What is the smartest advice you ever got, directly, pertaining to money?

Thanks for asking me! Okay, you really didn't but here is my story... from Mrs. NtJS

"See how the corn leaves are rolling? That means the corn is dying from not getting enough water. Daddy's not going to be able to get much money from our harvest this year. Things are going to be tight baby girl...". I'll never forget this conversation I had with my dad. It was 1984 and my parent's had another mouth to feed that year with my new little sister. It was also a horrible drought that forced a lot of local farmers into retirement and the loss of their family farms. The next year was really not any better for local farmers. Those who had hung on through the first drought went belly up the next year. My dad was one of handful who made it through those years without a scratch.

I was not surprised at all. My dad had always taught me (I was the oldest by 5 yrs) that we can live on love and the land. My parents were young when they got married and and had me right away. Dad was working on a dairy when I was born and a few years later started farming on his own. We did not have a TV until I was in grade school and only got two channels on the antenna. I always had used toys, clothes, bikes, etc. I never thought twice about the way I was raised. I really did not know what a credit card was because my parents never used one (until I was about 15 yrs old). They never took out a car loan. My dad never did take out a loan to buy a tractor! (those can be more expensive than you think)

He always would say that if you don't have the money then you don't need it.

We always lived in homes that came with farm ground. So it would not cost my parent's anything for house other then utilities. Most American's would say he was nuts and that he would not have made a successful businessman. But then again, most Americans are broke! He actually has been extremely successful and is now one of the largest farmers in his state. My parent's just build their first home (that's right they never owned their own home until a couple years ago) and paid cash to have it done. It's anything but a shack. It's an extremely nice, large home. My dad owns his own plane, camper, farm equipment, grain elevator, etc. Not to shabby for a still fairly young man.

I'm proud of my dad because he did things the right way. I'm also proud of him because he taught all of us kids what he was doing as he did it. We knew when it was a bad year and we knew that meant that things would be tight. There was no hiding it from us. There was no putting Christmas on the Discover card because next year will be better. NO, Next year might not be any better! I have always taken his advise to heart and so have my siblings. So far none of us have screwed up too bad! And interestingly enough... None of us use credit cards.