Shanti is a weekly Club 75 Blogger as she documents her journey through the CPA Exam. She has been a member of Another71.com's Club 75 since December 2010.
On to plan H. Or is it Q?
Its kind of a joke around here that I am a planner. I love to plan and to schedule. Im not afraid making adjustments to those plans either.
As my husband says, I plan so much that nothing ever gets done. Its a depressing realization when you think he may be right. Im not saying that he is, just that he might be.
When I first decided on becoming a CPA, I owned a graphics business with my husband and parents. Taking the exam was my back up plan since the shop wasnt doing well. We had been in business all of 2 years and the economy was kicking our bums. It was tiring to say the least. So, in Dec of 09 we decided it was time to close the shop and move on.
Now I know some of you have been sitting for sections for as long as I have decided that I wanted to be a CPA, but my original back up plan wasnt supposed to take this long. I was supposed to get all the accounting units together last year that I needed to qualify (I dont have an accounting degree) and have this exam handled in the first 6 months of the year.
I kept looking at the different CPA review classes and had wanted to start the Roger CPA Review before I finished classes last fall.
Needless to say, being a starving student with a family has changed money priorities. Its hard to justify spending so much money on exam fees and classes, especially when your family has so much faith in you that you can pass any silly little exam. They think that my smarts will get me through and Im putting too much stock into other peoples stress.
I was finally able to find a sympathetic ear and borrow the funds needed to take Rogers CPA accelerated summer review. I am down to AUD 5 and the 2 days for BEC. On a break during class on Sunday, I worked out yet another study and exam schedule. I figured I would apply an altered NINJA approach since I had been able to Nail the videos just by going to class.
Roger goes pretty fast in class, so Intense notes are mostly jotted down in the textbook margins. I would forgive myself for not getting the assigned multiple choice questions done and focus on those as soon as class was over. Giving me the chance to do Nonstop MCQs. Bringing me to Just re-write it with Jeffs notes.
All this is going to happen in such a way that I have a full month before each section to study. I wrote down that my first test will be on August 31 and my last on November 30. I only see a couple of hitches in my plan. 1) I havent paid for my exam sections and dont know how I will and 2) my husband and teenager go back to school mid-August taking a big chunk of my free daycare away.
Hopefully, this new plan H or Q will be reasonable enough that I can stick to it. Id love to be done by the end of the year, as Im sure the rest of you would too.
Good luck with your studies!
Shanti
Hi Sahnti: this is Bridget another club 75 blogger. I know how you feel. My family is not used to seeing me bomb on tests. At least, now they are more apt to believe me when I tell them that I am behind on studying and that this test is a different animal. The money needed for all these courses and retakes is also an issue for me. My hours were cut in half a few months ago and I understand what a tight budget means. Financial pressures also can make it more difficult from me to concentrate on the exam as our disappearing savings is always lurking around in the back of my mind. Hang in there and Good Luck!
I agree that the expenses related to cpa review materials and examination fees can drain a wallet/purse quickly. My wife is a full-time stay at home mom / home security officer for 3 kids, 4 dogs and 2 cats. That's alot of mouths to feed. I'll add you to my daily prayer list. Keep battling and things will work out for you. Good luck!