Congrats to you and your wife Jeff. You both should be very proud. So you've saved $108 since you quit and also add what your wife has saved by not smoking and now you know what your working with for cash. Most people try to save all their smoke free money and have a big reward but my view is that in the beginning is when you need those rewards the most so this might be time for a splurge.
I think a nice smoke free night on the town is in order. Buy your wife a nice little gift to show how proud you are (you'd know better than I what to get). Break all the rules of keeping things in order and just go out, drive around, take a day trip, whatever you want and know in the back of your mind when you stop for gas or food or whatever that you didn't spend $100 + dollars this week. In my case I spent more. My wife and I took many trips and I bought little gifts for myself a lot. I know that logically spending more than your saving doesn't make sense; however, it does and here's why.
You are early in your quit and as time goes on smoking will take up less and less time on your brain. So in one year you may save 4k but after a year you probably won't think about how much your saving daily at all and in the years to come you can multiply that money by each year you two live but you probably won't need rewards daily after a year so now is the time to splurge in my opinion. Here's an equation. I appoligize for bringing math but it helps me explain.
$18 a day x 365 days = $6570
Your 33
Lets be modest and say you live till your 80
80 - 33 = 47 years
$6570 a year x 47 years = $308,790 total you'll save.
But you know what, you will likely only suffer through the first year and probably less than that. So even if you need to splurge more than your saving now do whatever it takes to stay happy at this time in your quit. I know this isn't exactly what you were looking for with regards to suggestions but I hope it puts things in perpective. You both should be very proud and deserve a lot right now for pulling through. All the best.
Mr Q
My Milage:My Quit Date: 8/4/2008
Smoke-Free Days: 130
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 3,120
Amount Saved: $975.00
Life Gained:Days: 13
Hrs: 22
Mins: 49
Seconds: 2
