Each month I open my personal copy of Quicken Home & Business to the public. This tradition was the original impetus for creating Consumerism Commentary in 2003. At that time, at the age of 27, I was about one year into managing my own finances. Prior to that, my own money was mostly something I ignored. That was not a successful approach, so I made the decision to switch gears.
Since then, I have been posting my net worth statement here, keeping myself accountable for my decisions. More recently, I expanded this voyeuristic exhibitionism to include a report listing my income and expenses. The two reports help provide a fuller picture of my finances.
April was not a bad month for my finances in general, but my net worth decreased this month. The biggest driver for the decrease was the check I wrote to the IRS. A large tax bill means I’ve been doing something right on the income side of the equation. Speaking of income, I saw an expected decrease this month. I also expect a bigger decrease for May. Keep reading for my balance sheet and income statement. I’ve included thumbnails in the post, and you can click on the images to zoom in.
Personal balance sheet and net worth statement
Income and expense report
As I mentioned last month, I do not plan to offer additional commentary, but I will answer questions if anyone has any.
Published or updated May 4, 2009. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
Rank: Platinum
Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your statement “A large tax bill means I’ve been doing something right.” I hear a lot of people complain about paying higher taxes, but even if the tax rate on income over $200K was 60%, you’d still be netting more income if you made $250K than if you made $200K. As a play on words: you’d only get to keep 40 cents for every extra dollar you earned, but you’d still be making 40 cents for every extra dollar you produced.
P.S. Flexo, on your last income statement posting I made some comments that were rather crass and demeaning to you and new bloggers. I have no excuse for that. Sometimes I’m just a grumpy old jerk. I think anyone who is embarking on the adventure of starting a new business, blog or otherwise, is both brave and industrious. As Flexo, JD, and others have said, with hard work and perseverance, you may become successful at it and I wish you all the best. In fact, as long as you define success as providing useful information that can entertain and help people, then you will be successful regardless of whether you ever see a dime from your work. To Flexo and the other successful bloggers in the personal finance area, most of the time I prefer to read your words than those written by traditional media and I wish you continued success in your business.
Dan: That’s the thing about tax rates — they are marginal. So if the highest tax rate were 60%, you’d only be paying that rate for the amount you’ve earned that falls into that highest tax bracket. Sounds like that might be a good concept to review in another “money basics” post. Some who misunderstand this often try to keep their income from reaching the next tax bracket, as if it would have an adverse effect on the rest of their income.
Thanks for continuing to read!