I didn’t want to say you’re one of those (I just happen to know those and I struggled long time to understand them), and I already see that you’re interested in this game since you stay around
However, your math is slightly off:
For $500 you don’t get 1440 packs of cigarettes, only 72… (I’m not a smoker, but the price is 5,40 per package DZV, the conversion rate 0.77823737 Google - so it’s 500 * 0,77823737 / 5,4 = 72)
No matter how you look at it, putting that money into any game is way better than buying cigarettes. Putting that money in a great RPG is the possibly best way to put your money in any game - so you sure did nothing wrong