Happy Blogiversary to me!

Wow, it's been an entire year since I've started this blog. I'd like to take a moment to review how my financial assets have grown since August 2006:

Asset	August 2006	August 2007	Change
Checking	160	195	35
Money Market	54,283	52,545	-1,738
Savings Bonds	16,761	4,575	-12,186
Treasury Bills	26,000	9,000	-17,000
CDs	0	58,600	58,600
Brokerage	80,922	105,368	24,446
401k	84,872	100,251	15,379
Roth IRA	24,606	33,152	8,546
SEP IRA	125,549	172,815	47,266
529 Savings	26,810	34,934	8,124
Credit Card 0% Balance Transfers	0	-19,075	-19,075
Total Assets	$439,963	$552,360	+$112,397 (25.5%)

Thanks to a good year for my S Corporation, disciplined saving and spending habits and a strong stock market (the S&P 500 index is up almost 15% over the past year), I have managed a significant gain to my bottom line:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

Although my posting frequency has gone down quite a bit since May, working on this blog has really made me take a closer look at maximizing my finances. In addition to starting this blog one year ago, I've also expanded my horizons by doing things like starting to invest in T-Bills, building a 5 year high yield CD ladder, and by playing the credit card arbitrage game by making money on 0% credit card balance transfers. I have no idea what's in store for the year ahead, but can only hope they it is as successful as the past twelve months have been: business has been good and I am fortunate to be happy, healthier (due to a 25 lb weight loss), and wealthier.