Summarise Whether You Are Making Financial Progress

Financial progress is easy to feel without measuring. A higher salary with higher lifestyle inflation produces the same net worth as before. Paying down one debt while accumulating another looks like progress and is not. This asks you to compare two snapshots a year apart and gives you an honest reading on the direction you are actually moving.

I want a clear and honest summary of whether my financial situation is actually improving, staying the same, or quietly getting worse.

My financial picture a year ago (as best I can estimate): [describe income, savings, debt, and any major financial changes]
My financial picture now: [describe the same dimensions]
What I believe is true about my financial trajectory: [describe what you think is happening and why]

Based on what I have described: tell me whether my financial position has objectively improved, deteriorated, or stayed the same over the year, identify the one metric that most clearly shows the direction I am moving, and flag one thing I am interpreting optimistically that deserves a closer look.