Observation #5 CSI

I hate the CSI franchise. I have never seen an entire episode even though it seems to be on every channel in every other time slot. The dialogue is written so poorly that it has to be done like that on purpose. The flip of David Caruso’s glasses down past the bridge of his nose followed by his witty reparte is too much. “I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles.” Cue The Who. I always wonder about these highly rated shows that I’ve never seen. When is NCIS on? It is so popular that it has a spinoff. I can understand a Jeffersons spinoff.

The reason why I mention CSI is that I did some forensic accounting. I actually printed off my bank transactions for the last 6 months and tried to do some analysis. I ain’t so good at the numbers but I did my best. Tapping at the calculator. Finding the common denominator. Some long division. Imaginary numbers. I had to watch eight Khan Academy videos but I think I did it.

I wrote it all down but my dog got it and chewed it all up. As a teacher, I always accept the dog ate my homework excuse. I tried to piece it back together.

Here are some of the observations I made:

I spend way too much on food. If you read Observation #3, groceries falls within my wife’s responsibilities. During the first Operation 180, I took on a lot of the dinner preparation. Additionally, I get home way before my wife so it is much easier for me to make dinner. It is much more expensive to eat properly. That value menu at Taco Bell. I miss ordering from you. The one bonus is that we eat out alot less.

My largest expense besides my mortgage is my insurance payment. Between auto, life and home, I pay over 400 bucks a month. It just gets to you, doesn’t it? To be paying for something that you hope doesn’t happen is a mind f**k. It is a total necessity. I would never want something to happen to me and have my wife and kids not taken care of. It is a weird feeling to be worth more dead than alive.

Lastly, I use my debit card alot. With reckless abandon, I debit everything. It is very psychological. It is a piece of plastic. Buying something with actual cash is very real. It is quantifiable. It’s like when you are at the casino. The chips don’t feel like real money so you make bets that you would never make if it was actual money. It’s not real until you cash in your chips. I mean it is real but it doesn’t feel real.

I am slowly developing a plan to get out of the hole. Knowing how big the hole is and the reason why it’s getting deeper is a big step.