All Starter Systems
Using Anchorline for Net Worth Tracking
Track what you own, what you owe, and how it changes
When used for net worth tracking, Anchorline helps you keep a clear, current record of your financial position and how it changes. Assets and liabilities are organized hierarchically, with balances, institutions, account types, and anything else worth tracking. Most people try to track this with a spreadsheet. When balances change, they overwrite the old number. The total updates, but the path that got you there disappears. This keeps net worth as a living record, not just a number that updates.
How it's structured
Workspace Shape
Net Worth
parent
Assets
parent
Checking
balanced
Savings
balanced
401k
balanced
Brokerage
balanced
Liabilities
parent
Mortgage
balanced
Car Loan
balanced
Credit Card
balanced
What you track
Assets, liabilities, account balances, net worth over time
Structure
Parent logs for Assets and Liabilities, child logs for each account
Fields
Account
Institution
Balance
Last Updated
Notes
How you work with it
Assets
Checking
$4,200
Savings
$12,500
401k
$84,300
Add your accounts
- All assets in one view
Liabilities
Mortgage
$278,000
Car Loan
$14,200
Credit Card
$1,800
Add your debts
- All liabilities visible
Total Assets
$156,400
Total Liabilities
$294,000
Net Worth
-$137,600
See your net worth
- Assets minus liabilities
Net Worth History
Jan 2025
-$142,000
Dec 2024
-$137,600
+$4,400 this month
Update periodically
- Track progress over time
Frequently asked questions
- Is Anchorline just another net worth calculator?
- Not quite. A calculator gives you a number, which is useful, but Anchorline is designed to keep the record of how that number changed over time. When you pay down a loan, transfer money between accounts, or watch your retirement balance fluctuate, those changes stay in the record rather than disappearing. Most tools show you where you are right now, but this one shows you how you got there.
- Why not just use a spreadsheet?
- Spreadsheets are fine for simple tracking, especially early on, but the problem shows up as things change. Updating a balance usually means replacing the old value, and over time the sheet turns into a collection of current numbers with very little sense of history. Anchorline records those updates instead of overwriting them, which makes it much easier to look back later and understand how your net worth evolved.
- How often should I update my balances?
- Less often than you might expect. Monthly is common, and quarterly works just as well for most people. The goal is not constant accuracy but rather having a reliable record of where things stood at different points, so you can see meaningful change over time instead of just a current snapshot.
- Do I need to connect my bank accounts?
- No, Anchorline does not connect to financial institutions. You enter balances manually, which is slower but means nothing syncs automatically and you stay in control of what gets tracked and when.
- What's the difference between this and budgeting?
- Budgeting tracks income, expenses, and how money moves through your accounts, while net worth tracks what you have and what you owe at a given moment. They overlap in places but answer different questions, and you can use Anchorline for both, but this particular system is focused on the balance sheet rather than the cash flow.
- How much detail do I need to track?
- As much or as little as makes sense for you. Some people track every account down to the last savings jar, while others focus on the major ones like retirement, mortgage, and primary checking. Typical fields include institution, account type, balance, and last updated, but you decide what actually matters to record.
- Can I export my data?
- Yes. You can export your data for backup, sharing, or external records. Your data is not locked in.