Please can someone help?

joughtib

MoneyWaster2007 wrote:

i smoke 20 a day, somethimes more

The reason for asking is that if you can restrict your level to 20 a day for a week, and then down to 15, and then to 10........

If you can't stop straight away, make your packets last longer, or roll your own.

MoneyWaster2007

joughtib wrote:

The reason for asking is that if you can restrict your level to 20 a day for a week, and then down to 15, and then to 10........

If you can't stop straight away, make your packets last longer, or roll your own.

thans, i have come up with the idea of smoking roll ups through the week, as an ounce of tobacco goes a lot further than a pack of fags

julesgr

Re the smoking , find out if you local health authority run smoking cessation clinics, these are usually run in the evenings and I found it the only way for me I'm almost up to 3 years now and i was a 20 a day smoker too. Cessation clinics are free, patches etc are free and you have support from other people which is a major help

Frosty_box_2

Moneywaster2007

I'm in debt and decided to give up smoking "again"!! The docs had already given me Ziban and Patches, 3 times for my previous attempts!! and they refused any more!
This time I set my mind at the thought "it's for my health and wealth", bought patches off E-bay at a fraction of the price in shops. I completed step 1, started step 2 and half way through adopted a new phrase "I control it, it doesn't control me". I stopped the patches, ate my lips and gums for 2 weeks and now, OK not totally crave free, but I'm not smoking!!. Advice: chew loads of chewing gum, eat well (and you will), drink stacks of water and deal with the weight issues later. You'll be amazed how "easy" and the savings there are to be made.
Money wise, I trust and applaude CCCS. They've turned my life around. 3 1/2 years time - debt free - can't fault it!

Best of luck

Frosty

arkaussiecat

as a smoker i appreciate how difficult it is to stop, my approach has been not to take cigs to work (no smoking environment and fed up getting soaked in the rain) difficult at first, and not smoking in my livingroom, only outside (if dry) or at the kitchen door. a bit of a pain but it means i dont sit and virtually chain smoke while watching telly of an evening. Result - down to 8-10 a day and a cleaner smelling house. still working on reducing it more. Good luck with trying to cut down!

lynzpower

Rollups are a cracking idea. Im a smoker with no co-ordination. So it never worked for me.

Smoking 20 a day is financially devastating. Its 37.45 per week, and thats without any other bits & pieces, such as lighters, matches, etc.

Do you feel ready to give up or is it only cos you are skint you feel the need. Plenty of non smokers will tell you to just give up youll save a fortune but I believe myself a very strongminded person but its one thing I was simply not able to do try as I might. Wrong time for me I think. Now Im very very busy, and barely smoke at all, maybe 3 at work and 2 in the evenings.

I read on here something really cool once. Get an empty jam jar or similar. Every time you fancy a cigarette wait 15 mins. then have it if you really want it. At this stage put 30p in a jar. thats the 30p you WOULD have spent 15 mins earlier if youd have smoked it. then wait again. And keep waiting and putting money in the jar every time you bypass having one.

Altohugh you are not giving up, you are making a trade off of cash/ vs fags. this cash can go to a credit card or whatever.

INterms of SOA, just write in here

Income

Outgoings ( then list them all with amount)

debts -amount, then mothlky repayment then APR

we can then see whats what

MoneyWaster2007

Hi all!

ok i feel as though i am turning things around.

i have opened an isa with halifax, transferring £100 per month via direct debit from my current account.

any extra cash i have left at the end of each month, i also transfer over to my isa.

at the rate i am going, i reckon i can have my loan paid off with my savings in 2 years, at a push. then when i have paid that off, i will be saving my !!!! off for a deposit on a mortgage: house prices are set to drop in the next few years. only problem is i will be 26/27 before i finish my loan, meaning i have maybe left it a little late to get a mortgage??

anyway, heres my SOA:

monthly income: £960

monthly expenditure: Loan repayment, £174.20
Housekeeping, £120
ISA, £100
Haircut and gel, £20
Cigarettes, £40
Nights out, £300
emergency fund to cover overspending, £60
clothes allowance, £40

this totals £854.00, which leaves £106 spare, which i try to hang on to, to add to my ISA.

current loan figure, £10873.36.
current loan settlement figure, £8532.51

in2deep_2

MoneyWaster2007 wrote: »

thans, i have come up with the idea of smoking roll ups through the week, as an ounce of tobacco goes a lot further than a pack of fags

I was going to say if you must smoke use roll ups and roll them small and thin.
I found the easiest way to cut down is to stay busy...very busy.
I was like you and on 20 a day but (luckily) since being not allowed to smoke at work anymore i can now go all day on about 3 or 4......stay busy....eat Gum.

Good luck.

newsgroup_monkey

MoneyWaster2007 wrote: »

Hi all!

ok i feel as though i am turning things around.

i have opened an isa with halifax, transferring £100 per month via direct debit from my current account.

any extra cash i have left at the end of each month, i also transfer over to my isa.

at the rate i am going, i reckon i can have my loan paid off with my savings in 2 years, at a push. then when i have paid that off, i will be saving my !!!! off for a deposit on a mortgage: house prices are set to drop in the next few years. only problem is i will be 26/27 before i finish my loan, meaning i have maybe left it a little late to get a mortgage??

You might want to have a look at the other thread I posted on about making your own fags on the cheap.

Also, I wouldn't worry about being 26/27 before getting a mortgage.

You may be shocked to know that the average first time buyer is 34.

I think it's going to get higher too because most people can't afford them! I'm in my mid 30s and I had a mortgage at 24 but due to a marriage breakdown, I'm now back in the rental market with nothing to show for the original houses I've owned. Admittedly, it was hard at first, but I've now realised that I'm much, much happier and when things go wrong with the house, it's lovely to call someone in and not worry about it!

Rather than concentrating on the shallow goals I had, I have tried to now think about realistic goals - what I'd like to be doing in 10 years time, what opportunities I can give my children, where I'd like to be living in retirement and so on. Don't get me wrong, I will have a mortgage in the future, but I'm certainly not going to do that in the next 2 years (let the market settle a bit) and I'm not going to pay for an overpriced house - currently, I believe that most houses cost more than they are really worth.

nimbo

my sister swore by emptying an ashtray into a jam jar of water, and everytine she wanted a fag she would have a sniff!!!!

put her off in 2 weeks, (at this point her young daughter managed to get said jar and open it all over her duvet which made me chuckle!!!!)

good luck in the new job, and with the savings...