Our Story

Approximately one year ago, I was at a gas station in Washington State and noticed a “sandwich board” advertisement for cigarettes that prominently displayed a price. I thought I was looking at a typo and asked the clerk inside if he was aware of the possible mistake. He informed me the price was correct. The price reflected was for a carton of cigarettes.

I was astounded. I had smoked into my late twenties, and had no idea of how precipitously the price had climbed since then. I went to my car and while thinking about the current prices, I asked my son, Dylon, to take out his calculator and see what the monthly cost would be if someone smoked a pack a day. Again, I was floored. I looked at him and stated something like “that’s a car payment!”

We all know the multitude of health problems that smoking causes. We have known it for decades. The effects can be deadly and accounts for extraordinary health costs to individuals and to our society as well.  We have all seen the ads, billboards and the commercials on T.V. However, when have you ever seen a campaign that has focused on the monetary costs of the habit? I personally do not remember seeing any.

Sure, most people “know” that smoking is expensive. But when was the last time (if ever), they have “done the math’? This is why I have created Smokingisexpensive.com. With our calculator, you can see examples of actual products and services you might be “smoking away”. When looked at in this framework, many people are as shocked as I was when I “did the math” one year ago.

My hope is that this website will become another tool that can be used in the individual and national effort to curb smoking.

So “do the math!”. See if you are “smoking away” a tablet, laptop, car payment, flat screen T.V., game console, health insurance premium, living room set, etc. and use the links and resources featured on our website to claim back your health and a better standard of living!

Alan Davidson
Founder