What my Grandma teach me about the Savings

After what my dad taught me about saving, I want to talk my grandmother`s lesson gave me  savings that I will never forget:

On her  birthday number 90 (she lived 106 years), we were eating at her  home all the sons, grandchildren and great grandchildren, when she suddenly pulled out a small box -shaped piggy safe from the closet, took it to the table where we were and said :

“I want to make a raffle of the money inside  this “piggy safe” among my  grandchildren. It is the result of the money I saved for a while, and I want to give to one of my grandchildren. “

We started writing the names of all the grandchildren and great grandchildren in pieces of paper , the fold and keep a anforita . We talked among ourselves , “How much money can be saved in the piggy Granny? ” And the truth is that we thought it would a few dollars .

We were about to start the raffle, when the grandmother changed raffle scheme saying “I want the name to go out, be discarded, and the winner will be the last name remaining at the end“

The raffle started, one by one the names of the grandchildren were out, almost nobody paid attention to the raffle, because we thought there would be about 50 dollars or less. One by one they were out the names and grandchildren were eliminated .

Finally won my sister, picked up the bank gave her a hug and a kiss to my grandmother, and went with my mom to open the bank at the dinner table, while the party continued.

Nobody paid attention to the opening of the bank safe, until my sister said “Wow!!!” And took out a $20 … we laugh a little because it was less than the 50 we had thought. But immediately got another 20 bill, then another 20, and 50, and $100 dollar bill, and they were marching bills. There was silence in the place and started around the table where they had the money.

Then my sister turned her piggy bank and coins appeared, began to arrange them by name , and so did the bills. Once off began to count the money, and with all the grandchildren, great-grandchildren and children around the table with his mouth open .

To make my story not too long, I will say that my grandmother had saved in the piggy 4,500 dollars, which is still a good amount of money, but if I say that this party was 30 years ago I think it gives a new dimension to the amount of money you saved my grandgrandmother.

In that moment the Lopez Obrador in all of us (although at that time he was not in politics ) and we wanted to challenge the raffle and repeat it, but my grandmother was strongly opposed .

I then asked “Grandma , how could you save so much money on that piggy? ” , She explained the secret of her enormous savings, and I was surprised of how simple and  yet so difficult way she did it:

She explained that every time she heard that the ice-cream man pass and she had already decided to stop to buy one, she would take the money of the ice-cream and save it in the bank. Then when she wanted to buy a magazine (because she always had good eyesight), she hold back and saved the money of the magazine in the piggy.

But, what about the 100 dollars bills, how did they arrived at the bank?” I ask, “Ohh that!. I thought about changing my old TV , but I like listening to the radio, and instead  of tv, I bought a radio and kept the money in the bank” .

In summary she explained that the secret to saving is to distinguish the things you want from what you need, and only buy what is really necessary. She never accepted the ideas in society that value the money instead of the being. She used this idea to motivate her in the saving scheme.

I was deeply shaped from what my dad and grandmother taught me about savings, now I can raise money and try to pass on what I learned to my children and to transcend even though I am not living in this world , I hope one day my childrencan remember me for what  I could teach them.