I spend more time than the average person looking at finances.   I like to think I’m pretty good at it.   At the end of the day, however, I’m not a particularly good accountant.

I’m still putting together my year end summary.  I keep monthly numbers that I can just add up, but I also try to make the effort of creating a cash flow summary using annual numbers.   Currently the two numbers do not jive.  I’m off not by a few dollar or even a few hundred dollars.  I’m off by a few thousand dollars.  Not good.

I don’t think I’ve misplaced any funds, and am even pretty sure what the source of error is.  I don’t balance my checkbook.  I never have, and probably never will.  This is not to say I don’t track what flows in and flows out.  I do, and I have spotted anomolies that I’ve had to track down.  But, at the end of the day I don’t reconcile the transfers between my various checking, saving, and investment account.  I track some of them, and that’s part of the problem.    Because I have a haphazard tracking system, I’m never quite sure what I’m counting and what I’m not counting.   So as I go through my annual review, I’m having a difficult time making sure I compare apple to apples.

Despite the accounting irregularities, I spot an unpleasant trend:

I’ve basically increased in my spending across the board over the last 3 years.   My housing costs have gone up substantially this past year because I decied to buy the apartment that I was renting.   My variable spending and utilities (damn iPhone!) have gone up as well.  While my expenses are still below my income, I have to be first to acknowledge that I’ve been rather laconic with regards to managing my expenses and cash flow.  At the end of the day, I’m less upset that I’ve spent more money and more upset that I’m not sure how I’ve benefited.