My yearly budget…..

I sat down on the computer last night and started to draw up a yearly budget with some goals. I was trying to calculate were all my money goes and what are my greatest expenses.

First I formulated my rent. I pay $250 a month in rent. That comes out to $3000 dollars a year. That’s not too bad and probably close to what I would pay with a section 8 voucher.

I then added up a few other things and things seemed okay. I then started to add up what I call entertainment or extraneous things. First, was my smoking habit that I calculated. I consider this a luxury and frivolous. I do love it so and it helps me mentally but I was astounded at the cost of this habit.

I smoke a pack a day. That comes out to be roughly a carton a week. The brand I usually smoke is $30 dollars a carton. At 52 weeks in a year that comes out to be $1560 dollars a year. Holy shit, I thought to myself. That is half a years rent. Just think if I socked all that money away into savings. It would more than double my yearly savings putting me way ahead of the game. The does not include my pipe tobacco hobby which does not cost near as much but adds to the total.

I decided that something has to give. Either it is the cigarettes or it is me. I am going to try and quit. I have one pack left and that will be gone today. I do not do this for health reasons. Sure cigarettes are bad for your health and all smokers know this. I would sometimes get frustrated at the anti-smoking lobbyists and activists. It would make me want to smoke all the more in that I felt they were taking a freedom away from me; the freedom to use my own body as I see fit. I could always see the hypocrisy of the pro-alcohol lobbyists compared to the anti-tobacco lobbyists. Big brother (the state) would never go after big alcohol. The public would not back them and there would be backlash.

I am going to ride down to Fred’s dollar store and buy some nicorette gum to help me. It is expensive but not as much as I would be smoking in the cigarettes. If I can quit in the next few weeks that would save me a lot of money for the remainder of the year. I am going to give this a good try and see if I can do it. I quit once for 8 months and hopefully I can find that same magic again.