I’ve been tracking my net worth and keeping my finances updated in personal finance management software since July 2003. I’ve done this mainly for myself. Posting my finances online helps make the numbers real. I use these monthly reports to hold myself accountable. If I write publicly about spending more in a budget category than I should, I have no one to blame myself if, at the end of the following month, I still have the same problem. I would have to face the judgment of readers who see my lack of progress. By keeping my finances public, I try to hold my money-related decisions to a high standard.

Over the past eight and a half years, this technique has helped me gain financial independence, combined with a thriving business. But this will be the final month I share my balances with this much detail. I’m moving into the next phase of my financial journey, and this requires taking back some of my willingness to bare all for an audience. I will still share quite a bit, more than most readers would expect, but the familiar balance sheet will be replaced with a different accountability measure.

Another reason to move away from posting a monthly balance sheet for accountability is the fact that the swings from month to month have more to do with stock market performance than day-to-day money management decisions. When I had very little money invested and my expenses were close to my income, every decision I made could have a strong effect on my finances. That is not the case today. Just like my need for tracking every cent has been relinquished as my budget began to allow more freedom, my daily spending has a smaller effect than decisions pertaining to the larger picture, like my investment portfolio allocation and diversification. I’ll be writing more about my investment choices in the future.

In October, my investments recovered. This contributed to an increase in my net worth. Continue reading to see the numbers.

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Each month, I publish a financial report to help me track the progress along my path to gain financial independence. This is a long-standing tradition at Consumerism Commentary, with relatively significant updates going all the way back to July 2003. I have made some changes over the years in how these numbers, including the net worth bottom line, are calculated. Recently, I decided to take all of my business-related accounts out of the report, resulting in my purely personal net worth.

Even before making the change, the reports didn’t reflect my total net worth, which would include things like my business as an asset and my estimated tax bill as a liability. Rather than try to create values for these items, particularly the business, I decided it would be just as helpful, or even more helpful, to exclude all business accounts. As a result, there is more fluctuation from month to month because I have not consistently moved cash from business accounts to personal accounts as if I had a paycheck. This is one thing I plan to improve next year through paying myself a consistent salary.

This past weekend, I attended the Financial Blogger Conference in Chicago to meet many of the people I’ve been talking to and emailing for years. It was a great opportunity to share ideas about an industry that has grown from zero in 2003 to a community of thousands of blogs today. I attended many of the conference sessions, including two discussions about writing, one with J.D. Roth from Get Rich Slowly and one with Donna Freedman from MSN and Surviving and Thriving. J.D. and Donna also won several Plutus Awards at the conference.

I must have met over a hundred people this weekend, so I can’t mention everyone. The event was one of the most professional conferences I’ve attended, with a large amount of quality content and friendly people.

Also notable, this weekend was my first experience using accrued miles in Continental’s OnePass frequent flyer program. I traded in miles for an upgrade from coach class to first class for the flight out to Chicago as well as the flight back to New York. Continental does a good job of spoiling first class travelers, and I’ll likely address this in a future article.

Continue reading to see the numbers as of the end of September 2011.

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Almost every month since July 2003, I’ve been reporting my month-end financial reports on Consumerism Commentary. This reporting started as a way to hold myself accountable as I attempted to improve my finances through earning more and spending thoughtfully while saving and investing for my future. Somewhere along the way, the website became not only a way for me to learn more about personal finance, but to share my thoughts with an audience, and a hobby turned into a passion, and the passion turned into the driving force for the last few years of my life.

I’ll share my number for August 2011 soon, but first I wanted to mention that I announced the finalists for the Second Annual Plutus Awards last night. I created the Plutus Awards to bring more attention to the amazing personal-finance writing, whether educational, entertaining, or both, published outside of mainstream media. These awards also allow the community of expert personal finance bloggers to express their opinions about the best financial products and services on the market. This can, perhaps in a small way, guide the industry in the direction that best suits the public. I’m happy to say Consumerism Commentary is a finalist for several categories, and I want to encourage readers to vote for their favorite personal finance blogs. The winners will be announced at the Financial Blogger Conference on October 1.

In terms of my finances, there was not much out of the ordinary during August. I spent some money on a new camera lens, but I’m still having trouble finding time for photography. My investments performed poorly during the month, leaving my investment balances lower despite adding to the accounts. In today’s report, I corrected last month’s numbers. When I sold a good portion of my former employer’s stock in July, I forgot to list the proceeds as cash rather than an investment.

I’m working with my accountant to make sure I am taking an official salary from the business this year that will allow me to maximize my Individual 401(k) investment. I’ve been contributing both an employer and an employee portion every month.

Now that I’m not including my business assets in the balance sheet that I post to Consumerism Commentary, the reports don’t tell a complete story of my financial worth. I can take cash from the business if needed, reinvest it for the business, or leave it in business bank accounts. As a result, looking at just the personal portion of my net worth makes it easy to manipulate the numbers; if I wanted to reflect a 2.6% increase this month rather than a 2.6% decrease, I could have moved more cash from a business account to my personal account. I try to transfer as little as possible, but as some have suggested, it may be more wise to leave as little in business accounts as possible.

Continue reading to see August’s numbers.

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