What Bartending Has Helped Me Accomplish.

It’s hilarious how I got to where I am in life, but I’m very thankful for the unexpected opportunities that have turned things around.

When I started bartending, I thought of it more as an experiment, a fun side job, or something to do on the weekends.

After I experienced the kind of money you can make bartending, I quickly realized I could make some real financial moves — I made sure to save as much money as possible and pay off a good chunk of my student loans.

It wasn’t until I was laid off (again) that bartending became my only source of income and saving grace.

When this happened, I became even more disciplined than before.

Working a nine-to-five in the past, I didn’t have the same appreciation for budgeting and being disciplined financially as I do now.

I matured in this aspect for two reasons.

One, I got laid off unexpectedly for the second time, and two, I had a falling out with some of the family members I was living with at the time and moved out by myself for the first time.

I had never dealt with the financial and overall responsibilities that come from living on my own.

Being pushed into this situation made me put on my big-girl pants very quickly.

I’m grateful for it, and I’m also proud of myself because I’ve made it happen.

I’m coming up to a year of living by myself!

And I’m thankful for bartending because it has allowed me to accomplish this financially, in combination with my budgeting.

Beginning of 2022, when I had two jobs — a remote job and bartending on the weekends — I was able to pay almost $9,000 towards my loans.

The relief I felt knowing I was way ahead of the payment plan.

My student loans are the only long-term debt I have, and I want to get rid of them as soon as possible.

During this time, when I had two jobs, bartending gave me the additional income to start making significant moves toward becoming debt free.

And thanks to my budgeting method, I was also able to save around three months of expenses.

Another accomplishment I had was buying my first car — technically, this is my second car.

In college, my mom helped me buy my first car, but at the end of 2022, I was able to purchase my own car — I paid cash for it.

I did buy a secondhand car, but having the ability to cover this cost was a huge accomplishment for me.

In addition, I have also increased my emergency fund from 3 months of expenses to five months — I’m very close to my goal of six months.

Now here are some of the intangible or not easily measurable changes that bartending has helped me accomplish.

Because I’m now independent, I’m making decisions that align more with who I am and what I like.

I’m living a life that’s based on my values, my preferences, and I’m feeling much more satisfied and fulfilled because of it.

When you live on your own, you’re able to dictate basically what and how everything goes in your space.

For example, I like taking my shoes off at the entrance to help keep dirt from going all over the place.

It’s a very simple thing, but I find when I clean my apartment, I have a lot less grime in my vacuum cleaner.

This is an odd example, I know. But I’m so happy I finally have the space where I can do that and ask other people to do so.

Another example is controlling what’s in my fridge and pantry.

I’ve always wanted to follow a healthier, more whole foods-focused lifestyle. But I wasn’t able to do that in the past because someone else did the grocery shopping.

Sure, I bought some things for myself, but because I lived with other family members, I couldn’t have a fridge just for myself and my needs.

Now, I’m finally able to have all the healthy food items I want — I’m also environmentally conscious (try to be), and living with other family members who the majority did not care for this was difficult.

Since bartending has allowed me to afford to live on my own, I can make all these decisions and have a bigger impact, I hope.

In a nutshell, bartending has allowed me the freedom to live the way I want to live.

It was definitely not the path I saw myself walking, but God and life had different plans for me.

I would like to add there are stereotypes about bartenders and how bartending is that may make some people think it’s not a good job, but I would like to say this is based more on the individual than the job itself.

I’m gonna write a blog about it to hopefully encourage you or inspire you to give it a try if you’re looking for another source of income where you can start making money relatively quickly.

Thank you if you read all the way to the end!