Re: Shoot, I remember smoking..

Smoking was a contributing factor in Frank getting blood clots which resulted in an amputation and also in my bladder cancer, so we've been told. Both my parents smoked because back then, smoking was the thing to do and everybody smoked. My dad died from COPD and lung cancer at age 83. My mom died at age 50 from multiple organ failure. Source undetermined.

Before I quit smoking, I downloaded an app on my phone which was really helpful in my Quit. One of the things it did was it kept a tally of all the money I've saved by not smoking. I don't know how much those cigarettes would cost now but the last time I bought them in 2020 they were $9.12 a pack and I was smoking 1 to 1.5 packs a day. I don't even know where I'd buy Benson & Hedges Menthol 100's now even if I wanted to because they're not sold everywhere. There were only a couple of places in my area where I could buy them and they only stocked them because I bought them, regularly. Anyhow.... even though I stopped smoking 5 years, 9 months and 15 days ago, I still check the app every now and then just to see how much I've saved since I quit. I looked at it just now and the app tells me I've saved a whopping $19,279.82 !!!!!! That's just me, mind you. It doesn't include Frank's savings since he quit. It's scary to think about how much money I spent over 47 years smoking while also allowing it to do horrible things to my health. When we quit, we had plenty of incentive to do so. We didn't use nicotine patches, nicotine gum, vaping, Wellbutrin, etc. or anything. We quit cold turkey and managed to do it on plain ol' will power and desire. Wish I'd been able to do it years ago. Better yet, I wish I'd never started smoking in the first place.

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2026 10:00AM by MamaRAMa.