Swap Your Ash for Cash by Quitting Smoking this no Smoking Day, Says Fresh
FRESH is encouraging smokers across the North East to swap their ash for cash this No Smoking Day (March 13).
Quitting smoking is one of the best ways to beat the recession and give yourself an instant pay rise – with more money in your pocket to treat yourself and your family.
According to the British Heart Foundation ahead of the 30th annual No Smoking Day campaign, money is a big motivator for quitting smoking in the North East – with almost one in five smokers agreeing that they could buy more for their family if they were to quit.[i]
An average 20-a-day smoker spends £7 a day on a packet of cigarettes. If they quit:
- After one week they could save £49 and look forward to taking their family to the cinema or paying their monthly mobile phone bill
- After two weeks, they could save £98 and buy their weekly family shop or book an overnight stay in a hotel
- After a month, they could save £210 and pay their quarterly gas and electric bills, or buy tickets for a weekend music festival
- After three months, they could save £630 and pay for tax, fuel and insurance on their car or buy a football season ticket
- After six months, they could save £1,260 and redecorate a room or buy a second hand car
- After a year, they could save £2,555 and take the family on a week’s holiday in Spain
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: “Many smokers in the North East don’t realise how much money they’re actually wasting each time they hand their money over to buy a pack of cigarettes. Sometimes this can put a real strain on a family’s finances, especially when you add up how much smoking is costing you on a weekly basis and what you could have spent your money on instead.
“If you’ve quit before but not succeeded you shouldn’t feel like a failure. It can often take a few attempts before you succeed for good and tens of thousands in the North East have managed to quit. The important thing is never to give up on quitting.
“There are hundreds of easy, convenient locations in the North East where you can get friendly help through the NHS Stop Smoking Service. With their support, smokers are up to four times more likely to quit successfully.”
If you want to quit smoking, contact your local stop smoking service or equally, why not pop into your local GP surgery or pharmacy to ask for advice on getting your quit attempt underway. To find out more about No Smoking Day, visit www.WeQuit.co.uk
1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2010 smokers in the UK of which 118 were from the North East. Fieldwork was undertaken between15th – 18th January 2013. The survey was carried out online.