I’ve come across this quote more than once: “Act like you can’t afford the bread until they find out you own the bakery,” and it has stuck with me ever since. If you have been here for a while, you know that the whole purpose of this blog is to understand the mindset of being an investor while living as frugally as possible.
For me, that means being a broke college student while in college and acting like I can’t afford the $9.99 cases of Coca-Cola products, even though the dividends from the Coca-Cola company alone cover more than a few cases. It’s me acting like I can’t afford to treat myself to a Starbucks coffee, even though the dividends continue to rise each year.
It’s knowing that putting off some things now will allow me to accumulate the life I want, where I’ll be much happier drinking a $10 coffee—although I don’t think I could ever spend that much on a single coffee. I’m not really a coffee person, but once or twice a year, I do allow myself a treat of a Starbucks white chocolate tall mocha with a cookie. Even then, I’d rather invest the money into additional shares than drink or eat it at this stage in my life.
I used to be around someone who didn’t understand that. I remember being at a sandwich shop and writing on a piece of paper or napkin, breaking down how investing even small amounts would pay off down the road. Their view of me was that I was just broke and bad with money.
They didn’t understand why I didn’t want a car, even though I could have gotten one. They also had concerning financial matters and a large debt balance (not from student loans or raising a family) the last time I spoke to them. They once mentioned I should get a credit card, knowing I wouldn’t be able to afford to pay off the balance because my funds were already low.
Long story short, we are no longer in contact. The whole “friendship” was bad and doomed from the start. Still, to this person, they thought I couldn’t afford the bread due to bad spending habits, just like them.
They either couldn’t or didn’t want to understand that I couldn’t afford the bread because 1) I was much lower income and they had a much higher income, and 2) every dollar was accounted for during that time in my life.
It meant spending as little as possible on unnecessary things and investing the small amount left over into learning so I could gain new skills to increase my income. I hardly had any spending money. Things were rough, but experiencing that also led me to learn about investing. It’s how I got where I am today.
While you are acting like you can’t afford the bread—or not actually acting because you really can’t afford the bread—make sure that you aren’t around those who will make it so you never own the bakery at one point. Don’t be around those who try to make you feel ashamed for not being able to afford the bread right away. Don’t be around those who try to influence your financial decisions to be like theirs when they aren’t in a good financial place.
Lastly, when you are able to afford the bread, be careful with those who don’t understand that you are moving past the affordability of bread and moving to own the bakery. Everyone moves differently. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, understand that owning the bakery requires you to be aware of how everyone is moving to afford the bread while you quietly move to buy the bakery.
Being an investor and owner of businesses requires independent thinking, away from the crowd, and actions that might not be familiar to you at first because everyone else around you does the opposite. Also, understand that not everyone wants to own the bakery. Some will talk about ownership and the idea of it but will never align their actions with it.
This is a common trap people fall into with family and friends. You have to be able to discern between someone’s potential and actions. People love to talk, hold conversations, and have opinions. But if you listen closely and observe even closer, you’ll see that many just talk for the sake of talking.
I have no desire to talk about a life of comfort while my actions say otherwise. Instead, I put skin in the game—in other words, put my money where my mouth is—and work towards the level of comfort I desire. I have even gone further and tightened up my immediate circle over the years, understanding that there is a reason certain groups of people keep to themselves.
I am at the stage where I learn more from those who already own the bakery or are on their way to owning it than from those who talk just to talk or from those who never think of owning one in the first place.
And the great thing I have learned from those who own is that you have to be willing to move financially different from the crowd. Frugality is a common trait among many of them. Act like you can’t afford the bread until you own the bakery.
The Broke College Student 
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