Although 2013 was a difficult year for Daniel Soto, he said he’s looking forward to a more rewarding 2014.

“This year was a bit of a struggle to tell you the truth,” said the 23-year-old outside the check cashing place where he works in San Ysidro. “But you gotta keep going, keep on hustling to make more money.”

Soto said this year was tougher because he had to pay half the rent for an apartment he shares with his roommate. Before, he used to live with his parents, but he wanted to be more independent.

“I also had the option of staying in Tijuana, but I’d rather be here in San Diego,” he said. “This year has made me a more responsible person, more mature.”

So much, he said, that he already has 2014 all planned out: He wants to finish his degree as a computer technician to get a better job.

“I’m ready for what’s coming up,” he said. “I know I will have better opportunities next year.”

Soto was part of an informal street survey made by La Prensa San Diego in the South Bay. The majority of those surveyed said 2013 was tough, but most of them are hopeful that 2014 will be a better year, especially financially.

Enrique Aldana, a 65-year-old man from San Ysidro, said that although he’s already retired, he has to work as a day laborer outside a gas station to make ends meet.

“What I get from my monthly pension is not enough to cover all my living expenses,” Aldana said, in Spanish. “I do handyman work here and there to get a little bit of extra money.”

Aldana said that, personally, he things he’ll have a better 2014 when it comes to income, because he’s getting more customers from his side business. But in general, he thinks people will still struggle next year.

“I hope they increase the minimum wage and that the federal government passes immigration reform,” said Aldana, who’s been living in San Ysidro for 35 years. “That will help a lot of our people who are suffering.”

Among those surveyed, several said they think the economy will get better in 2014. Others, though, like Javier Suarez, a 39-year-old unemployed worker who lives in south San Diego, said he’s lost all hope of ever getting a good paying job.

“Yeah, I could get a job soon… in fast food!” he said. “That wouldn’t be enough to even pay for a room, man. And with two children, it’s even worse. Man, it feels really bad that your wife has a job and you don’t. But I’m trying to do my best, for my children.”

Antonia Toñita Lopez, a 56-year-old woman who was getting off the trolley in San Ysidro, said she had to go live in Tijuana in July because she couldn’t afford rent in San Diego anymore. She plans to look for a second job so that she can move back to the United States in 2014.

“That wait at the border is a disaster,” she said. “I can’t be waiting one and a half hour, two hours at 5 in the morning when it is so cold. I don’t have a car, so I depend on public transportation.”

Another goal Lopez has for next year is to buy a small car to be able to cross back and forth across the border to get to work.

“I need it, and I pray to God that I can save enough money to buy it, even if it is a carcachita (old car),” Lopez said, laughing loudly.

Julieta Santiesteban said she just wants to survive. This year was hard, but 2014, she said, will be better.

“I’m thankful I’m alive, you know?”, said the 48 year old mother of four. “I had some health issues this year, so having little money at the end of the year really doesn’t matter. I’m doing better, I’m healthy, I have my family. What else could I ask for?”