I have a delicate constitution. Nicotine, drugs and alcohol have always made me sick, but I do have one problem. It’s cig1.jpgChocolate. I am talking true problem here, as in: I must eat at least an entire two bars or half bag of chips every day- in intervals. When the checkers at Trader Joes see what I’ve unloaded onto the belt, they comment without fail on the ratio of packages of hazelnut dark chocolate to actual food.

I had always loved chocolate, but years ago I replaced an illegal green herbal drug with psychiatric drug and then I replaced that nasty chemical with chocolate. But for the last three days, I’ve been clean and sober. Why? I like the good stuff, and the good stuff has been getting more expensive. You know what I’m talking about. My queer friends smoke the expensive “natural” tobacco or cloves and drink high-end tequila, grey goose and microbrews. Vice taxes also seem to be popping up or getting higher just about everywhere.

There are long-term effects of cigarettes, alcohol, harder drugs (and for me, even in chocolate as I am actually quite allergic to sugar) which cannot be found by using a calculator, though it’s good to know how much you spend on your vices.

It’s true that I did replace one expensive habit with another, as people tend to do with addictions. Some argue that because of replacements, people don’t actually save money by quitting . This may be true especially of alcohol and cigarettes when you are looking at yearly expenditures, but the benefits become much more clear when you consider the financial effects of your vice embedded everywhere in your life and into the future.

For smoking, Jonathan at SavingAdvice.com lists Life Insurance, Health Insurance, dental care, future medications, the re-sell value of your house, how car and things depreciate, and how it becomes hard to get a job. Many of the same things can be said for alcohol and drug use.
He also has the sense to include :

“Lost Interest : all these extra costs means that the money isn’t saved or earning interest which can add up to thousands of dollars over the years.”

I estimate I could have saved $2000 in health care costs alone last year as my allergy to sugar has contributed to countless sinus infections, migraines, other systemic and localized infections and “unexplained” lethargy for which I sought help. I also missed work for some of these reasons.

I have to admit, I’m feeling just a little anxious and depressed, but if I can manage this detox, I’ll have the calculated $1095 each year in my savings account and more healthy days having fun in the sun for years.

I work an Al-Anon program (you’ll hear more about twelve-step programs from me later this month) and I have adapted those steps to work with chocolate! As a Life Coach, I must recommend consulting your doctor before quitting anything, and attending a step meeting or support group or calling a help-line (there are great ones for nicotine). There is nothing better than having somebody who understands to call when you feel like ripping your hair out.