After nearly three decades of smoking cigarettes, Rotorua mother of two Joyce Fletcher has kicked smoking in the butt.
The 45-year-old decided to give up four years ago. It's a move she says she has never regretted and now she has money in her back pocket for overseas holidays
and other luxuries. She also has money to enjoy the odd drink.
She was only 13 when she started smoking, but decided to give up the habit because of a dance competition.
"I had this cough that just wouldn't go away so I knew I had to give up smoking if I wanted to do well," she said.
While she only smoked between 10 and 15 cigarettes daily, it wasn't easy to discard the habit, Ms Fletcher said.
That was until a friend told her about a tape and book designed to help people quit smoking.
Listening to the tape while driving from Rotorua to Wellington, Ms Fletcher said the desire to smoke was soon gone.
"Smoking is really addictive and it's not easy to give up. I kept thinking I could squeeze six more smokes in before I finally finished. I think the tape brain-washed me to give up. Now I feel sick when I'm around people who smoke. I can't believe how much my clothes stunk. That really shocked me. I couldn't smell it when I smoked," she said.
Ms Fletcher said although she had given up smoking, she had taken up drinking - sharing the odd drink with friends on a weekly basis.
"I never used to drink before because of the children but now they have left home I can drink. It's nice to have a drink with friends or a celebration drink when things go right," she said.
