Almost two years ago, I wrote about the different types of financial wealth calculations and which one a person should focus on depending how far along he or she is on their financial journey. My thesis is that one should focus on the lowest numbered calculation and determine an appropriate goal before moving on to the next calculation. The progression I proposed was:

Well, I did my last debt update in January, and like political candidate who has gained his targeted office, have been promising to do another one each month since then. Now, I'm ready to make good on my promise.

Here's the rundown for the last three months:

February

March

Well, it's the new year and I'm already late with my first debt update. Hopefully that's not the trend-setter for all my goals this year!

Anyway, here's this month's chart:

I used to be in the habit of giving debt updates near the middle of each month. I dropped out of that habit awhile ago, but would like to start doing so again.

I debated whether to give my debt update for December, or whether to start with January. Ultimately, I decided to provide a December update, even though it's not necessarily a good one, because I already know that January will show much improvement.

Also, I'm changing the format to a screenshot of my net worth spreadsheet, rather than the table I used previously, for simplicity's sake. And here it is:

Today I paid off approximately $9,800 in credit card debt, and boy does that ever feel good.

According to the debt reduction plan I set up in Aug. 2007, I had intended to pay down approximately $9,200 of my then-current debt amount, which was about $10,000, by the end of this year. That would have left me with approximately $800 in debt, that I was hoping I could either pay off immediately or refinance.

Last weekend, I updated the spreadsheet where I track my net worth, and I noticed something amazing: I have positive net liquid assets!

As I've mentioned before, I calculate net liquid assets as follows:

Total liquid money (deposit accounts, cash)
– total immediate debt (credit cards, home equity, student loans and other debt [but not car])

JLP of All Financial Matters notes that Engadget and Gizmodo were valued at $30 million and $50 million, respectively, according to a recent article in Fortune. JLP then figures his blog is worth a cool quarter mil based the number of visitors he gets in proportion to these uber-popular.

Well, I didn't do a debt update in September, and now it's the end of October and I'm past due for that update as well. I waited to do the September update because a number of balance transfers had taken place that affected my credit card numbers. Additional notes below.

Percentages in parentheses indicate month-over-month changes. Percentages in the far-right column indicate total change since September.

Well, it's time for my monthly debt report for August.

I have to say, I'm a bit embarrassed posting this, and you'll see quickly why.

Well, it's time for my second monthly debt report. Hard to believe it's been a month already, but it has.

Note that last month's numbers were a bit off. I had done them in a hurry, and I had forgotten to take a few things into account (no need to go into details...). I've added a column to the table below to provide a more accurate report of the May snapshot.

Also, I've decided to regularize my updates to report the status of my accounts as of the 15th of each month. No particular reason to choose this day, except that it seems a good one.