Cigs on the Internet/Cook County Taxes

[Cindy's Mom]

Does anyone have any experience with buying cigarettes over the internet? Effective March 1st, Cook County is raising the tax ANOTHER $1 for cigarettes and as "God is my witness, (Scarlett voice), they will not get it from me". My thinking is if I'm not good enough to be able to smoke in Chicago - they they are not good enough to get my $5 tax per pack.

So I've been looking for alternatives such as purchasing on line, but I'm seeing that most places require a 5 carton minimum. I only smoke about 3 packs a week so having 50 packs on hand, they will go stale before I get to them. I found one company that does sell 1 carton only, but they do not accept charge cards, they do an electronic check, they want my routing number and account number (like that's gonna happen).

Let me know if you have any experience. TIA - please don't tell me to quit - I'm already down to the the "essential smokes", if I eliminate them, there is no telling what I'll do.

 

[DVCLiz]

I WILL tell you to quit. Honestly. I had to cut down to the "essential" cigarettes when I got pregnant. I told my doctor I didn't think I could quit right away, and he said if I could get it down to five a day, it would be the same risk to the baby as second-hand smoke. So I went to five a day. And it was ENORMOUS trouble to keep track of - should I have a second on the way to work, or save it for after lunch? Eventually, I got tired of the endless amount of time I was spending on cigarettes, and I quit six weeks leter. It was the best decision I ever made.

When your cigarette habit is getting not only too expensive but too cumbersome, it's time to quit. Without those three packs of cigarettes, you might be a different person, but you'll lower ther risk that someone you love will watch you choke to death from lung cancer down the road.

Quit now.

 

[greenyskp]

I agree with the previous poster. Sounds like a good time to quit. If you take the money you're investing in ciggys and invest it in a program to quit. You'd be better off.

Plus you'll live longer and feel healthier in the end.

Sorry, but your not gonna get much support on a habit thats basically killing you.

 

[macraven]

i'm not the moral police here so i will answer your question.

go to lake cook road. on the other side is lake county. this is around the botanical gardens.
taxes are not high here.

my son pays $3.40 a pack tax included on his smokes (marboro or however it is spelled)

the further north of deerfield, the cheaper they are.

also, i heard indiana is cheaper than lake county illinois


if you are south too far down from deerfield, just go west until you are out of cook county to buy them. cook is the only county that has the extremely high city tax

 

[CathrynRose]

Dont know where youre at, but DuPage county is still around $3.30 / pk.

The CVS's and Walgreens out here, are actually the cheapest places to get them too.

There's a Thortons on Roosevelt, just west of 83, that super cheap too..... get on the Eisenhower, get off at Roosevelt, and youll see it on your right, right after you go under Rt 83.

 

[salmoneous]

Getting the moral tut-tuting out of the way: Smoking bad, you should quit, tax avoidance bad and probably illegal, don't do it, you'll get caught and sent to jail, probably a non-smoking jail, so you might as well quit now. That about cover it?

Anyway, I suspect you aren't the only person who feels this way. Got any friends who smoke and would want to go in with you and split one of those big mail orders?

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I WILL tell you to quit. Honestly. I had to cut down to the "essential" cigarettes when I got pregnant. I told my doctor I didn't think I could quit right away, and he said if I could get it down to five a day, it would be the same risk to the baby as second-hand smoke. So I went to five a day. And it was ENORMOUS trouble to keep track of - should I have a second on the way to work, or save it for after lunch? Eventually, I got tired of the endless amount of time I was spending on cigarettes, and I quit six weeks leter. It was the best decision I ever made.

When your cigarette habit is getting not only too expensive but too cumbersome, it's time to quit. Without those three packs of cigarettes, you might be a different person, but you'll lower ther risk that someone you love will watch you choke to death from lung cancer down the road.

Quit now.

Did I mention somewhere in my post that I was pregnant? Cuz if I am, its news to me. Both times I was pregnant, I quit the second the EPT confirmed it and I don't smoke around the DKs.

Funny - I don't find it to be an ENORMOUS trouble to keep track of my 5 smokes a days - my mind is much more evolved than that. By the tone of your post it sounds like you need a cigarette.....

maccraven - thanks for answering my question - I'm probably closer to DuPage, I'll just do that

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Dont know where youre at, but DuPage county is still around $3.30 / pk.

The CVS's and Walgreens out here, are actually the cheapest places to get them too.

There's a Thortons on Roosevelt, just west of 83, that super cheap too..... get on the Eisenhower, get off at Roosevelt, and youll see it on your right, right after you go under Rt 83.

I'm close to North Avenue in Elmwood Park, - so Elmhurst is probably my best bet - thanks.

 

[CathrynRose]

I'm close to North Avenue in Elmwood Park, - so Elmhurst is probably my best bet - thanks.

My Grandma (and my Mom did too - until you-know-what) lives in Elmwood Park...like Fullerton & Harlem - I went to Grammer School there, too.

Yeah - it wouldnt take you long at all to get to Elmhurst.... and there's a Delta Sonic on North Avenue, just east of 83, that is okay-prices too.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

CathrynRose - I went to Elm School, where did you go? - Oh and I read your post yesterday about your mother and I am very sorry - I meant to post yesterday, but then stupid work got in the way.

 

[mrsv98]

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy. Smoking is bad for you, your kids, anyone around you and the environment. IMHO, cigs should be taxed $5/pack.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy. Smoking is bad for you, your kids, anyone around you and the environment. IMHO, cigs should be taxed $5/pack.

In Cook County they are taxed at $5 per pack - all the better for DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and Indiana.

 

[vivilasvegas]

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy. Smoking is bad for you, your kids, anyone around you and the environment. IMHO, cigs should be taxed $5/pack.

Did she ask for you sympathy? God!

I quit, but before, I'd just jump on the highway and go to Indiana.

I don't know what their taxes are now....

 

[RadioNate]

You'll probablly spend more on gas driving all over to get cheaper smokes than you would just paying the tax.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I was spending about $5 a pack when I was smoking here in CT...yes the taxes just raised the prices more and more.

I eventually quit...but before, I would just look for deals like "buy 2 get 1 free"..I didnt' always smoke my "brand" either - I bought whatever was cheaper.

I always thought the jump in price would make me quit...and honestly it didn't...I just sucked it up and paid more. It was nice when my brother lived in New Hampshire - he'd buy smokes really cheap up there.

Don't let the negative posts here get to you...everyone is going to have their own opinion about smoking. Yes I'm an ex-smoker now...but I realize that it is a habit...an addiction...that is hard to just stop.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

You'll probablly spend more on gas driving all over to get cheaper smokes than you would just paying the tax.

I've thought of that too - I live about 10 miles from the County border, so 20 miles round trip would be about a gallon of gas $2.50. Cigarettes in Chicago are $6.50 a pack - if I can get them for 3 bucks less a pack, and buy 4 packs each trip - I'm saving 12.00, minus the $2.50 on gas for a net savings of $9.50.

As an added bonus, I would do this early on Sat morning while DH and DK's are still sleeping and then I'd get a 1/2 hour of ME time!!!

 

[budbeerlady]

Be careful with the internet idea, in MI they tried to go after those people for the tax they should have paid. Not sure how many paid it or if they got out of it but it was all over the news. I would suspect other states might try the same thing.

 

[CathrynRose]

CathrynRose - I went to Elm School, where did you go? - Oh and I read your post yesterday about your mother and I am very sorry - I meant to post yesterday, but then stupid work got in the way.

Elmwood on 76th Ave.

Small world, huh?

And thank you about my mom. Work gets in my way all the time too.... stooooopid work!!

 

[CathrynRose]

I eventually quit...but before, I would just look for deals like "buy 2 get 1 free"..I didnt' always smoke my "brand" either - I bought whatever was cheaper.

.

I do this too.... Parliments are "buy 1, get 1" all over the place, right now.

 

[C.Ann]

NY is about to do the same - $1 a pack tax increase.. Of course they do it under the guise of getting people to "quit" smoking, but what they're really hoping for is the opposite - that people will continue to smoke no matter what the cost and then the state can spend the revenues on everything except what they claim it will be spent on..

They also put a halt to the internet sales here - managed to get the USPS, UPS and Fed-Ex to no longer deliver cigarettes to individuals.. Don't know what the situation is with the Indian Reservations though - I think that battle might still be going on..

Oh - and the best way to insure that someone will not even attempt to quit smoking is by making snide remarks; giving them "up-to-the-minute just-breaking-news" about the hazards of smoking (like they've never heard any of that before; and announcing you "have no sympathy" when "sympathy" wasn't asked for.. If you truly want to be helpful, when someone decides it's time for them to quit smoking, give them some encouraging words instead of criticism..