This week, New York state raised their cigarette tax to the highest in the nation.
They basically tacked an additional $1.25 per pack onto the price.
New York City added an additional tax as well, so cigarettes in NYC will cost an extra $1.50 compared to yesterday.
I’m speechless. Some New Yorkers will be paying more than $10 per pack!!!
There are still smokers in New York? How do they afford it?
Let’s say they smoke a pack-per-day — that seems to be an average. We’ll use round numbers to keep it easy. So $10 per pack –> $280-310 per month –> $3360-3720 per year!
Hm…let’s see what else costs ~$3500 per year:
A year of in-state tuition at Fayetteville State University: $3245/year
(Appalachian State University ~$2200/year, NCSU ~$5000 year)
Hey wait, we’re talking about New Yorkers:
A year of in-state tuition at City College of New York: $4000/year!
This guy paid $3500 to have the exterior of his house painted. (We paid less than that, by the way, this guy was taken for a ride).
How about New Yorkers who also drive…look what they’re paying for regular gas!
My father-in-law is a smoking New Yorker who drives a small SUV. The gas prices and cigarettes alone probably suck an extra $200 per month out of his budget than even 3 years ago.
In conclusion, if a New York smoker were to put aside that $10 per day for his/her pack of cigarettes look at what he/she could purchase or achieve!!!!
Many of you know that I’ve run a similar numbers game with driving our Prius vs. our Odyssey. I just looked at that blog post and saw how gas was $3.29 per gallon on March 11th. Prices are now 20% higher so you can tack 20% onto all the numbers I’d run there.
Sincerely,
Patricia-Your-Friendly-Neighborhood-Math-Geek
PS: Wanna see how much YOUR state taxes cigarettes? Looks like South Carolina’s the place to go. For gas, too.
PPS: Hey South Carolina — if you aren’t taxing gasoline or cigarettes, how ARE you getting your money???
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