You could be saving up to £4,197 a year by giving up a pack of cigarettes a day according to new research, with savings of £598 a year for less frequent smokers.
Vaping experts over at IndeJuice calculated how much money you could be saving based on the average UK cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes over various timespans. They broke down how much you would save throughout your lifetime if you kicked the habit for good, as well as comparing what you could be spending the money on instead.
The research reveals that if you are smoking one pack of cigarettes per day at the average UK cost of £11.50 per pack, you would save £349.79 per month or £4,197 over the course of a year by quitting – the cost of a family holiday abroad for four people, the cost of running your car for ten years or paying for 11 years’ worth of gym memberships.
Someone who regularly smokes a full pack of cigarettes a day can expect to see staggering savings in the long run – banking up to £41,975 over ten years from quitting smoking. This is the equivalent of a 20% deposit on a £200,000 property, the price of a Porsche Cayman or nearly a kilogram of 24 carat gold.
For people who are only smoking a couple of cigarettes a day, the cost can still quickly add up. If you are smoking just one pack of cigarettes a week at the same average cost, you could still make savings of £598 a year, or £2,990 in your pocket over the next five years. The money saved by quitting for one year, could cover the cost of a three-course meal for you and your significant other 11 times a year, the cost of nine weekly food shops or seven annual Netflix subscriptions.
A spokesperson from IndeJuice added: “Many smokers are already aware of the harm imposed on their body by regularly smoking, but it is easy to overlook the financial savings that could be made by choosing to quit for good.
“When looking at Google Trends data over the past five years, there has been a significant increase in people searching the term ‘quit smoking’ year on year, with the exception of 2021 where there was a 2.3% decrease in searches from the previous year.
“As we emerge out of the pandemic, it is important that we continue to reflect on the health benefits of quitting for good, and the long-term savings offer an additional incentive to do so.”
