If you’re like me, the thought of quitting smoking seems like an impossible task. Not only does it seem impossible, maybe just like me, you don’t want to. Cigarette prices have gone up, up, and up over the past decade. When I started smoking 13-14 years ago, a carton of top name cigarettes would cost you no more than $40. Now, those same cigarettes will run you upwards of $70-$80 for a single carton. Not many people can afford to drop that much money on one carton, let alone two to four cartons or more in a single month.
I smoke between four and five cartons in a month. I smoke a little bit more than four, however I don’t quite make it to five. If you do the math, I would be paying around $350-$400 a month in cigarettes. At those prices, I might as well quit. I don’t even make $800 a month with my disability check, and I still have to pay bills, like rent and electric as well as others. It just wouldn’t be possible.
What if I told you that I pay no more than $50 a month for cigarettes and still smoke 4-5 cartons in a month? If you do the math, I’m saving $300-$350 a month, which comes to a savings of at least $3600 a year! When you look at the numbers, I don’t understand how anyone would not want to hear more. While quitting entirely will save you even more, quitting is not an option for some. That’s another topic for another day. For the people who do not see quitting as an option, but want to save thousands a year on cigarettes, read on.
The answer is simple; Roll your own cigarettes. You can no longer go to the smoke shops and roll them there as those businesses have gone under due to recent legislation. However, you can go to any smoke shop and purchase one of many different cigarette rolling devices for home use, as well as tobacco in a bag, and cigarette tubes with the filter and all.
You can find large bags of tobacco that range from about $10-$20 dollars a bag, and the smaller bags are about half that price. The large bags contain about two cartons worth of tobacco while the smaller bags are about one carton. Stick with a cheaper brand; I prefer Rio. While some of the cheaper tobaccos are clearly cheap tobacco, some of the cheaper brands are very good, in fact almost as good as the bigger and more expensive brands. You can get a box of reliable tubes for about $2 at any smoke shop, and the rolling machines are around $40, making them a worthwhile investment, seeing as you’ll only have to buy the machine once.
So now you know how to save thousands a year on cigarettes, without losing the flavor. Pipe tobacco is not that much different from the tobacco found in traditional cigarettes. The tube is what makes all the difference, in my opinion. You can buy pipe tobacco cigarettes already rolled, however they are rolled in cigar paper, which I personally do not prefer. If you really want to try something new, you can even buy the flavored tobacco in a bag and roll it in a normal cigarette tube. You can get even more creative, mix different brands and flavors of tobacco at home, and make your own special blend that suits you.
Whatever you chose to do, rolling your own cigarettes is the way to go. If you are on facebook, there are pages and groups dedicated to Roll Your Own (RYO) cigarettes. RYO “roll your own” cigarettes are a personal favorite group of mine on facebook. It is a perfect group for people new to rolling their own cigarettes and the members are very helpful. If you are on facebook and are interested in rolling your own, check them out before you make any decisions on what to buy. Good luck, and happy savings.