Investing In Education The “Old Fashioned” Way

As a child, our houshold income was a bit better than that of most Mexican American families in Robstown, Texas.

But I hardly grew up in privilege.

My father worked at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station for 19 years, and my mother bought a small diner where we, essentially, exploited ourselves but always had something to eat.  Still, we lived frugally and my parents did everything possible to cut corners and save money.  And it was there that I saw my mother’s savings plan in action.

Coffee was a dime, as were the doughnuts and cinnamon rolls I made for several years.  Two eggs and bacon or ham with toast were about a dollar, and our daily plate-lunch specials — a meat, a green vegetable and a starch — were $1.25.  My mother, however, had a savings plan that worked.

She would keep every 10-cent piece — then made of silver — that came into the cash register.  And if there was change to be made, we all knew to give back two nickles but never a dime.  It wasn’t much, and on most days, there were only a few for her to keep.  Little by little, however, she would amass rolls of them.  When she died, we found a couple bank bags full of dimes, and since many were silver coins, there was a premium that probably paid back whatever interest she missed out on.

As an adult, when my income became more secure, I started emptying my pockets of coins every evening and throwing them into a large jug.  I would dig through it for quarters for parking, or whatever else I needed, but when the jug was full, and I was half-way through a second one, I found myself caring for my daughter, then about nine, on a rainy day.

I had a pile of coin wrappers, so I offered her a deal:  If she would separate the coins and roll them, I would give her 10 percent of it in return.  After several hours, I was astounded to learn that I owed her $62, or 10 percent of the $620 in change I had accumulated in about two years.
Now, I’m hoping to put Mama Guerra’s savings plan into one that others may want to follow to provide scholarships for first-generation college students in my, my brother’s and my parents’ alma mater, Texas A&M-Kingsville.

A dime today doesn’t buy as much as it did when I was a kid and hamburgers were a quarter, or five for a dollar.  But if we each kick in a dime or two or a couple of quarters each day into a jar, and contribute $5, $10 or $20 bill each month to a fund, we can help change South Texas.  After all, there are millions of us now in South Texas and the border region.

And honestly, in a world where a T-shirt starts out at $10, and a breakfast taco sells for a dollar and more, who can’t afford to put aside that much?  Please help do your part.  For our kids, our grand children and our great grand children. We can afford it if we just save a little at a time, every day, every week, every month.

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