Stupid Tax: The Dumbest Thing I EVER Bought
March 11th, 2008 by Ana
You’ve probably been seeing a lot of posts about “The Dumbest Thing I Ever Bought” mainly because DebtKid is giving his dumbest purchase away. I’m not even sure what the thing is that he’s offering up as a prize, but it’s always a fun post (for y’all) and hubby the Catholic claims confession is good for the soul.
I won’t be giving mine away. For one thing, I bought it twenty years ago when I was just fifteen. Second thing, no one should buy this! The dumbest thing I ever bought in my entire life was the very first pack of cigarettes.
The initial purchase wasn’t much at all, $1.29 plus tax I think … maybe less. It lasted for over a week and a half since I had to sneak out of the house to smoke them. But the kicker is, it ain’t a one time purchase.
I don’t really know how much I’ve spent over the last twenty years on cigarettes. Probably as much as I spent on alcoholic bevarages during my drinking years. Between the two vices, I probably spent enough to fully fund my retirement … and hubby’s too for that matter.
I’ve managed to give up the drinking, but am still smoking after four attempts last year to quit. Hubby wants me to quit. Son wants me to quit. My parents want me to quit. And although there are days *I* want to quit … there are days I don’t want to quit. I’m not sure why. I have heard one person say it was easier to quit cocaine than cigarettes (how’s that for encouragement?) and that dude quit both along with a few other vices.
I know all about the adverse health effects of smoking. I know how bad it makes my clothes and breath smell. Even if I didn’t know these things, my son tells me at least once a month about how bad it is for me. It may be cliche, but the truth is this: it is far far easier (and cheaper) to not start than it is to stop smoking.
That one pack of cigarettes twenty years ago was truly the dumbest thing I ever bought in my life. Too bad I was a naive rebellious fifteen year old who wouldn’t listen to all the public service announcements.
Posted in stupid tax |
March 11th, 2008 at 7:11 am
That’s a good one. I think you should win!
I also have no idea what the prize is but I participated anyway, I think we bloggers have some sort of compulsion to admit our stupidity. lol
I hope you manage to quit soon. My mom smokes, and as a 33 year old adult, I am almost constantly worried in the back of my mind she’s going to die any day now (and no, she’s not sick that I know of). And that worry has been with me since I was about 8. Just to give you a little perspective from the child of a smoker.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:37 am
My thyroid oncologist told me nicotine is more addictive than heroin. I said thanks, you just gave me a new excuse!
I heartily agree with you! The evil yet legal weed captivates me occasionally…stress trigger…then I get past the stress and tune into the icky feelings/consequences, get sick of it, and quit again. I’ll quit for years at a time. I’d like to say I have quit permanently, but I just don’t trust myself.
I’m taking substance abuse counseling certification classes this semester. Fact: only a few hours of smoking can permanently change your brain chemistry (receptors) to *need* smoking.
If you’re having trouble quitting, talk to your doc about Chantix. It changes your brain (opioid receptors) to eliminate the reward from smoking. It’s very effective. In fact, in alcoholics who used it to quit smoking, they also lost their craving for alcohol and quit drinking too. (No info is on their website about that. I got that info straight from an addiction psychologist who works with the addiction medicine unit of the hospital.)
OK future pharmacist, better living through chemistry! Go for it! www.chantix.com
Go Ana! Go Ana! Go Ana!
(PS I’m a Catholic and we haven’t believed in PUBLIC confession since the earliest centuries of the church…but thanks for sharing! LOL)
March 11th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Liz, I’ve been hearing good things about chantix, but am not sure VA will spring for it. That, and they keep cancelling my appointments due to a shortage of doctors’ hours.
I know I’m not the only one who has problems quitting. I also know non-smokers don’t understand, especially the “stress triggers.”
PaidTwice, trust me: me geeky son is quite eloquent on telling me how scared he is I’ll just kick over and die suddenly. In fact, he brought it up again last night, Sunday night, and at least twice last week. He also learned how to apply an effective guilt trip from my mother. And yes, we bloggers seem to love/hate the whole public confession compulsion.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Smokers aren’t the only ones with stress triggers…
I’m just fat instead
(not advocating that either heh)
March 11th, 2008 at 8:29 am
no doubt, Cigarettes are harder to kick than anything else I know of.
My Dumbest purchase ever was a dinner for two girls I knew in college. They were both just friends, and even though I had money in my account to pay for it, I put it on the card. That’s where it began.
Finally got that card down to the last $500.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am
PT, somehow I imagine you skinny from having to chase after your littles so much LOL Hubby has never smoked and doesn’t understand the stress trigger thing. My mom, being a pharmacist, has done some reading on the subject of quitting and has actually backed off my case in recent years. She just won’t let me smoke around her where she can smell it.
Will, I mentioned something about a dinner on the plastic back when we finally killed AmEx for good. I know the feeling.
March 11th, 2008 at 9:06 am
OK Ana, how’s this for crazy. I’m still wearing headscarves from cancer treatment, and I smoke about a half a pack a day (since I lost my hair–talk about a stress trigger). I’ve tightened up my personal “smoking rules” to be even more restrictive. But still, those few puffies a day are helping.
I set Easter as my quit date. Jesus and kentuckyliz gettin’ resurrected and finding new life!
Still, friends and others (smokers and nonsmokers) feel free to criticize me for smoking and I’m a cancer patient for pete’s sake! (You’d be surprised how many cancer patients hang outside the front door of the cancer center and smoke!)
My response:
1. None of my three primary cancers have been caused by smoking. Not smoking-related at all.
2. I have had PET CT fusion scans, MRI, CT, xray, 4D echos, etc. and frequent scanning and monitoring. I have clear lungs, a strong athlete’s heart, excellent cardiovascular health, and the best female blood profile the hospital has ever seen. (I’m an athlete.) I have OBJECTIVE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that my lungs, heart, and blood are all super healthy; what evidence do you have? (Whether you smoke or not!)
3. I have made my oncologists promise that I can have a PET CT fusion scan every year to give a good sniff. It will detect about any cancer, even microscopic, except for deep brain cancer and those in the center of dense bone (like hip bone). What reassurance do you have that you don’t have any type of cancer growing somewhere? You’re just wishing.
4. Never underestimate the power of the human mind to rationalize.
5. After decades of experience as a counselor and as a human being, I can testify: human behavior is not rational.
6. I LIKE smoking. It’s easy for me to be critical of junkies because I don’t like heroin. If you don’t like ciggies, it’s easy for you to criticize smokers. Your appetites are merely fixated elsewhere and you haven’t confessed them yet.
LOL!!!
I’m not trying to excuse or rationalize your behavior, Ana. It’s just what works for me. LOL I can quit without meds whenever I am sufficiently motivated. I lose that motivation when an intense stress trigger hits. I can handle ordinary stress without smoking, but big stress makes me want a puff.
With P school ahead, you know you’re in for a lot of stress! So try to get the chantix and stress management techniques in place, or put it off until you’re done with P school.
Re lung cancer, it depends on whether you have inherited “wet” lung or “dry” lung–one has more propensity to develop lung cancer (regardless of smoking status) and the other is fairly lung cancer resistant (even for longtime smokers). You can usually figure it out from your family medical genogram.
I obviously have tendencies and potentials, but no known genetic link yet–tested negative for three genes (PTEN, BRCA1, BRCA2)–I work with a genetic counselor.
Get involved with fitness or a sport and that usually helps the quitting motivation and makes you feel good–a much better high. I’m trying to get a friend to agree to race me in some events next fall to motivate my training and quitting.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Other than the health costs I read somewhere once about the amount the average smoker spends on cigarettes in a lifetime - I don’t remember the number, but it was absolutely unbelievable. Good luck with it, be strong!
March 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Yikes…that is a bad purchase! I hope you’re able to quit someday, I know from some family members’ experience that it is by far one of the most difficult things to give up…especially if you have a high stress level. Good luck!
March 11th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
The $82.49 plus tax a month that cigarettes cost me really, really hurts me. It’s almost as much as I spend on food but I can tell you that it’s cheaper than the emotional breakdown I have when I quit. I can give up cigarettes at the drop of a hat but about 3 weeks into it, I fall apart, cry at the drop of that same hat, go into the most dismal depression ever and even anti depressants don’t seem to help.
I’d love to quit but I can’t right now. I have quit in the past for a few years at a time and will again. I am trying to cut down by limiting where I smoke and when but it’s not been too successful either.
The last time I tried to quit they took up a collection at work to buy me a pack and sent me home for the day to smoke it and this coming from my health fanatic boss.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
CindyS, you did better than me. I lasted 5 days on the patch. Then I had another organic chem test come up and went screaming to the gas station on the corner for a pack. I’m waiting until after finals to try again.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
ANA! Thank you for posting this. I started smoking a year and a few months ago. All the time I think to myself “WHY oh WHY didn’t I just stick to a cigarette a month when at a bar?!?!?” Why did I have to go to the store and actually BUY a PACK!?
*hates*
But I adore smoking. Each cigarette is like a little piece of peace and calm and such a pleasure. How’s that for sick? And at the end of a cigarette, all I can think is that I really should quit. I think I will by the end of this year, but I honestly have no desire to quit anytime soon. For shame.
Appreciate the post - I need to kick this habit before I’m 20 years in and struggling with it all the more
March 11th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
It is tough to give up, I’m doing it now and some days I just want to rip someone’s face off… but in the end, it’s all worth it.
Try the Chantix
Mike
March 12th, 2008 at 7:45 am
You could focus on the financial benefits. You’ve already pointed out the money you’ve spent…but you also pay more for life insurance, health insurance (potentially), etc.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
You only need to use Chantix for a month (1 prescription), perhaps 2 or 3 months at most. If VA won’t pay, it’s $170. Check your county public health department and see if they’ll spring for it.
Compare what you spend per month on ciggies and you’ll figure out your budget breakeven point. Like, Cindy’s case would be a little over two months.
I’m really financially inefficient as a smoker because I refuse to buy cartons. That would be like admitting defeat–yes, I am going to smoke 10 more packs of cigs. Nope, I buy one pack at a time because I have to hold on to the hope that I am going to quit after this pack.
Cigarettes (nicotine) kills more people per year than all other drugs combined!
March 16th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I mentioned before, I set Easter as my quit date. One week!
(Next week will come and watch me hem and haw and say Oh I meant Orthodox Easter…which is much later…LOL)
I went through the drive-thru at the Smoke Shack and told the nice lady that it would be the last time she would see me…got my rations for the last week…this is IT!!!
Debt Free on Wednesday
Smoke Free by Sunday
*donning my superman cape* Ta daaaaaaa!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:28 am
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