Well, everyone is looking back on the past year, wondering what happened to the last 12 months and so on. That's why I like working these last few days of the calendar year - there is nobody in the office and it allows a person to do some good house cleaning and self-reflection. I am not immune to such introspection, and in fact I embrace it.

2012 was ugly. Dont get me wrong. I am very blessed with my family, friends, health and employment, and given the events of the past few weeks, I can overlook other items that - at the time - seemed to be big deals for me.

But that's the beauty of self introspection. You dont have to equate it to the triumph or tragedy of others, but rather to the changes in yourself over the past 12 months. And in that light, 2012 was all a roller coaster full of disappearing dollars.

In the past 12 months we have:

* relocated twice, including an apartment and a housing purchase.
* because we relocated to FL, I watched our insurance costs double, almost across the board.
* both my DW and I changed jobs (not always because we wanted to).
* I blew apart my achilles tendon in the Spring, so the resulting surgery, rehab, and doctor's visits - net of insurance - totaled between $6500-7000 for the year.
* DW had some dental surgery that totaled over $3000 after paltry insurance input.
* several touch-ups were required of the new place, totaling a few thousand bucks.
* we had issues with a couple of our pets, and the vet bills were about 4x the typical annual expense.
* we decided to put in a pool at the house, involving 2 months of construction and many dollars! (but boy it looks beautiful)

So when it came time to review the year's performance against last January's budget, it was challenging to say the least. However, all things considered , I think I did ok. Only a handful of categories were significantly different than the original estimates, and often those could be explained through cost of living or lifestyle changes that were previously unknown.

Incidentally, have you ever noticed how as soon as you decide to make a major purchase, unexpected items start popping up? It's as if someone out there says "Ok, you signed the contract, but I want to make sure you earn this" and quickly your down payment vanishes into a vet bill or your vacation money gets sucked into an AC repair. Hate those situations! If I had hair, I would be pulling it out.

So bring on 2013!! I've got some ambitious goals set and a budget laid out. Let's see how well we do. Here's a couple known items for 2013 that we will be using as qualifying factors at the end of next year.

* we will need to replace one of our cars (long story).
* the company my DW works for was just acquired (again), so we will keep an eye on the fallout from that.
* I have a 7-year old son, so you know something (car window, ming vase, etc.) will end up being replaced this year.
* then there is all those unknowns that spark the need for annual self-reflection.

"... and the hits just keep on comin'..." (think Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men - love that movie!)