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Ask a CPA: How can I re-organize my finances during the pandemic?

Ask a CPA: How can I re-organize my finances during the pandemic?

Ask a CPA: How do I organize my finances during the pandemic?

Q: How do I organize my personal finances during uncertain times such as this current pandemic? 

A: Uncertain times such as the COVID-19 pandemic currently going on bring about a host of financial issues and uncertainties. With millions of individuals losing their jobs, the stock market registering concerning changes, and the economy threatening to topple over, most of us have been reorganizing our finances, or at least considering to do so. Some have been forced to do so, as a result of job losses, layoffs and other unforeseen personal and family circumstances.

If you’ve been seriously thinking about managing your finances in a more effective way, here are a few tips you may consider:

  • Set a contingency budget

If you’ve already got a budget, you’re in a good place. However, during uncertain and challenging times, you may need a contingency version of it. Consider this to be a slimmer, “emergency fund” version of your budget. This version cuts away the stuff you can live without, the luxuries you can do without, and trims your expenses down to the basics. This is not to say you should survive on bread and water, but rather that you would consciously re-evaluate your wants vs. your needs.

  • Prioritize your emergency fund

As you trim your expenses down, you may also want to increase your emergency fund. This may mean re-allocating the funds usually dedicated to luxuries to your savings funds. The good news is that in less uncertain times, you can always use this extra cash to treat yourself!

  • Let’s get back to basics

Getting back to basics is not just about trimming your budget. It’s also about adopting more of a DIY attitude. As you spend more time at home, consider acquiring more practical skills such as cleaning, recycling, cooking, etc… As a busy working mom, I would outsource many of the tasks I didn’t have time to do, such as ordering food out, hiring cleaning or landscaping help. However, I’ve found myself enjoying cooking more, and even learning to garden a bit, and saving money in the process.

Not being able to go to stores has also been a blessing in disguise. I’ve learnt to live more simply, not buying as much, and instead using what I have. The result? More savings, doing more with the family, and even better skin (hello, less makeup).

These are a few tips that can help with re-organizing your finances during uncertain times such as the COVID-19 pandemic we’re currently facing. You may even find, like I did, that this is an opportunity to learn new skills, save more money, and overall learn to live better.

What tips are you using to re-organize your finances during the pandemic?

The Corporate Sis. 

This pandemic is a wake-up call for working mothers

This pandemic is a wake-up call for working mothers

It takes a crisis to reveal the true character of situations. The current COVID-19 pandemic, as most crisis, is  revealing many, if not most of the inequities, around gender. One of the most striking manifestations of this is directly linked to parenting. The reality is, this pandemic is killing working moms, figuratively and literally.

Truth is, it is digging so deep into our last reserves of resilience and strength, as well as into any of the gender equity advances we’ve managed to make so far, that it may have the potential to set us back decades behind. However, what this current crisis also is, is a loud, stringent wake-up call for working mothers, and everyone else around. A call to re-visit, re-evaluate, not just the modern pressure of 21stcentury parenting, but also the very much contemporary meaning assigned to being a working mom.

This pandemic is a wake-up call for working mothers

Over time, with advances in gender equity and stronger initiatives (and incentives) for equal pay, working mothers have certainly gained some ground, although not enough just yet. However, what we’ve also gained has been the added pressure of living up to the impossibly high standard of “having it all”, even if not at the same time. We can all agree that having and doing it all at the same time, is a surefire recipe for disaster. So we’ve compromised instead on having and doing it all, just not at the same time. More realistic, certainly. Less heavy, probably not.

What it means really at the end of the day is that we’re carrying an ever heavier load, including work, parenting, life and everything in between. We’re just spreading the pie thinner rather than letting it get thicker. Yet, really, is it truly better to be spread thinner, rather than carrying a thicker weight? Aren’t both alternatives just different takes on picking our own “self-made” version of the same lethal poison? 

What this pandemic has clearly, and quite harshly, if I may say so myself, shown me is that however you decide to slide the modern working mom pie, it is still too much. It doesn’t matter how many shifts one decides to compartmentalize the various demanding parts of their life and work in, it’s still too much. Too many responsibilities, too many compartments, too much to think about, even at different intervals and times…You can’t just switch off from being a great, present mom, to full-on career beast mode, and then to baking the perfect cake. You’re not a robot, you’re a human being, and yes, you’re pretty amazing but you’re not super-human…

Yes, the pandemic is killing working moms. Yet, it’s not inventing anything new. It’s simply amplifying the imbalance that’s been there for working mothers for quite some time, and the elusive appeal of the “have it all” mentality. It’s uncovered the fallacy of the modern take on gender equity and equality, and removed the mask off of the reality of contemporary motherhood. A reality steeped in profound, staggering, fundamental inequities that more flexibility, increased pay or a shattering of the glass ceiling, only scratch the surface of. 

If this pandemic is offering us one saving grace, it is that of realizing that working mothers need more than just occasional help and assistance. They need a complete overhaul of an entire societal foundation anchored in gender inequity. They need for the load to be shared not just equally, but better; for structures and infrastructures, from roads and highways to the justice system, to reflect the needs of working moms and parents; and for organizations to respect the needs of families over profits. 

They say it takes a crisis to reveal true character. At the end of the day, this crisis here is a wake-up call, not just for working mothers, but for an entire society, to re-think its ways, its priorities, and its heart. 

The Corporate Sis.

Dealing with fear in uncertain times: Do it afraid

Dealing with fear in uncertain times: Do it afraid

Fear is real. It creeps up into every aspect of your life and work, paralyzing you and threatening to topple you at every turn. When fear overtakes not just you, but your entire network and community, it now becomes pandemonium.

Dealing with fear in uncertain times: Do it afraid

Times of uncertainty bring fear. They bring about a sense that we’re no longer safe, that threats are everywhere around us, and that we’re left vulnerable and powerless in their wake. They rob us of our inner power to create the change we need in our own lives and others’. 

I’ve learnt the only way to beat fear is not to try to beat it. Instead, it is to do it afraid. It is to rob it of its destructive power by doing the very thing we’re afraid to do, by continuing to strive when the temptation is to shrink and give in, to keep pushing through when everything else screams to stop and give in. It doesn’t mean the tightness in your chest will disappear, or the rapid beating of your heart will slow down. It just means you’re choosing to resist instead, leaning in to faith and perseverance to make the seemingly impossible possible.

As a working mom stuck in the middle of a pandemic, fear is everywhere. It’s in the small and large spaces between people at the grocery store. It’s in the media’s loud screams of panic overshadowing the fair and accurate reporting of the news. It’s in the angst of planning for tomorrow, next outing, next school year. It’s embedded in the thoughts, patterns, conversations, emotions  awaken by a crisis we know by name but not by heart. 

Fighting against this fear is a daily undertaking, one that requires focus and determination at a time when we’re running short of both. Thankfully, it’s a fight we can all learn to become better at:

  • Acknowledge your fear areas:

For me, it starts with acknowledging where it hurts, those areas where the fear is at its highest. In this current pandemic, most of us fear for our health and lives, and that of our loved ones. Many fear losing their jobs, careers, businesses and sources of income. The heightened level of panic is causing many to sink into deep anxiety and depression, paralyzing them and making them unable to perform in many, if not most, areas of their lives. 

  • Do something every day in your fear areas

What can you do each and every day in your fear area? It could be taking care of your health by exercising daily, inspiring kids to working smarter instead of harder, or looking for a new source of income. It could be finally deciding to write the book or the business plan, facing the outside world (while taking your precautions), have a discussion with your kids, etc…

  • Practice gratitude

It’s hard to be grateful when you’re afraid. The smallest amount of progress loses its relevance in the face of fear. Yet, practicing gratitude gives you perspective and reminds you of how far you’ve come. It could be journaling for a few minutes a day, through prayer, or simply through quiet reflection. However you choose to do it, it will affect your outlook, motivate you, and beat the fear.

  • Give yourself grace

Fear doesn’t equal weakness. Nor does hiding one’s fear, especially to oneself, equate strength. Give yourself grace as you confront your own fears, and learn to do it, from the smallest to the biggest things, afraid.

How are you beating fear in these times of pandemic?


The Corporate Sis. 

Let it be Friday!

Let it be Friday!

Welcome to Let It Be Friday!, where I say hello (and TGIF), and round up the lifestyle, career and business news that inspired, excited, made me smile (or laugh out loud).

The Corporate Sis.

Dear Working Mom, You’re Allowed to Let Go…

Dear Working Mom, You’re Allowed to Let Go…

Dear Working Mom is our weekly love letter to working moms everywhere, where we talk about motherhood, life, work and everything in between…

Dear Working Mom,

You’ve taken on a lot over time. A lot of responsibilities, a lot of pressure, a lot of care, and a lot of weight, some mental, some spiritual, and some even physical over time…As time goes, you’re taking on more, doing more, being more, as there are more demands on your time, energy, and life…

You’ve been tirelessly juggling all the balls of your life and work, keeping as many of them as possible in the air at all times, not allowing yourself to drop any. From supporting your family, to acing your career, to maintaining age-old friendships, you’ve been trying to do it all, for way too long…And it’s cost you a lot, too much even, for way too long, from neglecting yourself to being taken for granted, to depleting the last of your very resources…

Yet, did anyone tell you it was OK to let go of some of the balls you’ve been juggling for so long? That not everything on your to-do list has to get done? That the kids will be ok if left to care for themselves for a bit? That your family could actually benefit from you letting go of all this pressure and weight? That the world will still go on, even if you don’t prepare organic meals or miss two appointments in a row…

You’re allowed to let go of the responsibilities that are not adding value to you, your purpose, and your life…

You’re allowed to let go of the beliefs and mindsets that no longer serve you…

You’re allowed to let go of the people who keep asking more and more of you without giving anything in exchange…

You’re allowed to let go of the places that keep swallowing you in their complacency and destructive patterns…

Most importantly, you’re allowed to let go of the guilt of choosing you over anything or anyone threatening your wholeness, your integrity and your purpose…The guilt of caring for yourself, of not being everything to everyone, and of making space for others to grow and learn on their own…

Not only are you allowed to let go, you must learn to do so with the grace, honesty and power you will need to evolve, and forgive yourself for treading new paths and creating new avenues…

The Corporate Sis.