How much could you save by kicking your bad habits?

Do you have a vice, guilty pleasure or bad habit? We all deserve treats, but some habits could be costing more than you realise or are willing to admit.

We've rounded up some common costly habits, the average spends for those and a few tips to help you cut back.

Smoking and vaping

Smoking is a costly habit and difficult to stop. It’s not a lifestyle choice but an addiction, says the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

A pack of 20 king-size filter cigarettes costs an average of £15.90 says the Office for National Statistics (ONS). On average, smokers smoke 10.6 cigarettes a day; that’s a spend of £58.99 per week, or £3,068 per year and around a third of households in poverty are home to a smoker.

Vaping, which involves the use of e-cigarettes, will still set you back around around £54 a month, based on 2-3ml of e-liquid per day and one coil per week. Reducing or quitting your vaping habit could save you close to £648 a year.

Vaping could even become more expensive. ASH is calling on the government to add a £4 excise tax on single-use vapes to make them less affordable for children.

The cost of e-liquids will increase by £2 per 10ml containing 10mg of nicotine in 2026 following the Vaping Tax announcement in the 2024 Spring Budget, so the average monthly cost of e-liquid will increase from £43 to £65 for an overall cost of £76 monthly and £912 yearly.

Like smoking, there are medical concerns about chemicals in vapes and their effect on people's lung, heart and fertility health. The NHS's Stop Smoking Service (Opens in new window) can provide free advice, support and encouragement.

Car ownership

Do you own a car you don’t use much? Research suggests we have a deep emotional attachment to our cars, but the average car or van is driven just 4% of the time in England.

Figures suggest the average cost of running a car is around £3,200 a year and £3,500 in London, including fuel, tax, insurance and servicing.

Consider switching to public transport if you live in an area with decent bus or train links or try car sharing or hiring a car when you need one.

Buying coffee

The average takeaway coffee costs £3.40. Buying five a week could set you back £17 a week, £74 a month or £888 a year. You could drop to one or two a week and make your own the rest of the time. In some London cafés you'll pay £4.50 for a takeaway coffee.

Takeaways and food waste

The typical Brit spends £8.94 per person per week on restaurants and takeaways. Add your yearly takeaway coffee and restaurant/takeaway bills together and you're looking at around £1,350 a year you could be saving.

Getting a takeaway is likely to be cheaper than eating at a restaurant, but more expensive than cooking your own food.

Food waste is another costly bad habit – both for your pocket and the planet. The average UK family throws away £800 of edible food a year, with bread, bananas and milk the most binned items. In the UK, around 6.4 million tonnes of edible food is thrown away annually – equal to 15 billion meals.

To cut back on takeaways and fast-food waste, you could delete fast-food apps from your phone, try leftover recipes and food hacks online, and consider drawing up weekly meal plans. If you live with flatmates, you could share cooking to spread the cost and reduce your food waste. The World Economic Forum has more zero-waste ideas (Opens in new window) to try.

Alcohol

The average UK person spends £6.09 a week on alcohol, or a little over £316 a year, according to the September 2023 data from the ONS.

Public health advice is not to drink more than 14 units a week (equivalent to six 175 ml glasses of wine or six pints of 4% lager). It’s worth noting that one alcoholic drink for a woman is equivalent to two drinks for a man, based on the average female body composition, according to a Harvard University study.

One of the best ways to cut back is to opt for small glasses or half pints, and to have booze-free days. Check out the Drinkaware charity for more tips on reducing (Opens in new window) your alcohol consumption.

Potential monthly savings

• Smoking or vaping £54 to £256: Check out the NHS’s ‘Quit smoking’ page
• Car ownership £265.50: Use public transport, or try car sharing or rentals
• Food waste £50: Plan your meals, cook with others, or get creative with leftovers
• Coffee (based on one takeaway a day) £74: Cut back to every other day and make your own
• Takeaways £38.74: Plan your meals and delete takeaway apps
• Alcohol £26.39: Choose half measures and have ‘drink-free’ days

Looking for an account to keep your savings? Bank with Chase and you can open a saver account. Start saving with as little as you like, and we’ll calculate your interest daily and pay it monthly.

18+, UK residents. A Chase current account is required to open a saver account. T&Cs apply.

Recommended reading

• Golden rules of finance
• Finding a financial adviser
• Money too tight to mention?

Disclaimer: The information in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional financial, health or addiction-related advice. Please contact a relevant professional or support group should you require advice.