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Miguel Sánchez closed his eyes and imagined wearing his new soccer cleats. Miguel could almost feel the ball leave his foot after a perfect strike on goal. He opened his eyes, half-hoping to see the ball hitting the back of the net.
Instead, he was still standing outside the store window, staring longingly at the shoes he desired. He knew his mother could not afford to buy him a pair as a present. They cost over a hundred dollars.
Miguel thought about how hard his mother worked to buy groceries for the family and pay the rent on their small apartment. Miguel decided to keep quiet.
However, he couldn't stop thinking about the shoes. He was dreaming about them so much that at first he didn't hear Mrs. Ruíz calling his name.
"Miguel!" Mrs. Ruíz was exasperated. "I need your help! If you can fix my TV again, I'll give you a dollar."
She waved at Miguel from the doorway of her apartment. Mrs. Ruíz was holding her little boy, Carlitos, in her arms.
Carlitos liked to play with the television remote. He pushed so many buttons that often the fancy television system would quit working properly.
It only took Miguel a minute to reset the television to the settings Mrs. Ruíz liked.
"You're a genius," she told Miguel as she handed him two dollars. "You deserve an extra dollar."
As Miguel walked away, he could hear the tinkle of an ice cream cart bell in the distance. He ran towards the sound. Suddenly, Miguel stopped as he realized something important. If he didn't eat the ice cream, perhaps he could start saving up to buy those cleats he wanted.
One hundred dollars seemed far away, but two dollars was at least a start to that goal.
Miguel thought it might be a good idea to ask if anyone else in the apartment complex needed a hand. Some people did. Miguel took out the trash for Mrs. Tran, then set up an email account so Mr. Duncan could download pictures of his grandchildren and after that, he baby-sat the Kelly twins while their mother went to get her nails done.
Delia Kelly watched Miguel stuff the money she paid him into his pockets. "Miguel, you should put your money in a savings account," Ms. Kelly said. "It will be safer there."
"What's a saving account?" Miguel asked. "I work for a bank and we have a special program for young people like you,” said Ms. Kelly. “If your mother agrees, you can keep money in there until you need it. We even add a little bit to your money every now and then.
That's called interest." Miguel's mother, Celia, agreed to join Miguel at the bank. Ms. Kelly explained to her and Miguel that all the information at the bank was kept secure, so the family could have their privacy. Miguel was given a little book where he could write in how much money was in his account.
"Don't lose that," his mother warned. Miguel made sure to take care of the book. At home, he placed it in his desk drawer. Every day after school, he went around the block to see if his neighbors wanted to pay him for any chores they needed done. Since Miguel worked well on computers, people also knocked on his door with those kinds of problems. Mrs. Ruíz would always pay a dollar for Miguel to get her television back in order whenever Carlitos played with the remote.
Every week, Miguel would take his earnings to the bank and deposit all his money in his savings account, adding to the total.
Finally, Miguel had enough money to buy the cleats he wanted. He washed tío Fernando's truck for the last ten dollars. Then his uncle gave him a ride to the soccer store.
"It's good to learn to save up for something special," tío Fernando told Miguel. "That's how I bought my truck. When you've worked hard for something, you feel proud."
Miguel knew that it was true. His new cleats were no longer a dream. They were on his feet.
At five percent interest, a hundred dollars would increase year by year. Year 1 = $105 Year 5 = $128 Year 10 = $163 Year 15 = $208 Be sure to sign up for an account that does not charge service fees or a minimum-balance penalty.
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