Do Smokers Know How Much They Spend on Cigarettes?

The average smoker burns through 13 to 16 cigarettes a day, or four to six packs a week. That adds up. The average smoker forks over at least $1,500 a year, while here in New York City, it's closer to $3,300.

But because smoking, like takeout food and store-made coffee, hits our wallets in a series of small purchases, it can be easy to overlook how much you're spending. Still, it has a psychological impact: One of many reasons governments implement cigarette taxes is to reduce smoking among price-conscious consumers.

It works: Research shows that people smoke less as cigarettes get more expensive. As tobacco giant Philip Morris (PM) stated in its 10-Q for the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 3, 2008, "Tax increases are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on sales of tobacco products by our tobacco subsidiaries, due to lower consumption levels."

Smokers will have a lot to ponder in coming months, as the Department of Health and Human Services implements its new packaging policy requiring warning labels that include graphic photos of the health damages caused by smoking. In the meantime, we wanted to know how sensitive smokers are to the price of their cigarettes, so we hit the streets of Manhattan during lunchtime to find out.

Romney Tops Iowa Poll

Mitt Romney is at the top of the Des Moines Register's latest Iowa poll, although Rick Santorum made a surprise jump into third place, pushing out Newt Gingrich.

Sen. Ron Paul of Texas came in second among the contenders for Republican presidential nomination.
The results of the poll of likely Republican caucus-goers were announced Saturday, just days away from Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, which kick off the Republican primary season.
In four days of polling, from Dec. 27-30, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney came away with 24%, while Paul had 22% and former Sen. Santorum (R., Penn.) had 15%, according to a Des Moines Register report on the poll.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich had 12%, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry had 11% and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) had 7%, the report said.But a look at the last two days of polling shows how quickly Santorum is gaining in popularity. If only those days are used, Santorum edges out Paul for second place, the Des Moines Register said.
And in the final day of polling, Santorum had 22% support, just one point away from Romney 23% on that day, the newspaper added.
The poll was conducted by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines and was based on telephone interviews with people likely to attend the Republican caucuses, the Register reported.
The margin of error for the full four days is plus or minus 4 percentage points, the newspaper said. For the last two days, it's plus or minus 5.6 percentage points, it added.