My dad set me up with a bank account before I turned 10 and us kids were forced to save half of anything we earned once we started our first part-time jobs.
We also tithed 10% of anything we got, which instilled in us an attitude of generosity and the knowledge that our wealth (however small) is a blessing.
My dad also taught us to "never owe anybody anything", except of course, a mortgage. He always demonstrated paying off loans and credit cards within a month (like when our fridge died suddenly and we didn't have the money to replace it same-day). Interestingly, my younger siblings didn't learn this lesson...
My dad was very tight with his money, and as a result, all us kids grew up with a "poverty mentality", when in actual fact, we had everything we needed to survive and we had a great childhood.
It was only when I got married that I realized my "poverty mentality" was actually a hinderance, and there are definite cases where money is there to be spent because we worked hard for it and sometimes we deserve a bit of fun.
So that's my little bit :)
Hopefully someone finds it interesting.
It seems your dad was a very smart fellow and that you followed in his footsteps speaks highly of you too. So many people fail to do anything and that only leads to failure, or lack of opportunity later. Making consistent effort, showing ownership and responsibility, and sometimes going without, is the way to move forward in my opinion. It's not always easy, but it's easier to squirrel something away in small amounts over long periods than to not have reserves of funds later, when the ability to earn them is gone...I take the same ethos in and around knowledge too...Never stop learning.
Thanks for your reply...I think there's a few lessons to come from it and it's a great example of how a little effort can bring greater reward.