How Much Money Do You Waste by Smoking and Vaping?

How Much Money Do You Waste Smoking?

– According to this “cost of smoking calculator” from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), you could save anywhere from $9,563 (5 cigarettes per day) to $38,253 (1 pack per day) over 10 years. With cigarettes costing anywhere from $7 to $10 or more per pack, it’s just not worth it.

And when you consider the likelihood of medical expenses further down the road for disease and other conditions caused by smoking, those numbers go way up. A 1997 study showed that smokers pay up to 40% more in healthcare costs than non-smokers. The cost of cancer treatment can reach $150,000. The cost of COPD treatment costs $6,246 per year on average. As you can see, it’s more than just the costs of cigarettes that add up.

Does Vaping Waste Money?

Now let’s say you’re considering switching from smoking to vaping and you’re wondering what that cost would be over a long period of time. First, I’d like to just quickly mention that I’d argue that you’re not necessarily wasting money on vaping if you’re choosing to vape as a safer alternative to smoking (95% less harmful according to Public Health England). Also, a lot of people switch to vaping with the goal of eventually quitting, so those people won’t vape for 10+ years.

Ok, so this can be hard to calculate because there are many different ways to vape but let’s go through some common scenarios.

For beginners, you can get a starter kit for around $20-$50, and then all you need to do is buy e-juice and replacement coils or pods on an ongoing basis. E-juice is around $15 per bottle and you might buy 1-2 per month and a $15 pack of coils/pods per month. That’s only $30 per month, $360 per year, and $3,600 over 10 years.

If you go with disposables, which a lot of people do because of ease, you’re going to spend more. A 3500 puff disposable costs around $15 and should last about 1-2 weeks. So that’s around $30-$60 per month, $360-$720 per year, or $3,600-$7,200 over 10 years.

The Costs of Smoking and Vaping

The costs of either vary widely depending on how often you use them but clearly vaping costs significantly less and is far less harmful than smoking. With smoking, it’s highly likely that you’ll have medical costs related to that later in life. So the cost goes up.