WASHINGTON — When I sat down with Carl Chandler and his wife to help them get their finances straight for 2007, I had them create a budget.

I asked the couple, who are participating in The Color of Money Challenge, to list all the expenses they could eliminate. The Chandlers have agreed to follow my recommendations throughout the year in an effort to accomplish their New Year's resolutions of getting rid of credit card debt and building an emergency fund of at least three month's living expenses.

Most important, as part of this financial plan, I asked Carl Chandler to quit smoking.

Yes, in our discussion about their personal finances, I got real personal. I asked this father of two young children if he had calculated the cost of smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.

"No, I never have," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by AIDS, illegal drug use, alcohol abuse, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined. Oh, and so you know, cigars contain the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds found in cigarettes, says the CDC.

In fact, depending on the brand, a single cigar can have as much tobacco as a whole pack of cigarettes.

The CDC estimates that national productivity losses due to smoking total $92 billion annually. That's in addition to the $75.5 billion annually in medical expenditures due to smoking. On average, smoking reduces a person's life expectancy by about 14 years.

But if the personal health benefits are not enough to motivate you to quit smoking, then perhaps the personal financial costs will.

People who smoke cigars or cigarettes can spend as much as $2,500 a year, according to Saul Shiffman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Chandler spent about $1,000 last year on his smoking habit.

What if he saved that money?

If Chandler, who is 38, stopped smoking and invested that $1,000 every year in a 401(k), with a rate of return of 8 percent, he would have more than $100,000 by age 65.

"You think this is just pocket money," Chandler said. "But it's a good savings that you can put aside."

Add in the extra medical expenses due to smoking, and it hits your personal finances hard. Smokers are essentially burning money.

"In lots of little ways long before you get sick enough for smoking to kill you, it's hurting your health in a way that costs you money," said Shiffman, a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, which sells smoking-cessation products.

Shiffman, who develops behavior programs to help people quit smoking, said smokers often complain about the cost of smoking-cessation products. Chandler did.

But, as Shiffman points out, the treatment costs far less than the lifetime expense of smoking.

In fact, to get people to quit, GlaxoSmithKline is giving away $2.7 million worth of products. For details, visit the Web site www.way2quit.com. You can get either a two-week's supply of NicoDerm CQ patches or a week's supply of Nicorette gum or Commit lozenges (you'll have to pay for shipping).

The free products are just a start. Typically, the recommended course of treatment is 12 weeks if you use gum or lozenges and eight to 10 weeks for the patch, Shiffman said.

The Web site the company has created includes a number of free tools to help smokers devise a plan to quit. The site includes helpful tips and virtual coaches. There's even a calculator so you can see just how much of your money is going up in smoke.

Clearly this isn't a completely altruistic program for GlaxoSmithKline. The company is trying to sell its products. But government research has shown that sheer willpower in most cases is not enough to quit smoking.

The recommended approach to smoking cessation combines medication with counseling and coaching to give folks the best chance of quitting, according to Joel London, a spokesman with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health.

And there are a lot of free programs to help people quit. Check with your employee benefits office. The American Lung Association has a free online program at www.lungusa.org. You can also call (800) QUIT-NOW or go to www.smokefree.gov for additional support.