Over Christmas break and New Years, I was getting my finances in order - going through my bank and credit card statements and figuring out what each transaction was about. Performing this activity allowed me to both see where I was spending my money, as well as see how my lifestyle was changing. In short, this year was significantly different. Upon reflection, what I realized was something that should've been totally obvious.
This past year saw a shift away from my spending money on computer parts and technology, in general, apart from smartphone for the home, to spending money on eating out and doing things with friends. Even though I had changed jobs in the middle of the year, I continued to hang out with my old co-workers, now friends. We often played board games together on Friday evenings. We also ate together, watched a few movies together, went to the spa, etc. As one who had not been sociable most of my life, this past year saw the most interaction I've ever had with a group of people over a long period of time. In addition, I would eat with a particular friend on many occasions, and discovered many good restaurants in the process. This past year was fun, but expensive.
This coming year, I will try to (and succeed at) cutting back on my discretionary spending. While my spending has never been exorbitant, and it has been gradually falling since 2011, I think there were still some unnecessary spending in there which could've been avoided.
That said, I have been spending less time working on personal projects, which I hope to dedicate more time to this year.
The job this past year had a remarkable turn in the middle. I went from being demotivated and swamped with brain dead work, attending mandatory corporate nonsense and meetings, and a terrible commute to working on interesting problems (albeit in Perl), not attending stupid things that waste time, and a slightly less terrible commute. Good job, me! Though my boss in every place I've worked have always liked me, the one I have now would be closest in style to my own style. There are a few things I appreciate about my boss:
He doesn't ever pressure me unless it's absolutely necessary. When he is forced to pressure me, he seldom asks me for updates, and gives me room to work and assumes that I'll tell him when I'm done.
He says "no" to things which should be said "no" to. If push comes to shove, he will stand up for his team to try as much as possible to not overburden them.
He thanks everyone and makes them feel appreciated for all the work they do. When someone makes a mistake, he maintains a positive attitude and patiently educates the one who made the mistake.
He agrees with me that most meetings are useless and shouldn't be attended, unless if they are actually beneficial.
He encourages us not to put in long hours, even though he himself is frequently working.
He tries to do the right thing whenever possible, whether it be coding or managing.
In the middle of the past year, disappointed with the whole corporate world, I was prepared to go contracting for life. I'm very grateful I ended up where I ended up. This is the closest to the perfect work arrangement for me (only thing I wish I could do is work remotely). I'm so happy here, I think I'll stay here for 5 years (two times longer than my usual 2 year stay at most previous places).
This was a year without a vacation, but it turned out that I didn't need one because I wasn't so burned out due to frustrations with the job.
