Smokers urged to ditch the ciggies and save thousands
25th June 2008
Consumers that smoke have been advised to ditch their expensive habit and deposit their cigarette money into a Cash ISA instead.
Abbey has estimated that ex-smokers could have a £2,119 balance by depositing their cigarette budget into savings such as the Abbey Direct ISA.
Reza Attar-Zadeh, director of savings and investments at Abbey, said: "It goes without saying that giving up smoking is not only great for your health but also for your bank balance. Using the saving wisely could knock years off your mortgage"
According to Abbey's calculations, ex-smokers that choose to put their cigarette money towards paying off their mortgage could save over £50,000 on their mortgage over 25 years, by paying an additional £5 per day.
Individuals in the UK have a tax-free personal allowance of £6,035 for the 2008/09 tax year and according to financial advice site, fool.co.uk, they suggest putting "the first £3,600 of your savings each tax year into the most popular tax-free savings account: a cash ISA".