you are are buying cigarettes, then you aren't actually totally broke?

This has come from someone who has been saying that they can't afford food, but are spending between £40-£70 per week on cigarettes.

I do get that times are tough and the reason that this has made me feel angry is because it reminded me of my parents when I was growing up. We never had money for any luxuries like days out or nice clothes, because they were always poor. Yet they both smoked like chimneys and drank like fish.

I quit smoking 6 years ago using NHS support via GP surgery, was prescribed Champix.

I'd recommend it to any smoker. Perhaps suggest it to your friend OP, but certainly don't give them any money!

Rellywobble · Yesterday 18:14
Maybe smokers go without other luxuries to fund their habit/ addiction. Surely that is how people budget generally.

Am not sure why it is anyone else’s business how others spend their money TBH or is this just a smoker bashing thread 🤔“

It’s other people’s business when smokers are prioritising cigarettes over feeding their kids and using food banks’ resources.

I was a smoker (40 Marlboro a day for 15 years). Met my husband, wanted to start a family. He refused while I continued to smoke. The choice was absolutely clear and so I stopped.

Smokers exaggerate how difficult it is to give up. It’s a choice.

I genuinely don’t understand how anyone even starts smoking these days.

For some of the older generation who started before the serious health risks were fully understood it’s understandable that they still kept on smoking as they had already started.

But the health risks have been known for decades now, if you’re a smoker you’re socially stigmatised, it’s not like starting to drink where people around you are having a glass of wine with dinner it’s totally different. And even in the addicted smoker, everyone I know has said that they hated it the first time they tried a cigarette, and yet they went on to have another one.

So no. There is absolutely no reason for becoming addicted to cigarettes other than choosing to start smoking them in the first place.

And if you can’t afford to feed your kids because you’ve spent all your money on cigarettes, then it’s not a case of can’t afford it’s a case of putting your own selfish habits above your children’s welfare.

YANBU. I'm an ex-smoker, no issues with people smoking, but if your children/family/pets are going without things to pay for it - that's disgraceful.

Yes it's hard to quit. Buy a vape. That made it so much easier for me. Vaping was really hard to quit I found, harder than smoking.

YANBU.

If somebody chooses to smoke rather than buy food for themselves, that's fine. Their choice.

If they have children and are prioritising smoking over feeding their children, well that's an issue.

I've never smoked, didn't drink when the kids were growing and also went without new clothes ( to the point when I took my favourite summer dress off one time it fell to bits in my hands )
All left home now (I can buy clothes)
But to Op ynbu and this person needs pointing in the direction of NHS smoking cessation.
Do not give them money.

Yes it's an addiction. No you're not allowed to moan to me you're skint if you're spending £500 a month on fags.

My stepfather happily let us suffer in many ways when we were kids but merrily blew a fortune on fags and booze.

I think these people choose to eb skint, i mean who wouldbt paying 15-30? a day on cigarettes and likely beer,wine etc.

Glad to say, i have never spent a penny in my life on either :) all my free funds go towards doing things with the kids

No, it's not a choice.

SOME people make the decision to quit, a LOT of people can't make the choice because it's gotten hold of them to the point where it's part of their bones. This is why you see people in an absolute mess, wheezing and hacking their lungs up, but still smoking because of the hold it has over them.

That's what addiction is.

The vast, vast majority of properly addicted smokers started as children. I was 12 and by the age of 15 I was already heavily addicted.

Teens are notorious for risky behaviour and making terrible decisions because their prefrontal cortex is still developing.

Like many other teens I thought I was invincible, would never get addicted and anyone over the age of 30 was ancient anyway. Long term health risks were simply not on my radar.

The vast, vast majority of properly addicted smokers started as children. I was 12 and by the age of 15 I was already heavily addicted.

Teens are notorious for risky behaviour and making terrible decisions because their prefrontal cortex is still developing.

Like many other teens I thought I was invincible, would never get addicted and anyone over the age of 30 was ancient anyway. Long term health risks were simply not on my radar“

I started when I was 13. Smoked heavily for 15 years. Wanted a child, husband refused until I stopped. So I did. Priorities.

YANBU - my daughter’s father ‘can’t afford’ child maintenance which is only £27 per month (because of being on benefits) BUT can afford to still smoke 3-4 packets of cigarettes a week 🙃 drives me mad honestly.

Wow. That's a LOT of money. £7200 a year.

Yes it's an addiction blah blah blah but there are so many methods to help people stop. You cannot be "skint" and simultaneously spending that amount of cash on fags.

It really isn't the same. Someone who spends £70 a week on cigarettes, week in week out, for years and years, despite NHS stop smoking services being available, and allows their kids to go without, and expects to use foodbanks - totally different from a homeless person buying a can of special brew.

YANBU OP I was that child as well.

I agree with you OP.
Often when I read threads on here by people saying they're down to their last 10p, can't afford to put the lights on, can't afford the bus fare to the food bank, kids shoes too tight but can't afford more etc - I can't help wondering if they smoke. Because smoking isn't a rare treat, a nice little pick-me-up that we're all entitled to now and then. It's a daily expensive habit that costs tens of thousands over a lifetime.

If people want to spend their money on fags that's their choice, but a) I think it's bloody unfair on their kids and b) don't moan about being skint.

YANBU.

At nearly £15 for a packet of 20 cigarettes, smoking is a very expensive way to kill yourself.

My friend smokes 20 per day, and husband 30, which must cost them £30+per day/£1000 per month.

Their house stinks, they stink, they suffer with gum disease (confirmed smoking caused by their dentist), always complain they have no money, and yet they say its difficult to give up 🤷‍♂️

Glad I don't smoke cigarettes.

One thing that puzzles me a little is why poorer people are actually more likely to smoke than richer people. I know poorer people have more stress to their lives, but smoking doesn't reduce stress, it adds to it. I don't believe they have any less willpower than the better off. Also, poorer people aren't morally inferior to richer people or care about their kids less. They also have much less money to actually spend on cigarettes.

It's complex but there's a lot of info here @Kendodd :

ash.org.uk/resources/local-toolkit/health-inequalities-resource-pack

I'm really pleased for you.

I was like the OP, not enough food, grew up in a cold mouldy house, not allowed to put the heating on, shoes with holes in them for school, bloody miserable but there was always money for fags. My father smoked 40 a day he would finish one and light another still does, he’s got COPD now how he still has lungs I don’t know. My mother smoked 20 a day so 60 a day between them the house stank. I hate smoking now.

Similar but only my mother and my grandmother smoked who lived with us- both chain smokers.

I wore my mother's old clothes-allcharity shop jobbies - even knickers.

I have chronic asthma. I recall I used to lie on the floor next to our wire screen door (I am from a very hot country) sucking in fresh air because if I sat up the smoky air would excacerbate my asthma.

Ironically my mother was a nurse yet seemed to think her smoking was top trumps against my genuine inability to breathe.

She finally stopped smoking the day I turned 24. !2 months later she treated the entire family (6 people) to a cruise around the south pacific from smoking savings alone.

YANBU. My brother will spend £20 a day on cigarettes plus christ knows what on the latest vapes and liquid then text me asking for £10 for some food as he's hungry. He's 36 years old, it's pathetic.
I'm not anti smoking particularly, I do have the odd social cigarette or vape. But I would never ever prioritise it over food or bills or anything for DD.
If you do that and have children it's time to seriously rethink your life choices.