Smoking Quit Milestones
Count days, cigarettes and money saved since your quit date and time, next to the American Cancer Society health timeline. How it works
Use the Smoking Quit Milestones
About the Smoking Quit Milestones
A quit date 100 days ago, at 20 cigarettes a day and $12 for a pack of 20, is 2,000 cigarettes not smoked, 100 packs and $1,200.00 saved. The quit smoking timeline counts whole 24-hour days from your quit date (and optional quit time) and sets the American Cancer Society’s health changes beside them.
Milestones on the page
| Checkpoint | Wording on the page |
|---|---|
| 20 Minutes | Heart rate drops (ACS: a few minutes after quitting) |
| 8 Hours | Carbon monoxide levels in the blood begin to fall (the tool’s own wording, not ACS; ACS gives no hour for this) |
| 72 Hours | Nicotine in the blood drops to zero and carbon monoxide drops to normal (ACS: about one to a few days; the 72-hour mark is the tool’s own) |
| 2 Weeks | Circulation improves (the tool’s own general wording, not ACS; ACS gives no time for this) |
| 1 Month | Coughing and shortness of breath start to decrease (ACS: 1 to 12 months) |
| 1 Year | Risk of heart attack drops dramatically (ACS: 1 to 2 years) |
| 5 Years | Risk of stroke decreases; risk of cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box is cut in half (ACS: 5 to 10 years) |
| 10 Years | Lung cancer risk is about half that of a person who still smokes (ACS) |
| 15 Years | Coronary heart disease risk is close to that of a non-smoker (ACS) |
| 20 Years | Risk of several cancers, including those of the mouth, throat, voice box and pancreas, drops to close to that of a non-smoker; added cervical cancer risk drops by about half (ACS) |
The checkpoint times are the tool’s own marks. ACS gives the ranges in brackets. The 8-hour (carbon monoxide begins to fall) and 2-week (circulation) wordings are the tool’s own, not ACS, and ACS gives no separate time for the 72-hour and 1-month points. A risk that falls to about half has not fallen to zero.
What the counts come to at 20 a day, $12 for 20
| Days quit | Cigarettes not smoked | Packs not smoked | Money saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 140 | 7.0 | $84.00 |
| 30 | 600 | 30.0 | $360.00 |
| 90 | 1,800 | 90.0 | $1,080.00 |
| 180 | 3,600 | 180.0 | $2,160.00 |
| 365 | 7,300 | 365.0 | $4,380.00 |
| 1,825 | 36,500 | 1,825.0 | $21,900.00 |
Days are whole 24-hour days, so 1,825 days is 5 years of 365 days. Other numbers scale: 10 a day halves every column except the days.
How to use this tool
- Pick your quit date. Add the quit time if you know it; without one, counting starts at midnight at the end of the quit date, or now if you quit today.
- Enter the cigarettes you smoked a day, the price of a pack and the cigarettes in a pack.
- Read days quit, cigarettes and packs not smoked, money saved, and the current and next milestone. The If you stay quit table shows the savings at 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year and 5 years.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens to your body after you quit smoking?
- The American Cancer Society lists these changes: heart rate drops a few minutes after quitting; nicotine in the blood falls to zero and carbon monoxide to normal 24 hours to a few days after; coughing and shortness of breath decrease at 1 to 12 months; heart attack risk drops dramatically at 1 to 2 years; at 10 years lung cancer risk is about half that of a person who still smokes; at 15 years coronary heart disease risk is close to a nonsmoker’s; at 20 years the risk of several cancers, pancreatic cancer among them, is close to a nonsmoker’s. The page does not say a risk reaches zero or that your body has fully recovered.
- How long after quitting smoking is lung cancer risk lower?
- ACS says that 10 years after quitting, lung cancer risk is about half that of a person who still smokes. That is lower, and ACS does not describe it as a nonsmoker’s risk; the 10 Years checkpoint on the page uses the same wording.
- How much money do you save by quitting smoking?
- Money saved = days quit × cigarettes a day ÷ cigarettes per pack × price per pack. At 20 a day and $12 for 20 that is $84.00 after 7 days, $360.00 after 30, $2,184.00 after 182 (the If you stay quit table’s 6 months), $4,380.00 after 365 and $21,900.00 after 5 years. At 10 a day with $9.50 packs of 25, 3 days come to 30 cigarettes, 1.2 packs and $11.40.
- Why does the page show 0 days on my quit date?
- Days are whole 24-hour days, so the count stays 0 until 24 hours after you quit: 1.5 days counts as 1 day and 20 cigarettes at 20 a day. Without a quit time, counting starts at midnight at the end of your quit date for any earlier date; on the quit date itself the page counts no hours and shows no milestone until you add a quit time such as 08:30, and counting starts then.
- Are the milestone times exact?
- No. ACS gives ranges, such as 24 hours to a few days and 5 to 10 years. The checkpoints at 20 minutes, 8 and 72 hours, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 year, 5, 10, 15 and 20 years are this tool’s own marks, and ACS gives no separate time for the 72-hour and 1-month points. The 8-hour and 2-week wordings are the tool’s own, not ACS. Changes differ between people.
- Does it remember my quit date?
- Yes, in this browser on this device: the fields are saved in local storage and are there next time. The clear button removes them. A link can also fill any of the five fields (quit date, quit time, cigarettes per day, cigarettes per pack and price per pack) for that visit only; it does not replace what you saved in a field until you type in it.
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