Bad Habits Calculator
Enter how many you buy, at what price and how often: a pack of cigarettes a day, a coffee to go, energy drinks. See what it adds up to in a year and what you would save by cutting down or stopping.
Your inputs are saved only in this browser.
Your habits cost you a year
$5,131
- A month
- $428
- A day
- $14.06
- In 10 years
- $51,310
If you stopped, you would save $5,131 a year ($428 a month).
In 10 years that is $51,310. Invested each month at 7 % a year instead, the money would grow to $73,139.
What else do you pay for regularly? Open the subscription calculator
Not a forecast: real returns will differ, and past returns do not guarantee future results.
What each habit costs a year
- Cigarettes (pack)$3,28564 %
- Coffee to go$1,30025 %
- Energy drink$54611 %
Saved by stopping, against investing it
- If invested
- Saved in total
Year 10
- If invested$73,139
- Saved in total$51,310
Investing: a twelfth of the yearly saving at the end of each month at 7 % a year, no taxes or fees. More in the compound interest calculator
An estimate for information only, not financial, tax or technical advice. How it is calculated and where the data come from
Why small daily buys add up
A coffee or an energy drink doesn’t feel like a big expense, because you pay for it in small pieces. Only when you turn it into a year do you see the whole amount: something bought every day is 365 purchases a year, something bought on working days 260.
Cutting down is often easier than stopping, and it saves money too: buying half as much saves half the amount. Move the slider to see what each step saves.
If you invest the money saved every month instead, it keeps working for you. Over the years the returns add to what you put in, so the invested amount grows faster than the savings alone.
The calculator counts only money. With smoking or alcohol, money is just one reason to cut down; what they do to health is not part of this calculation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does smoking cost a year?
A pack a day is 365 packs a year, so a year of smoking costs 365 times the price of your pack. Enter the price you pay and the calculator adds up the month, the year and ten years.
Why count small things like a coffee?
Because they repeat. One coffee is cheap, but bought every working day it is 260 coffees a year. Things bought every day often add up to more in a year than a single larger purchase.
What does “cut down by” mean?
The share of the yearly amount you would no longer spend. 100 % means stopping altogether, 50 % buying half as much, for example a pack every other day instead of every day.
How are the working days worked out?
The yearly cost is divided by your net income for the year (twelve times the monthly one) and multiplied by 260, the working days of a year of 52 weeks of 5 days. If you take holidays and leave, you work fewer days and the number comes out slightly lower.
Is what I enter saved?
Only in your browser on this device, so it is there when you come back. The share link carries the list and the prices, but not your income.
How it is calculated and where the data come from
How the result is calculated
- Each item is how many × the price of one × how many times a year: every day 365, on working days 260 (52 weeks of 5 days), every week 52, every month 12. A month is a twelfth of the year and a day the year divided by 365.
- The saving is the share set in “Cut down by” of the yearly amount; 100 % means stopping altogether.
- “If invested” puts a twelfth of the yearly saving into an investment at the end of each month, and the investment grows at the yearly return set, as in the compound interest calculator.
- With an income, the yearly amount is shown as a share of the net income of a year (twelve times the monthly one) and as the same share of 260 working days.
Assumptions and limits
- Prices stay the same, though in reality they may rise.
- The investment has no taxes, fees or inflation and earns the same every year.
- A year has 260 working days here, without holidays or leave; if you work fewer days, the number of days comes out slightly lower.
- Only money is counted, not health or time.
The starting list and its prices are our example in round numbers for your country, not statistics or anyone’s price list. The return of 7 % a year is also our example.
Data sources and the period they hold for
Every number a calculator starts with or computes from comes from one of the sources below. Series names are given as the publisher names them. Each row shows the period the data refer to and, where we record it, the day we downloaded them. Official data can be months old when they are published, so check the current figure before you decide.
- Official
- Published by a central bank, a statistical office, the European Union or another public body.
- Research or industry data
- A dataset of a university, an index provider, an industry association or a data vendor.
- Reported
- A figure of an official body that we know only from the press and did not check in the primary source. Treat it as approximate.
- Example
- A round number of ours, not a statistic. Replace it with your own.
Example prices of the habits
| Source | Period | Type |
|---|---|---|
ExampleHabits in round numbers in the range they cost in each country (a pack of 20 cigarettes, a coffee to go, a can of energy drink, a beer in a pub, a bottle of a sweet soft drink, a chocolate bar), not statistics; if invested instead, 7 % a year for 10 years; a working year of 260 days | 2026 | Example |
Methodology text last reviewed 2026-10-06. How we work with data and sources