Today is the 25th annual ‘No Smoking Day’, which occurs on the second Wednesday of every March. It is a day which encourages smokers to join in on “The Great No Smoking Day Challenge”.

According to the No smoking Day charity, around 2.25 million people are planning to quit today.

Quitting smoking will not only bring huge benefits to your health, but will also be very healthy for your finances.

The average male smoker gets through 14 cigarettes a day at a cost of over £1300 a year. This amount of money would easily cover the average dual fuel bill for a year, and leave you will a substantial amount of change.

And, you won’t just save money through not buying cigarettes because non-smokers also benefit from cheaper life insurance policies.

A year after giving up smoking, you will be classed as a non-smoker by life insurance standards. This will typically cut your life insurance premiums by a third, but could reduce them by as much as 50%.

Darren Dicks, head of protection marketing for Norwich Union, said: “As well as not spending around £5 a week on every pack of 20 cigarettes they would have bought (which could add up to £1,825 a year for a 20-a-day smoker);
INSERT INTO `module_blog_posts` VALUES people could save twice over by cutting the price of their protection products too.

“People who smoke have an increased risk of heart disease, breathing disorders and certain cancers, to name but a few illnesses, which is why non-smokers often pay significantly less for life insurance and critical illness policies.

“So bearing in mind both the health and the monetary benefits, No Smoking Day could be the perfect day to stop,” he concluded.

For help with giving up smoking visit the No Smoking Day website.

To compare life insurance policies click here.

To see how much you could save by quitting smoking why not try out our Smoking Calculator