“I made up my mind when I was young that I was going to retire early. And I did it. I retired last August after 33 years with LyondellBassell, just as I was fixing to turn 57.

“Never been married. No kids. But I was married to my job, I believe. I was one of those guys that liked money. Others my age wanted off all the time to run around, goof off, and waste money. Not me. I wanted to make money. So I always volunteered to take their shifts. I worked holidays. I was an overtime freak.

“And I tried to play things smart by investing in everything I could out there. I wanted to pay everything off as soon as possible. I didn’t want to have any bills. I didn’t want to owe anything to credit or loan companies. In the end, I pretty much accomplished what I set out to do.

“When I was going to work, I would leave the house by about 4 in the morning. It’s still no different. Most days, I’m up at 3:30 or 4. I get a little something to eat, and then I take off on my bike. I love riding when it’s dark out and hardly anybody’s around.

“I ride seven days a week. I go all over town. I cross the Hartman Bridge sometimes and ride in La Porte, or go down to Morgan’s Point. I’m a member of the Dirty Bay BMX Riders, so we’ll ride together. I’ve done the MS 350 to Austin for multiple sclerosis.

“When you’re riding this bike here, it’s like riding a Cadillac. You lean your back against it, and just kind of lose yourself. It relaxes me.

“I never know where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do. But I have my cell phone with me. I always have money on me. I have things to drink and eat. I have all kinds of tools and patch kits if I ever have a flat. I have lots of music. And I ride until I decide I want to stop somewhere.

“I’m not as young as I used to be, so I work out every day. Matter of fact, I just got done doing all my pushups and squats out there on that floating dock. I do them at home, too, and I work out on a punching bag.

“I live life day by day. I wake up in the morning, kick the dirt off me, and see what the good lord offers me.”

— Jerry Puckett

Jerry and his partner have a shop where they build quarter-mile hot rods and custom bikes.

The post Retirement plan pays off for bike enthusiast appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I just moved into an apartment. Just got a new car. Just got this dog. It all happened in one month. It’s exciting. It’s the next step, the next chapter for me.

“The dog was kind of a surprise. But I had been planning the apartment and the car. I’ve been saving up. It’s me and my girlfriend in the apartment, so we put our money together.

“I work at Walmart. I’ve been there for four years. Now I’m just waiting to transfer to the distribution center.

“One day we plan to have a family. My goal is to keep saving so that my kids don’t have to struggle, so they can have a future.

“I don’t like the fact that some people have to struggle in life. I wouldn’t want my family to go through that. So I keep working hard and keep saving.”

— Yannick Matthew

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The post He finds that saving money pays off appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“We’ve been staying with my mom and stepdad since January. But I’m looking for a new apartment. I’m saving up right now.

“I lived at my previous place for 16 years. When a new company bought them out, they raised my rent by $300. They didn’t give me much notice. So we had to move out.

“I had to get a cheaper car because I couldn’t afford those payments anymore. Also, he turned 18, so I’m no longer getting child support. That hurts because he’s a senior, and this is his most expensive year in school with things like cap and gown, pictures and graduation invitations.

“I’ve always been a single mom. I’ve never been married. I was lucky that I actually did get child support for most of his life.

“It’s tough right now. But we get by. I’m sure there are a whole lot of other people out there who are worse off than I am. I don’t make a ton at my job, so it’s been pretty challenging lately. But we’ve always made it. I think we’ve done pretty well, considering. We’re like a team. He’s my buddy.”

— Leslie Hebert (with son, Luke)

The post They’re weathering the storm of money challenges appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“When we were growing up, we had four refrigerators, four washing machines, four dryers. There were seven kids in that house, and each one of us got a car when we turned 13. What was I going to do with a car at that age but wash and polish it? We thought everybody in America was living good. I didn’t know that some people were out there starving. 

“When you’re raised up real good with everything you need and you have money, you shouldn’t isolate yourself from other people who are less fortunate. You shouldn’t be thinking, oh, I’m so much better than them. Because you could be a trillionaire one day and then homeless the next. 

“I’m going to see some friends today who have way less than me. And I’m going to treat them just like any person wants to be treated. I don’t think we have enough people in this world today who are treating human beings like human beings.”

— Linda Powell

The post Time to ‘treat human beings like human beings’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Me and my brothers took care of our parents before they died. They were both in their 50s. It was tough to watch them deteriorate. They didn’t have all the money in the world, and they had to spend loads on insulin. I’ve told my doctor that I cannot get on insulin because I just don’t have it.

“Besides uterine cancer, I’m dealing with diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and a low thyroid. But I can’t even afford the prescriptions I have right now. To be honest, I think the low income die early because it’s not easy for us to get help. And the help that’s out there, it’s like an act of Congress to get it.

“I had food stamps, but they put a sanction on me because I wasn’t getting enough hours at my job. I worked at Walmart for 20-something years, but that ended. Now I’m working part time as a receptionist during tax season. I’ll need to find a second job for the off-season.

“But it seems like fewer employers want to hire older people part time. The younger people are the ones who usually get the job. And when they see the word cancer on your job application, it’s almost like you have leprosy. I feel like there’s a stigma out there with cancer. They may not speak it. But I think the discrimination is real.”

— Glenda George (Anahuac)

(Note: Glenda George passed away on April 7, 2020.)

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The post Cancer, age work against her when job hunting appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’m the first one in my family to go to college. My parents are proud. They always tell me, ‘You have to get your education. You have to do something with your life.’ And I feel responsible. I feel like I owe that to them. They don’t have any Social Security or 401k. So once they get older, I’m the one who’s going to be helping them out. That’s very important to me. That’s one of the main reasons I’m doing this. I guess there’s a little pressure. But that just motivates me. 

“I didn’t take any student loans. My parents helped me out first semester. After that, I put my college education to the side and started working. I kept myself away from going out to certain places and having fun, or buying certain material things. I focused on stacking up my money to pay for school. And now I have enough money to not worry about bills and just focus on school.

“It wasn’t always easy getting to this point. During my teens, living in low-income, poverty-type places, you see and experience a lot of things. There were friends, people around me, just doing bad stuff and having to face horrible consequences with no way to turn back. But some people realize they don’t want that for themselves. They want to change. That was me. I guess I was blessed to learn from other people’s mistakes.”

— Francisco Acuna

The post His plan: help out supportive parents one day appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Once, in one of the bars, a drunk snatched his money. The gentlemen in the bar caught wind of this and were no longer gentle. Having seen a child’s hard-earned money stolen, they took matters into their own hands. They caught the guy outside and knocked him about. When the assemblage came back inside and returned my father’s money, most everyone in there lined up to have a shine.

“It was the most money he had ever made in a single day. He went home and proudly placed the money on the table in front of his mother. She couldn’t believe it, and the first thing she seriously wanted to know was where he had stolen all the money from.

“Our family still has that shoeshine box — 15 cents a shine.”

— Steve Sivek

The post Back when 15 cents meant a lot to his family appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Another time, I was working at a gas station. I was out there cleaning the pumps one night, and three women got out of a Suburban. They came walking toward me at the pumps. At first, it scared me because I didn’t know what they were going to tell me. They walked up to me, and all three of them handed me a $20 bill. I asked what’s it for, and they said, ‘We just appreciate what you do.’ Stuff like that is unexpected. If you’re expecting it, it might come or it might not. But when you don’t expect it, that’s when it hits you right in the eye.”

— Glen Henson

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The post In times of need, others have come to his aid appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“My mom taught me the importance of saving money. She always said, you might not be able to put aside a lot, but just put something away for a rainy day. You never know when that rainy day will come.

“One time she needed some money and, of course, I sent it to her. I’ve sent her money off and on through the years. For the past three years, I send her money every month. And she really does appreciate it.

“My mom just turned 73. She’s OK, but she’s had a very rough life. So I feel like I need to do everything I can for her. One day, God will take her, and I don’t want to have any regrets. I don’t want to have to say, I could have, I should have.

“The last time I saw my mom was three years ago. She came to visit for about a month. Now I’m getting ready to go back home to surprise her. I’m going to be down there for two weeks. And on my way, I’m going to stop by a florist. I’m 48, so I’m going to get her 48 flowers. I’ll tell her it’s for the 48 years that she’s nurtured me. Because even me being up here, every time I call her she’ll say, ‘Baby, I’m praying for you.’ My mother is such a kind-hearted person. I really love her.”

— Priscilia Polius

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• ‘I wanted someone to love me so bad’

The post She finds great value in her mother’s life lessons appeared first on The Baytown Project.

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The post ‘They were going to have to pay me to go to college’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.