Smoking and how much you earn.

[raf_gti]

Can someone please explain to me why those less well off, earning say £15-20k a year are quite happy to throw a fairly substantial portion of their wage away on smoking?

I just don't get it, I really don't.

I enjoy a bottle of wine and I normally 'treat' myself to a bottle of sub £10 plonk on a Friday but I don't 'have' to which appears to be the case with smoking.

At £6 odd a packet it appears to be a seriously expensive habit yet mostly consumed by the less well off!

[Mexic0]

Not if you get your stuff from ships

[whitevanman88]

20k is 'less well off' is it? I thought the average wage in the UK was around 18k p/a?

Anyway. The people that buy cigs from us buy expensive ones. And usually drive expensive cars. I think we turned 3 packets of lambert over last week.... and definitaly over £3k of cigars.

[maniac0796]

Rolling tobacco is much cheaper.

If you're good, you can get a good 30 rollies from a half ounce pouch, even more if you roll thinner, which costs the same as 10 straights.

[Jim the Sunderer]

The poor ones don't pay retail prices for fags, they'll know a guy what smuggles them.

Poorer than the salary you've said.

Edited by Jim the Sunderer on Friday 30th July 18:20

[raf_gti]

whitevanman88 said:

20k is 'less well off' is it? I thought the average wage in the UK was around 18k p/a?

Anyway. The people that buy cigs from us buy expensive ones. And usually drive expensive cars. I think we turned 3 packets of lambert over last week.... and definitaly over £3k of cigars.

I thought the average was around 32k but hey ho, I'm sure there are several different interpretation's of the avg. wage.

[whitevanman88]

raf_gti said:

whitevanman88 said:

20k is 'less well off' is it? I thought the average wage in the UK was around 18k p/a?

Anyway. The people that buy cigs from us buy expensive ones. And usually drive expensive cars. I think we turned 3 packets of lambert over last week.... and definitaly over £3k of cigars.

I thought the average was around 32k but hey ho, I'm sure there are several different interpretation's of the avg. wage.

Furry fluff.

[deano12345]

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

[raf_gti]

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

Not at all

Put it this way, I earn more than the wage I stated but not still nowhere near to moving up a tax bracket and I couldn't justify to myself spending that kind of money several times a week. Jesus, I have to justify a bottle of wine to SWMBO!

[Dixie68]

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

I think he's questioning HOW they can afford it. When I gave up smoking I was on a good wage but the cost of smoking was the main reason I stopped.

Edited by Dixie68 on Friday 30th July 18:46

[Steamer]

Dixie68 said:

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

I think he's questioning HOW they can afford it. When I gave up smoking I was on a good wage but the cost of smoking was the main reason I stopped.

Edited by Dixie68 on Friday 30th July 18:46

I used to know a marketing lady on 50k+ that enjoyed a smoke, it always put a smile on my face seeing a hottie pull a Golden Virginia tin out of a sharp cut suit. You've gotta smoke what you enjoy I guess...

... Did someone say 20 B&H are nearly £6 now??!! Geeess that's expensive

[Peter101]

raf_gti said:

whitevanman88 said:

20k is 'less well off' is it? I thought the average wage in the UK was around 18k p/a?

Anyway. The people that buy cigs from us buy expensive ones. And usually drive expensive cars. I think we turned 3 packets of lambert over last week.... and definitaly over £3k of cigars.

I thought the average was around 32k but hey ho, I'm sure there are several different interpretation's of the avg. wage.

Average salary for a full time worker is £25,123

[Elskeggso]

I hardly smoke now, probably spend less than a fiver a week on Goldey V.

[MGZRod]

Steamer said:

Dixie68 said:

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

I think he's questioning HOW they can afford it. When I gave up smoking I was on a good wage but the cost of smoking was the main reason I stopped.

Edited by Dixie68 on Friday 30th July 18:46

I used to know a marketing lady on 50k+ that enjoyed a smoke, it always put a smile on my face seeing a hottie pull a Golden Virginia tin out of a sharp cut suit. You've gotta smoke what you enjoy I guess...

... Did someone say 20 B&H are nearly £6 now??!! Geeess that's expensive

Over £6 here, 20 or regal/ marlbolo is about £6.60+

[sw4rm]

raf_gti said:

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

Not at all

Put it this way, I earn more than the wage I stated but not still nowhere near to moving up a tax bracket and I couldn't justify to myself spending that kind of money several times a week. Jesus, I have to justify a bottle of wine to SWMBO!

If we're agreeing with your opinion that it tends to be the less well off that who partake in smoking then we can assume that due to them lacking the level of education, positive parental influence and drive to better themselves professionally that they may have started at a young age. Secondary school or younger.

They would learn to live within their means and budget for cigarettes. I know I did. Smoked since school, I obviously miss out on some of the pleasures, benefits, savings that you may have but I don't miss them because i've always sacrificed them (without knowing) to afford cigarettes.

[RobFerrari]

Steamer said:

... Did someone say 20 B&H are nearly £6 now??!! Geeess that's expensive

Round by me its not unheard of for 20 Marlboro/B&H/Luckies to be £7.


I don't smoke, and im a student so go figure right? I dont think it has a correlation to salary, but there could be a correlation between salary and brand/type smoked I guess.

[Cock Womble 7]

Jim the Sunderer said:

The poor ones don't pay retail prices for fags, they'll know a guy what smuggles them.

Poorer than the salary you've said.

bks.

I don't pay retail prices for tobacco, because I know a guy "what smuggles them" - ie, he pops over to Belgium every now and again, buys a shed load of baccy, brings it back, adds a little "commission" to cover his costs and still sells it at roughly half the UK retail price (50g of Amber Leaf for £6).

And I am on significantly more than the "average" wage.

That's not being poor, that's common bloody sense - unless you're suggesting that the more well-off should pay full price for something they can get for half that, just because they can afford it?

Do me a favour.

[Pigeon]

maniac0796 said:

Rolling tobacco is much cheaper.

If you're good, you can get a good 30 rollies from a half ounce pouch, even more if you roll thinner, which costs the same as 10 straights.

And even more if you don't put any tobacco in the bit at the end where you hold it.

The other advantage of rolling tobacco is if you don't take a puff for a while it goes out rather than burning away to nothing, so you can smoke at your own pace rather than a pace dictated by the concentration of nitrates added to the tobacco. I quite often take half an hour or so to finish a ciggie, lighting it, taking a few puffs then letting it go out again until I want some more.

Problem with rolling tobacco is finding a brand which tastes like normal cigarettes. Most of it is dark brown and gooey and tastes like roadworks, apart from Golden Virgin's Ears which is just harsh and rank. There are half decent brands but almost nowhere actually sells them, the vast majority of shops only have the st stuff. I don't get this, the main point of rolling tobacco is to save money over normal cigarettes so why not make it taste the same?

I smoke American Spirit which as well as being one of the few types which does taste pretty much like normal cigarettes, is "organic" which means it doesn't have fungicides and preservatives and crap in it and is nicer to smoke as a result. Problem is there's only one shop in any given town which sells it and when visiting somewhere unfamiliar it's a pain in the arse to find where that shop is - if it exists at all.

I probably spend about £500 a year on it which is pretty cheap enjoyment really.

[g3org3y]

deano12345 said:

so your saying 'poor' (in your eyes) people arent allowed luxuries like cigarettes. i suppose you think the really poor still wear potato sacks and cardboard shoes

Don't think that's the point he is making.

Widely demonstrated that people of lower social standing undertake greater 'health risk behaviour' - smoking, drinking etc. Multifactorial foundations (including elements of health psychology) to this, but in essence, poorer education and role models.

One thing of interest is the brand smoked. Note how 'poor' smokers will tend to go for cheapo like brands Mayfair or Richmond. Morlboro Lights Gold typically are the preserve of the middle class smoker.

raf_gti said:

Jesus, I have to justify a bottle of wine to SWMBO!

Sounds like you are getting 'pwn3d'.

[v8will]

raf_gti said:

Can someone please explain to me why those less well off, earning say £15-20k a year are quite happy to throw a fairly substantial portion of their wage away on smoking?

I just don't get it, I really don't.

I enjoy a bottle of wine and I normally 'treat' myself to a bottle of sub £10 plonk on a Friday but I don't 'have' to which appears to be the case with smoking.

At £6 odd a packet it appears to be a seriously expensive habit yet mostly consumed by the less well off!

It's a lifestyle choice, nothing more, nothing less. Income has no relevance and smoking is not the preserve of the less well off.

Tis is a silly habit though and I get more enjoyment out of a solitary cigar at the end of the day. Still learning about those and haven't ventured past a tin of cafe creme and a few cubans that a friend gave me