The Cost of Stuff We Like

Do you like doing stuff? Any hobbies or interests? Do you like food? Beer? Television?

What about tobacco? Yeah, me too. I like cigars. What do you smoke?

Anyhoo, things we like cost money. We all know that. That's why we do the things we don't like, such as going to work from nine to five. It's to make money to pay for the things we do like. Houses, cars, electricity, food, drink and of course, tobacco

Well it seems that some backwater tobacco control group in Australia or New Zealand or some such, has just discovered that the things we like, actually cost us money. I shit you not

Toki Rau Stop Smoking Services Northland want to raise awareness of just how much money Northlanders who smoke are spending on tobacco in one year.

Why? I'm sure smokers are well aware how much money it costs them, they spend the bloody money.

Northland District Health Board was able to work out the figure based on the 19.1 per cent of Northlanders who smoke, Northland Census data which showed the average number of cigarettes smoked on per day (14.8), and the cost of a packet 20 cigarettes ($27).

Fucking genius! Tobacco Control does nursery school maths

A conservative estimate is around $147 million.

Money well spent in my opinion

That is an average of around $7391 per smoker. Imagine what you could buy for yourself

I can imagine. About 244 Packets of fags. By their calculations

To illustrate the amount of money that is going 'Up in Smoke' Toki Rau Stop Smoking Services Northland burnt a cheque at Te Matau ā Pohe Bridge in the carpark on Wednesday.

Fuck, there go my eyebrows

That gurning harridan looks likes she's never enjoyed anything in her life. What is the point of burning a fake cheque in a carpark to show how much money people spend on tobacco? I spend lots of money on lots of things I like. How about burning a cheque to show how much people spend on curries?

Northland District Health Smokefree Advisor Board Bridget Rowse says it's astounding how much money is going up in smoke.

Or in the case of curries, being shat out your ring. It's not 'going up in smoke', being pebbledashed down the bog or pissed up the wall though, is it? It's being spent on something that people choose to spend it on, because they enjoy it. It's called choice

But tobacco is a bit different to curries and television and cars and all the other things we like. Sure, we pay taxes on all lifes little pleasures, but the sheer volume of tax added to tobacco is what sets it apart from everything else

Maybe if they didn't tax us so fucking much, the amount of our hard earned money 'going up in smoke' would be a hell of a lot less

Jeez, these people are as thick as mince