Raitchjay, just a follow-up to see how the past week was.
It's tough to break a habit (unless one is completely stubborn, has a definite goal in mind, no time to think about it and a lot of positive support). )

Wow! I cannot believe the support for you in this thread, Raitchjay! All of us are pulling for you to succeed. I was a smoker, and I quit cold turkey (with some help from a bad case of bronchitis!) over 40 years ago. The aroma of a freshly lit cigarette in a car ahead of me on the highway still smells good, but I am reminded of the bout of bronchitis and the price of a single pack of cigarettes these days, and the temptation vanishes.

Just curious -- what does a can cost? And have you dumped the inventory you had backed up by now?

Good luck and good health, sir!

Thanks Rocky and John. My approach has been a gradual one....i have cut out one of my dips a day (i'm a creature of habit, and you can almost set your clock by when i get dips). My plan is to do that until cutting out another one seems doable....rinse and repeat. My doctor also wants me cutting out caffeine after 5 pm, and i am now doing well on that.....i used to always have a coke with supper, and i have cut that out for about the last 10 days. As to the price of a can of snuff John, it's outrageously high, at least for Skoal, which is sort of the "cadillac" of snuff.....and i guess i have luxurious taste in snuff because i can't dip the off brands...they taste nasty to me. Basically, buying buy the roll, i am now paying about $8 a can (if i ever bought simply a can at a time, i would probably bay 50 cents to a dollar higher) and was dipping at least a can a day.....i'm now down to about a can a day.

So, no, my plan was never cold turkey....that just didn't seem possible for me...maybe tomorrow or a week from now it will seem possible....hopefully so.

Excellent - keep up the great work.
One potential incentive is to set aside the monies you would have spent for something you always wanted. $8 a day over a year is almost $3,000

i was a long term dipper as well, and had gum surgery about 4 years ag (not related to dipping but still necessary), so going cold turkey was pretty much my only option. never started back up, but i do find i chew gum much more frequently now versus then. not saying it was easy, but losing teeth due to gum issues versus dipping was really a no brainer for me.

my dad was a 2-pack a day smoker for 40 years, and he did hynosis to quit, and walked out and never touched a pack again.

Have you tried only allowing yourself the cheap, nasty-tasting varieties? Maybe that would help break the mental cycle.

I hadn't thought of that InFairness....something to consider. Thank you.

Quick update, more for myself and accountability's sake, etc. than anything:

I have now pretty well internalized the "deal" i made with myself a few weeks ago....i now get to have either a mid-afternoon dip, or a late afternoon dip that includes my drive home....but not both. I'm doing well on that, and like the flexibility it gives me...the sense of choice. My gradual approach may not be what others would do or think best, but i have to go with what seems to be working for me and at the speed i seem to want to approach it. I don't rule out the idea that at some point in the future, my body might be more willing to accelerate the process, but i'm just approaching the right now approach with gratitude for this moment...which after all, is all we ever have.

Everyone is different, and you need to do what is best for you. It's a LONG-TERM goal. Congratulations on your accomplishments.

The only way it will work for you is you do it your way!!!

Best of luck to you Raitch!!!! There's absolutely a right way to quit - and that's by following the path that gets you the results you want.

Regarding alternatives, there is a brand called Smokey Mountain Snuff. It's actually a non-tobacco, non-nicotine snuff substitute (and it may only be regional - I really have no idea). I used it years ago when I quit (Kodiak). But, using a cheaper brand, a snuff substitute, cutting out normal dips, or any combination in between, you got this.

Thanks burkemi, and good to hear from you again.