Quit for Christmas – tips and savings
Quitting smoking is the best gift you can give your loved ones this Christmas – and can save you nearly £2,000 by the time next year’s festivities come around.
That is the message from Fresh in the run up to Christmas – this year won’t be the same as usual but quitting smoking can be life changing and can help you be around for your family for many more Christmases to come.
If you fancy £2,000 by next Christmas to spend on presents, a trip away or paying the bills, quitting smoking can give you that. Latest figures from a supermarket site show a 10 a day smoker buying a “value” cigarette brand in bulk would be spending around £1,899 a year going up in smoke.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh, said: “2020 has been a year many of us may want to forget – but if you smoke you could end it on a positive and achieve something fantastic by stopping.
“Quitting could give your family the best present of all this Christmas, by improving your health and improving the chances of being around for many more Christmases in the future.
“It can also feel like an instant pay rise, which can really help to take some of the pressure off. All those savings could be put towards your Christmas gifts, the all-important food shop or family experiences to look forward to in 2021.
“Stopping smoking has also been shown to improve mood in the long run and help relieve stress, anxiety and depression.”
Here are 10 reasons and tips to quit at Christmas:
1: Seize the moment. Some smokers wake up and feel “today is the day” to quit – if you feel like that go for it! Christmas is a time when we remember Christmases past – be around for plenty more Christmases future.
2: Keep trying, even if you’ve not managed to quit before. Learn from past experiences. Treat previous attempts as a stepping stone rather than a failure.
3:Think of it as a gift to your family. People worry about their loved ones smoking, especially children who don’t want to lose their mum, dad or grandparent to a smoking-related illness.
4: Christmas is a time for enjoying the TV, the tree, and the lights. Do you really want to keep having to nip outside to smoke?
5: Whether or not you enjoy Christmas parties, they can be a temptation to smoke. Use the break from parties this year to stay strong and avoid smoking.
6: We all want a happier 2021. You might think smoking helps with stress but it actually creates a cycle where cravings for nicotine kick in and makes you feel more anxious. Research has proved quitting boosts people’s mood and happiness in the long term In fact evidence shows stopping can be as effective as anti-depressants in reducing depression, anxiety and stress.https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/stopping-smoking-mental-health-benefits/
7: Very important – use a quitting aid: many smokers just stop and go cold turkey but a quitting aid gives you a better chance and can make the cravings easier to manage, whether that is Nicotine Replacement Therapy like patches or gum, or a stop smoking medication prescribed by a GP, pharmacist or other health professional. While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it’s relatively harmless. Almost all of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.
8: Consider switching to vaping / electronic cigarette which can also boost your chances. In the UK, electronic cigarettes are tightly regulated for safety and quality and while they may not be completely risk free, they carry a small fraction of the risk of smoking tobacco. Vaping does not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke. A specialist vape shop can help find the right device and liquid for you. For more detailed NHS advice about vaping, visit https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/using-e-cigarettes-to-stop-smoking/
9: Get some quit coaching: Local Stop Smoking Services provide free expert advice, support and encouragement to help you stop smoking for good. Combining quit aids with expert support makes it much more likely you’ll stop smoking successfully. Find your local service https://www.nhs.uk/smokefree/help-and-advice/local-support-services-helplines
10: Get online support: why not consider free online support such as the Smokefree App or Personal Quit Plan or join the Smokefree NHS Facebook group for tips and hints from other quitters. Visit the Smokefree website where you can sign uphttps://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/
Look at what someone smoking 10 a day could save by quitting:
Looking for ideas on how to keep the little ones entertained? One week’s savings of around £36 could help you make your own Christmas decorations [Source: Hobbycraft].
Two weeks savings of around £72 could buy Christmas jumpers for a family of four with a little left over for a festive treat [Source: George Asda].
Feeling festive? Three weeks’ savings of around £109 would pay for a family Christmas food shop.
Four weeks savings of £144 would buy a premium Netflix subscription for a year [Source: Netflix].
If you want to get fit and active as a family, six months savings of £949 could buy two children’s bikes and two adults’ bikes [Source: Halfords].
£1,899 saved in a year could give you a deposit on a new car, or a day trip to Lapland next year, with flights from Newcastle to enjoy snowmobiling, husky and reindeer sleigh rides, a visit to a snow igloo and a private family meeting with Santa.