Smoking is probably my biggest regret in life. As you can see in the picture, those are empty packs of Marlboro Reds. But there’s more to it, those packs were collected in under 5 months only.
My housemate and I are heavy smokers. Our favorite activity was chatting about anything we could think about while smoking. You might call it socializing, but it comes with a big expense. I’m not just talking about it’s harmful effects to human health, I’m talking about money. In my previous post, I mentioned that I smoked a pack regularly (typically, a pack contains 20 sticks of cigarettes). Here in the Philippines, the average price of a pack of Marlboro Reds is 64 Pesos, that’s about $1.3. Let’s do the math 64 Pesos times 30 days is 1,920, make it a year and it’s 23,040 ($460). Some of you might think, “Hey that’s pretty cheap. Cigarettes here cost a fortune!”. Well, some of you are wrong. In western standards, the cost of living here in the Philippines is relatively cheap. You can feed a family of four with less than a dollar. Everything here is cheap, including salaries.
My point is, if you’re a smoker, now is the best time to quit. And if you don’t smoke, I congratulate you! Not only did you lessen the risk of dying before you see your grandchildren, but you also saved a lot of money. Honestly, I’m still on the way to quitting for good, but at least I’m trying.
Wish me luck!