6-month anniversary today

[marchmaxima]

Your Quit Date is: Monday, January 21, 2008 at 12:00:00 PM
Time Smoke-Free: 151 days, 17 hours, 16 minutes and 24 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 1214
Lifetime Saved: 9 days, 6 hours
Money Saved: $486.40

No congratulations needed or wanted.... I didn't post it because I wanted a stream of "well done replies". I posted it in the hope that just maybe it helps inspire someone else whose thinking of quitting, or deters someone thinking of starting.

"Money saved" has been reallocated to my new fish tank!

[roka64]

Wow, that's awesome! Did you do it cold turkey?
Oh, by the way congrats!

[Zagz]

Congrats! I have been where you are and know that it is not only difficult but very satisfying when you have success! Remember to treat yourself or your tanks with the money you save!

[mom2reds]

Good Job I talk almost daily to people about smoking or not smoking, i am a respiratory therapist. I am glad you decided to protect your health and the health of the people you love. Although I consider smokers job security ( hahaha)

Congrats

[cmor1701d]

Congrats from somone who's been there. My first year I put the money I would have spent on a carton into a can every week. It added up fast. Hmmm, if I did that now I could afford a lot more coral....

[marchmaxima]

Originally Posted by roka64

Did you do it cold turkey?

I bought Nicotine replacement items, and ended up never using any of them!

I happened to stumble upon Alan Carr's book... Found it really useful and I highly recommended it. By the time my quit date rolled around, I was really looking forward to having a new non-smoking life that I never felt I was missing out. So for me, it was supa-easy to quit. I found out it was simply my *fear* of quitting that was the real issue.

(inserting my opinion here) the people selling nicotine replacement are part of the problem, not the solution. They make you think that the cravings are something to be afraid of and that they will be horrible and you will be miserable. They market their products on fear and that ended up to be the biggest lie of all. The cravings aren't painful and they don't make you sick. In reality, a nicotine craving feels a little like being hungry. Kind of like the feeling you get when you haven't eaten all day and you have a hollow tummy and need something to eat. That's it! And you don't feel like that all the time. The feeling comes and goes.

But again, this is just my experience. Definitely worth quitting simply to save money. A packet of 25 cigs in this country costs you $10.00.

[newfound77951]

Congrats! I think your ongoing tally of how much money you've saved etc is great, I'm sure it was good motivation when the going got tough. My boyfriend quit last September and is still going strong after almost 10 months now, I am so proud of him!

[An t-iasg]

That is an amazing accomplishment, Sharon! So...congratulations!