Ash Wednesday, which is before Easter, in Ireland is a National No Smoking day when everyone tries to do without for one day.

In 1990, I wanted to go to a festival in Wales which takes place annually at the end of April. I had no cash reserves and I decided that the only way I could get there was to quit smoking and save the cigarette money. So on Ash Wednesday 1990 I stopped smoking for the day and I opened a standing order to transfer the ciggy money to a deposit account.

By the end of April I had saved £160.00 which was more than enough to enable my visit to the festival. I kept going one day at a time since then. Yet I only stopped for one day really and I still get the odd fancy for smoke.

Health wise - it is great to be off them and keep it up. You can win. Incidentally i smoked 25 to 30 a day for about 25 years.

Good luck George