Okay, so yesterday I went to my doctor (whom I hadn’t seen in over a year) and I had one mission in mind: to get an Rx for Chantix, the stop-smoking drug.
Here in NY, a pack of “premium brand” cigarettes is going up to about $6 a pack in a couple days. Figuring on a pack and a half a day (sometimes more, sometimes less), that’s a total cost of $272 a month, or $3264 a year.
Just for fun, let’s take a look at how much I’ve spent on cigarettes since I started smoking at the age of 17.
1.5 packs per day = 547.5 packs per year
547.5 packs per year x 14 years = 7665 packs since I started
7665 x $4 (the average cost over that time) = $30,660!
Okay, so $31k is the amount I’ve spent on cigarettes in my life. Had I invested that money all along, like a SMART person would’ve done, I probably would have well over $150,000 (if not much more, depending on how I invested) by now, which would be enough to pay for a house in CASH around here.
Can you say, “STUPID”? I knew that ya could.
So anyway, back to present day. I mentioned “luck” in the title of this post, and here’s where that luck factor comes in: Apparently, my insurance company (to which I give $241 a month) actually covers Chantix. I found this odd, because most people I’ve spoken to who have gone on it have had to pay anywhere from $80 – $130 a month for it for three months. Most of them even stopped taking it after the first month (you’re supposed to go for three) because the cost was so high (even though it’s not as high as the cost of cigarettes).
I also got a booklet from the doctor that explained the drug, gives a little workbook, and also has a card inside for $10 off each month for three months. With my Rx coverage from the insurance company, I’d normally be paying $20 a month for the pills, but with the card, I’ll now only pay $10 a month! And before all this, I had been prepared to budget out $100 a month for three months, plus the cost of cigarettes for the first month (you’re supposed to keep smoking as it trains your body to stop by rejecting the effects of the smoking). And now I’m only going to be paying $10 a month plus the cost of cigs for the first month! Can you believe it!?
Now, for the sake of facts and figures, let’s say I were to NOT have made this choice, and instead continued to smoke for another 15 years. Assuming that the packs would continue to increase in price over that time, and taking the average assumption that it would amount to about $8.50 a pack on average, here’s some interesting figures:
8212 packs over 15 years x $8.50 = $69,802!
That amounts to $4,653 a year/$388 a month.
If I were to invest that money each month, in a fund that somehow got me about 6% compounded monthly, that would give me a grand total at the end of 15 years of $112,765, nearly doubling my money.
Unfortunately, I don’t know for sure that I’ll be able to do that, but it’s nice to do the math sometimes!
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