Sandra

Sandra moved to the United States from her home in Oaxaca, Mexico 20 years ago to start a new life. As a single mother of two living in Oakland, Sandra first earned her A.A. in Accounting at Laney College, and went on to earn a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration at Cal State Hayward. While attending classes and raising her family, Sandra gained skills preparing taxes for individuals and small businesses, and she recognized a need for such services in the Latino community. Four years ago, Sandra decided to meet this need and launch her own accounting business. Today, she has over fifty private clients in the Latino community, frequently making house calls, while also working full time as Accounting Manager at a construction company in San Francisco. Strategies for saving come naturally to Sandra, and she is a disciplined spender. She buys lunch out only once a week, doesn’t carry more than $20 cash, is careful about credit cards, and always buys in bulk. Since she began working with Opportunity Fund’s matched savings program last year, she has successfully saved $75 each month. She recently invested some of her savings in a new computer and printer for her business, and continues saving for a laptop that she can use when she visits clients’ homes. Sandra’s goals for the next five years are to see her two children attend college, to continue to build her business and to pursue a Masters degree in Taxation. In ten years’ time, she hopes to be running her company full-time. She believes that “there are no limits. People set their own limits.”