In Tough Economic Times, Will a Tanda Work For You?
DE-BUG: They say being in debt is the American Way, but I found a way to get out of it by leaning on my Mexican community. Dicen que estando en deuda es parte de la vida americana, pero encontré una solución entre mi comunidad mexicana.
RIFFING on a few ideas—such as taking power back from massive institutions that exploit you, as well as community-building—I bring you this post about la Tanda.
I am going to type in the article in its entirety—from a bilingual magazine called De-Bug, Cultura Sin Fronteras (De-Bug, Culture Without Borders).
I met the cats who are behind this magazine at the NAM Expo in Atlanta recently, and we talked about bridging UMX and De-Bug, or doing projects together in some fashion. We’ve not talked more since then yet, but I’ll take this opportunity to point you to their mag, while sharing one of the (timely) essays with you.
MANAGING YOUR MONEY, OAXACAN STYLE
living in recession’s shadow
By Angel Luna
The battle to become financially stable is one of the hardest fights I have ever been in. I have tried to fight back the creditors in every way imaginable, from borrowing a few dollars from my posse to becoming a hustler, to collecting recyclables, and even getting to extra jobs on top of my day job. They say being in debt is the American way, but I found a way to get out of it by leaning on my Mexican community.
By this time, I had delinquency notices strewn across the carpet that I stepped on every morning when I woke up and every night when I went to sleep. That’s when I made the decision to ask elders from my Oaxacan community to help me solve my debt burden and joined a “tanda.”
The tanda is an ancient custom that was brought to Mexico by the Chinese in the late 1800s. A common practice in Latin America, the tanda is essentially a rotating credit association that is built on trust. It is a system for people to save money as well as a way to build relationships with each other. I told my mom that I wanted in, and she told me that this was a monthly commitment that I would be expected to pay.
The tanda is a loan without interest or hidden fees, and requires a minimum one-year commitment. To start a tanda you gather at least 12 people who are reliable and whom you can trust. Each person draws a number to determine which month they will receive the loan. On the first month, the first person gets the full pot of money from everyone, continues to pay in every month, and so on.
In my first year, I will receive 5,000. More importantly, I will be paying money to my community, instead of the bank.
Some of the members of my tanda have used their money to pay for their kids’ college tuition, invest in a small business, or finish building their dream house in Mexico.
Because the tanda is based on a tight-knit community network in which everyone knows each other, there is a circle of trust that doesn’t exist in other loan programs. The chances that someone will take off with all the money are very low. This would be met with the most serious of percussions: social ones.
Knowing that I will be able to pay off my credit cards and be one step closer to financial stability is a relief. But the fact that I was only able to pull this off by returning to a custom used by my Mexican mother and grandmother is the ultimate irony.
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Tanda Tips:
1) To get your tanda started, you need a number of people (preferably an even number just to make your life easier, and usually at least twelve).
2) Determine how much is going to be in the pot and how much each member is going to pay monthly.
3) Get a facilitator from the group of people in la tanda. Their responsibility is to make sure that there are no discrepancies and that the tanda is on time for each participant. They need to make schedules to let everbody know where the tanda is at and who is next to receive the cash and to make sure everybody is on the same page.
4) Once you are on the tanda, you have to follow through in order to develop trust and to make sure you get invited to the next one. Make sure that you pay every month until it’s over.
ESPANOL:
MANEJANDO TU DINERO, AL ESTILO OAXACA
viviendo en la sombra de la crisis económica
Por Angel Luna
La batalla de aprender cómo establecerme económicamente es una de las luchas más duras en la que me he encontrado. He luchado en contra de los acreedores en todas las maneras posibles, desde pidiéndole préstamo a mi novia, convirtiéndome en estafador, collecionando reciclaje, y hasta eniendo dos trabajos adicionales aparte de me trabajo regular. Dicen que estando en deuda es parte de la vida americana, pero encontré una solución entre me comunidad mexicana.
A esas alturas, tenía cartas de delincuencia por todas partes de mi alfombra, y las pisaba cada mañana cuando despertaba y cada noche que me iba a dormir. Eso es cuando tomé la decisión de pedirles a los mayores de mi comunidad de Oaxaca para que me ayudaran a resolver mi gran problema económico, y así fue como me hice parte de la tanda.
Una tanda es una costumbre muy vieja que fue traída a México por los chinos al fines de los 1800s. Hoy en día es una costumbre común, y esencialmente es una asociación de crédito que se alterna, y es basada en la confianza. Es un sistema para que la gente ahorre dinero y que también construya amistades con los demás. Le dije a mi madre que quería ser aprte de la tanda, y ella me dijo que este era un compromiso mensual y que al entrar yo tendría la obligación de pagar.
La tanda es un préstamo sin interés y sin pagos escondidos, y requiere el compromiso mínimo de un año. Para empezar una tanda, junta por lo menos 12 personas que son de confianza y con quien puedas contar de que complan con su obligación mensual. Cada persona toma un número para determinar cuál més van a recibir su préstamo. En el primer més, la primera persona recibe el dinero de parte de todos y continúa pagando cada més etcétera.
En mi primer año, recibiré $5,000. Más importante, estaré pagando dinero a mi propia comunidad en ves de al banco.
Algunos de los miembros de me tanda han usado el dinero para pagar la matrícula universitaria de sus hijos o para invertir en un negocio pequeño o para acabar de construir la casa de sus sueõs en México.
La tanda es basada en una comunidad pequeña de confianza en donde todos se conocen, así que hay un nivel de confianza y bienestar que no existe en otros programas de preéstamos. La probabilidad de que alguien se vaya a robar todo el dinero es muy baja, porque tal acción traerá consequenceias muy serias: el fin de las amistades sociales.
El saber de que pronto podré pagar todas mis tarjetas de crédito y estar a un paso más cerca a la estabilidad financiera es un alivio. Pero el saber de que pude hacer todo esto por regrasar a una costumbre vieja y mexicana usada por mi madre y abuela es la parte más irónica.
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Consejos para comenzar una Tanda:
1) Para comenzar tú tanda tú necesitas un número x de gente (de preferencia un número par para hacer tú vida más facil y pues por lo menos doce).
2) Determina de cuanto va ser la tanda y cuanto dinero va a pagar cada miembro mensualmente.
3) Asegurate de que tengas una persona en la tanda que se encarge de facilitar la tanda. Su responsabilidad de esta persona es de asegurarse de que todos los participantes esten a el pendiente de la tanda. Ellos son los que se aseguran de que todo salga correcto y de que a el que le toca la tanda la reciba a tiempo y pues el hace el procedimiento mas fácil.
4) Una vez que estes en la tenada tu tienes que ir a el corriente con la tanda para que asi te confien más y hací te asegures un lugar en la próxima tanda. Asegurate de pagar cada més hasta que la tanda se termine.
If you think this article may be useful to people in your network, please pass it on.
Also, I discovered (after typing this all out) that De-Bug has a back issues page where you can download pdfs of past issues! Mexcellent. Please check them out. (For some reason, you won’t find the Spanish version for this issue on the page, so I don’t regret typing it out after all.)
very cool ! we have this same thing in Haiti it’s called a solde or titi sabotay. The banks here in Haiti hates these organization and wanted them shot down, but it has help lot’s people start their own business and improve their lives. Microcredit is another form of credit unfortunately here in Haiti you have to already have a business running for 6 months to get money. But it’s great to see that this sysytem exist all over the world.
yes, i love when i see patterns like that. instead of the other patterns we see all over the world. good to know community can thrive and does, despite the many forces that fight to isolate us and make us dependent on unreliable and exploitative agents.
thanks for commenting with your story.
Thanks, Nez. I’d never heard of this idea before, and I really like it.
I’ve been thinking lately about ways we can all learn to help each other, and the phrase “blue-collar philanthropy” came to mind. I was focusing on things like Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/) and Room to Read (http://www.firstgiving.com/room2read), less local ideas. But this idea of a Tanda seems like a way to really bond with people you care about, as well as a way to help them all out.
Thank you so much, Nez. I’m definitely gonna try to implement this at some point.
happy to help! hearing this does my heart good. awesome!
you welcome. Love your site by the way! used to live in the States ,but life there is just to hard when you don’t have much. Now I’m hoping to start a social venture here in Haiti. there is so many thing the people need.
Thank you. Yes, that sounds great. I can’t say I care for the direction this nation is going in, havent for ages. If I can save up enough, there’s a good chance I’ll look for a kinder, older, less right-wing, incarcerating, tasering nation, too.
Where in the world? Here it’s the patriarchy that is crushing me.
I don’t know where. I just know the more I hear about other nations’ policies on health care and prison and crime and outlook on bodies and sex and art…and just pretty much everything, the more I think “I wonder if the entire quality of my life and peace of mind might greatly improve in a less fearful, intrusive, uptight, right wing and violent nation, overall?” I’d not know until I tried. And I think I must.
I wish I could leave right now . yes I want to help out in Haiti, but living here has been detrimental to my health and mental well being. I’am told that I don’t act like an Haitian and that my feminist and humanist ideal might get me killed. I’d love Sweden, because of their progressive attitude , too bad they have a bad track record with POC and plus I’m a tropical Island girl the weather would kill me.lol Good luck finding a country you like.