The cost of bad habits

[Droopy]

I recently gave up all of my bad habits: smoking, drinking, gambling, and eating out all the time. I did that mainly for my health, but also the cost of doing all that was a motivator as well. I figured up tonight how much it cost me a month to indulge my senses.

$160 for smoking.
$60 for drinking.
$200 for eating out all the time- that's above what I spend at the
grocery store now.
$300 for gambling.

That equals $720 a month. My mortgage is $690. I could be paying for another $70,000 house for what it was costing me to basically insure that I died early and broke.

[jobycom]

1. Holy Spicoli! And if you figured in how much time you spent on DU

and how much you could earn at a second job for those same hours, you'd buy a boat to go with that second house. :-)

[Droopy]

2. Nah. DU is not a bad habit.

And I don't spend THAT much time on here.

[jobycom]

7. Tsk tsk. Denial.

:-)

[enigmatic]

3. Wow

160 a month or tobacco??? I'm glad I quit when I was 15..

[Droopy]

6. Yep

And the state recently added another 70 cents a pack in taxes.

[stevans_41902]

4. wow, what a feat quitting everyhing like that cold turkey. my biggest

weakness that you listed is eating out. After a long day it seems like such a hassle to cook a meal, do the dishes, etc. when you could just go somewhere else and let someone else do all of the work for you (plus the food tastes better than what i can cook most of the time...) I wish you luck with it all, although it might be easier to quit a couple things at a time...i know that smoking is an extremely hard habit to overcome - it took my boyfriend 2 years to stop. I think your body will thank you and you will be able to get some nice stuff with the $$ you save:)

[Droopy]

8. I've not had to bad a go at it

The last time I smoked was 7/20/05. The last time I drank was 7/17/05. And the last time I gambled was 7/14/05. I'm almost to the point now that I don't really think about about doing those things.

[auntAgonist]

5. talk about incentive

to work on reducing costs as well as the belt size :)

hope things are going well for you!

aA

[Droopy]

10. Everything's going groovy

My weight is fluctuating a little. One day the scales will say I've lost 6 pounds the next it will say 4. One thing's for sure and that is that I have lost weight.

[auntAgonist]

13. awesome!

4 or 6 , at least it's down and NOT up :)

:yourock:

[Robeson]

9. You could always drink Milwaukee's Best.....

...though I wouldn't.

[Droopy]

12. I drank some pretty cheap stuff

Miller Lite. $16 a case.

[Robeson]

14. Yep, thats pretty cheap....

...don't know what else to say.

[TheProphetess]

11. Excellent willpower!

Keep up the good work, Droopy. :hi:

[Droopy]

15. Thank you

I've had some help with the smoking, though. I've been taking Wellbutrin for the last year for depression. That drug is also used to help people quit smoking. The cravings aren't as intense when you are on the drug.

[TheProphetess]

16. That's good

I'm glad you've had success with the goals you've set for yourself. Are you feeling better/having more energy? I'm sure the payoff will be great!

[Droopy]

17. I feel better physically

and you can bet my wallet feels better. I don't cough all the time and of course I don't have any hangovers. I also started working out about 12 days ago. I've been lifting weights and walking and running. I'm horribly out of shape, but I am making progress.

[TheProphetess]

20. I'm very happy for you

You are setting quite a good example for all of us (I really need to make some changes as well). Good luck to you!! :)

[LisaL]

18. All of that should ensure that

you will die healthy.
:evilgrin:

[Droopy]

19. I will die when I'm 86 instead of when I'm 66.

I think that's a fair trade.

[Floogeldy]

21. Ugh