Are people who smoke weak-minded?

marienbad wrote: »

So are you living at home in the meantime ?

No I'm living in my grandmothers house, when she died six years ago I took possession, its an old house but in great shape having being renovated shortly before she died, its a bit in the country so I'm saving to buy a newer house and then I can rent my own older house.

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

Have you never ever rented, Stinicker? Easy to say you'll never rent if very young.

What if you need to move away? I understand people preferring to own their own place, but never ever renting seems unrealistic.

I've never rented, I'm in my late twenties and I'll never rent a house, the importance of ownership of land and houses is something ingrained into me since I was a young age.

I hate smoking as my mothers and grandmothers smoking used to aggravate my childhood asthma. I guess it is from this which stems my real hatred of smoking plus the financial stupidity of it nowadays. On the flip side my grandmothers 40 a day habit sent her to an early grave and gave me a massive boost up the ladder in life.

My own mother was hospitalized on St. Stephens day 2010 and spent the following month is hospital struggling to live thanks to a 40 year 20 - 30 a day smoking habit, 5 independent doctors gave her a stern warning that if she continued to smoke she wouldn't see her 60th birthday. A month in intensive care meant she was isolated from the world and couldn't hardly breathe never mind smoke, when she came out she never again touched a cigarette, she smashed all the ashtrays in the house one day in a fit of rage when she was so exhausted and out of breath whilst hanging out the washing on the clothes line. She thankfully made a great recovery and is less reliant on her inhaler now as her lungs repair and cleanse themselves.

My mothers biggest regret in life she says was ever putting a cigarette into her mouth and she has €17.5k saved since quitting and estimates that she wasted around €200k to €250k inflation adjusted over her lifetime on cigarettes alone.

I also inherited my hatred of alcohol from my parents in that my grandmother was a raging alcoholic but surprisingly it was the cigarettes which killed her afterwards. My 2nd grandmother smoked 60 woodbines and later 60 major when woodbines went off the market, she was a very moderate drinker but it was the drink which led her to trip and have an accident on New Years Eve whilst walking home from the pub and she froze to death of Hypothermia aged 64.

My uncle destroyed his life with alcohol when he drove drunk and killed a pedestrian and almost a second person. She spent six months in Jail and got banned from driving for 20 years. He lost his girlfriend, his successful business and shortly afterwards the sight of one eye and has only 40% vision in the other. He is now in his mid fifties an obese lonely sad figure drawing a blind pension with nothing in his life except Alcohol which despite everything he still drinks himself sober.

My sister is in her thirties, renting €150/week, smoking 30 a day, her boyfriend is an alcoholic, smokes 30 a day himself and both of them will go out every friday and saturday night to the pub and one or two midweek nights too. I reckon between cigarettes, alcohol and drink that they waste over €400 a week which is more than my sisters whole salary as she earns only around €9.50/hour. Her boyfriend despite his alcoholism brings in around the same and its a fair disgrace how they manage their money.

Twice last year and again this year she tried to get my father to buy her a house but I had to intervene and told it straight out in a huge family row that until she appreciates the value of money she won't get a bob from my parents both of whom agree with me and were encouraging me to buy but I refuse to get into debt whilst I have a roof of my own already.

I can understand renting if you need a place and can't get a mortgage or are not stable financially. However anyone who rents, smokes and drinks with a small salary really needs a good hard look at themselves. I know so many people who claim to be broke and they probably are but if they copped on and gave up their addictions they'd have plenty money.