Today would be my dad’s 65th birthday.

It’s been about 3 1/2 years since Pastor Jones has “graduated”, as my pastor calls the state of “absent from the body, present with the Lord” and things have definitely changed, some for good and some not-so-good.  His passing has had mixed effects on the young family, some more motivated to do great things and make him proud and others…not so much.  Loss affects people in various ways, I suppose.

Pastor Jones was a spiritual father, pastor and teacher to many young men whom society counted out as lost causes.  He was an evangelist, a theologian, a vet, a motivator, a bibliophile, a joker, a trash-talking chess player, and a man of wisdom.  He was always ready with some scripture, advice or challenge to help you become a better you.  Those who knew him knew his motivation was to see you succeed and have all the things he didn’t have growing up.

So in honor of his birthday, this week I’m sharing several financial lessons daddy taught me.  There are important takeaways for everyone no matter where you are in life.

Own your own business.  Or at least have multiple streams of income.

Dad preached to us kids about financial freedom through owning your own business on a regular basis.  If you own your own business, YOU decide how much you make, your hours, and when you work.  You are not dependent on a boss, who can fire you at will whenever they get ready.  His dream was to have a family-owned business that we could all work together on in which everyone benefited from.

He got the entrepreneurial spirit from his mom, who tried to get her siblings together to buy and own their own butcher shop in the Jersey/New York area and then expand.  Unfortunately not everyone shared her passion, but that idea of a family-owned business stuck with him and he passed that hope on to his children.

That entrepreneurial focus has stuck with me since high school, and I’ve found that I’ve never had less than two jobs at a time since then, sometimes three or four or a side business.  HAVING MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME IS IMPERATIVE!

Interestingly enough, we have closed the deal on two businesses since his passing, one just last week.  Trying to keep everyone dreaming big and working together can be difficult, but not impossible.  My goal is to make our mom lose her job, and never go back to another!

Live on less.  Avoid instant gratification and stay OUT OF DEBT.

I will admit that after leaving home and taking on bad habits, I found myself in debt that I’m still working to erase.  Dad was strongly against even a car loan.  “Save up and pay cash”.  Never, EVER, get a credit card.  The borrower is slave to the lender.  Yep, words of wisdom indeed.  We had our very own Dave Ramsey before we had even heard of Dave Ramsey!

Whenever there was a large household expense coming up, like moving to another state, our parents scrimped and saved and stashed money away.  Keep in mind, they are part of the Baby Boomers “stash-under-the-mattress” generation, less worried about making interest in the bank and more concerned about keeping the money safe (read: where they can see it).  But hey, it worked!  We were able to have an emergency fund already set up and funded most of the time.

Surviving on a beans-and-rice diet made for being able to save $10,000 in four months with 8 kids and less than $40,000 annual salary!  Big lesson here is that it is ok to live on next to nothing if it’s temporary and leads to being able to accomplish bigger goals.  So what if you can’t eat out for a while and you can’t grab that pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing.  IT’S ONLY TEMPORARY.  Suck it up and keep your eye on the bigger picture.

Tomorrow, more of dad’s legacy and valuable financial lessons taught.

Question:  What financial lessons have your parents passed down to you?  I’d love to hear them.