Smokers Brokers

December 14, 2005 7:39 PM

Smokers Brokersis brilliantly simple: take the cash you'd waste on cigarettes and invest it instead. Perhaps this could help coax economists into quitting smoking, for everyone else, it might be better to have some savings and your health than burning up a few more expensive coffin nails. [this site from mefi projects also won the contest for banished]
posted by mathowie (27 comments total)

Last time I tried to quit (I'm getting quite experienced now), I worked on the basis that every three days without a fag meant I could buy a CD.

Well, I still smoke, but I got a few CDs....
posted by pompomtom at 7:52 PM on December 14, 2005

What a great idea. The runner-up is also a great idea.

I guess I should read this Projects site everyone keeps talking about.
posted by purephase at 7:54 PM on December 14, 2005

Cool idea, and congrats to banished.

There's almost no information on the site about how the business actually works, though. It looks like you have to register to find out more about how deposits are made, where the money is invested, what the fees are, etc.
posted by brain_drain at 7:54 PM on December 14, 2005

wouldn't hear of it! i bring my lunch to work everyday, i don't buy it. the way i see it, i break even and enjoy myself.
posted by brandz at 7:56 PM on December 14, 2005

The amount my coolness would drop if I quit smoking isn't worth the extra money (and pounds).

Regardless, this is a wonderful idea and if I ever get to the point where I decide to quit, I will give it a shot.
posted by Falconetti at 8:28 PM on December 14, 2005

I don't smoke, but what a great idea.
posted by Rothko at 8:28 PM on December 14, 2005

This is a great idea, and congratulations, banished!
posted by interrobang at 9:05 PM on December 14, 2005

That's kinda what I figured for myself. I had planned on stopping cigarettes once I finally get my defense over with - and just plow what I'd have spent on fags and use that for my RRSP contributions.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 9:26 PM on December 14, 2005

Somehow I missed this when it was first posted to Projects. I may have to sign up. Congrats, banished!
posted by brundlefly at 9:27 PM on December 14, 2005

This is a cool project and I wish the participants and organizers all the best. What I enjoy most about it is how 1999 it is :)
posted by scarabic at 9:47 PM on December 14, 2005

and just plow what I'd have spent on fags and use that for my RRSP contributions

I will never get used to that slang usage.
posted by Wingy at 9:50 PM on December 14, 2005

Thanks to all who voted for the project, and of course to mathowie for the successful launch of MeFi Projects (and for getting me into the blue!). There were a ton of awesome projects posted since launch, and a couple I would have happily lost to. I hope the flood of projects doesn't end now that the contest is over, I have really enjoyed them, so please keep them coming. I myself am on to the next one too. I should mention that I worked on the thing but am not running it, so if the site starts flashing banner ads everywhere and the design goes to hell... it wasn't me. brain_drain... sorry there is no FAQ yet, I don't know if they are doing one or what, but the screenshots posted here (at the bottom) that mathowie linked to pretty much show how it works.
posted by banished at 10:13 PM on December 14, 2005

Congratulations, banished. A worthy project indeed.
posted by Galvatron at 11:06 PM on December 14, 2005

Lovely Fags.
/Father Ted moment.
posted by seanyboy at 11:49 PM on December 14, 2005

congrats banished.
posted by johnny novak at 12:21 AM on December 15, 2005

It's a great project. When I quit, I calculated how much I was saving using a QuitMeter. Initially I planned to buy a new pair of earrings for each week smoke-free. I got a few pairs, and then got distracted.

At this point, after 3 years, I have saved over $6K by not smoking. Don't ask me where that money is. Wish this had been available...
posted by Miko at 6:47 AM on December 15, 2005

Some would say "waste", others would say "spend". To each his own.

Great idea though. Every time I have quit (14 attempts since 1999), I have used a program to track the money I did not spend on cigarettes. For me the money isn't the issue, I find the withdrawl symptoms difficult to deal with.
posted by Fat Guy at 6:51 AM on December 15, 2005

This is how my father motivated himself when he quit smoking. Within a couple of months he had enough money stuffed into a jar in his closet to buy himself a set of Taylor Made golf clubs and a diamond ring for my mom.
posted by you just lost the game at 7:23 AM on December 15, 2005

I should do the same thing with the money I spend on chocolate...
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:25 AM on December 15, 2005

Getting an electronic toll pass and quitting smoking have saved me so many trips to the ATM. That alone is something.
posted by scarabic at 8:01 AM on December 15, 2005

Congrats, Banished!
posted by COBRA! at 8:05 AM on December 15, 2005

Many well regarded companies allow individuals to invest in them directly with little or no fees, through dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPS). You buy the stock from the company's transfer agent and reinvest the dividends. Sometimes there is a minimum number of shares for the initial purchase or a minimum dollar amount for subsequent investments.

Two transfer agents that facilitate this kind of investing are American Stock Transfer & Trust Company and Computershare (formerly Equiserve).
posted by BlueMetal at 8:07 AM on December 15, 2005

Congratulations banished!
I never understood where my smoking friends found the money to smoke for in the first place, I should probably have them sign up...
posted by easternblot at 8:07 AM on December 15, 2005

Somehow when I envisioned this, I'd seen it as something produced by former smokers rather than anti-smokers (he says, with a transdermal patch affixed squarely to his ass, quite literally). I was a bit put off by the welcoming narrative.

I mean, who is really the dummy here? Granted, homeboy shouldn't have been blazing up in someone else's car, but if you load up a vehicle with a bunch of addicts thinking that raw annoyance is going to fix their fits.

Anyway, to me, that kind of blurs it as far as "smokersbrokers". They ain't smokers, mannnnnn. It ain't just about five bucks and a glowing bunch of sunshine shoved up my ass. That's five minutes not hanging out in parking lots. A day of not having something to light up. No lighter in my jeans at the end of the day (and how am I supposed to open my beer with a mutual fund, eh?)

Etc. I commend the idea, but liked 'em a bunch more when I envisioned them guiltily falling back on bad habits with their clientele from time to time.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:38 PM on December 15, 2005

20055??
posted by interrobang at 5:00 PM on December 15, 2005

so this is all a joke?
posted by brandz at 7:43 PM on December 15, 2005

No joke, I just got my commemorative 20055 iPod today, thanks MeFi!
posted by banished at 12:37 PM on December 19, 2005