Today’s guest post is from my fiancé and it’s been a long time coming! Please leave him a comment to keep him motivated on his journey!
Throughout our existence as humans, we have always gathered as a natural instinct. The people of long ago would hunt and gather food for the approaching winters, and to stay safe from nature’s elements. People today are no different. We are often seen “gathering” clothes for the winter months. And in the modern day, we are often found trying to gather as much money as possible for financial security.
There are many different ways to save money. Many tactics are about a small amount being saved, but every bit counts. I have never been very good at “stacking my chips”. I have always spent the money that was left over. My fiancé always gets on me for being such a free spender. At times, I would notice myself spending twenty dollars every day on things I thought I needed. I would spend around ten dollars a day on my Starbucks habit, as well as seven dollars every day on cigarettes.
Smoking meant everything to me. It was my best friend, my worst enemy, as well as my biggest nightmare. Smoking was always a crutch. If I had a toothache (probably caused from smoking) I would light a cigarette in the middle of the night whenever I would wake up in pain from the throbbing. Oddly enough it would calm my nerves enough to fall back asleep. The same would be true for me when it came to getting a cold and cough. Whenever I couldn’t sleep from coughing, I would simply get out of bed and smoke. This gave me relief for enough time to get back to bed and fall asleep. Was it all mental you ask? Who knows. Maybe because cigarettes are a stimulant? No clue.
Today marks two weeks since I stopped smoking. I have my reasons for quitting smoking, but the main player in my decision would have to be S, my fiancé. She has been trying to get me to stop since we became a couple six years ago. In the past I would think of quitting, and quiver in fear. The thought of dropping my best friend of fifteen years was unbearable, and downright impossible. I grew up with a short fuse and can be confrontational at times, so the thought of the monster I would become during the nicotine deprivation period was more than concerning to me. This was mainly the factor in not quitting earlier.
Since making the leap to become tobacco free, I could not help but notice that I haven’t witnessed the monster in me come out like I was sure he would. In fact, it seems like it’s the little things making me happy instead of the puffs off a dirt (slang for cigarette) I seem to be sharing more laughs with S. Of course there are things that still bother me, like anxiety in the night hours, and some mild depression from losing my long time friend, but the reward will be worth it in the end.
One thing that motivates me is the money that’s not going to this disgusting habit. The break down goes a little like this. Cigarettes are expensive when they are a daily habit. If you are a smoker, and need extra money to put away but cannot figure out how to do it, the answer is right in front of you. Just think, a pack a day habit after quitting can save you around two hundred dollars every month. That comes to $2,400 in savings annually. Over a ten-year period, with the price of cigarettes going up every year, you are looking at $27,000 to $30,000 going to cigarettes. Want to get away? Maybe take your significant other away on a nice tropical vacation? The money is there to enjoy those things in life as long as you stop spending it little by little, day in and day out. 2014 is the year I will prove to everyone that I can beat the addiction. This June we will be going to The Cook Islands for our honeymoon, and I also plan on using that trip as a reward to myself. It’s the little victories during the process of quitting that get you through it all. I am currently taking this day by day, and understand it’s a long road, but I am ready for the journey. The longer I go without tobacco, the more tools I develop in my arsenal to combat the urge. The fact that I will be saving a small fortune while doing so will also help a lot.