Invest Your Bar Tab is a sort of over-simplified mantra for self-improvement that touches on a lot of important areas, and generally has to do with self-control, humility, motivation, and financial literacy.

It's something I've been thinking a lot about, and I know this post won't do it justice. It's a mindset. It's a personal philosophy. These 4 words are a simple and memorable way to frame your choices, and re-evaluate your entitlements, unproductive behaviors, and habits.

I spent my early 20's living it up like a rockstar, taking spontaneous trips to Boston and Los Angeles, buying rounds of drinks for my friends, or pizzas for an entire party. I loved the attention, and embraced the you-only-live-once lifestyle (although the term YOLO didn't exist yet). I fell into the middle class consumer trap, I believed I needed these things, or even that I somehow deserved them. I bought a new TV, Playstation, drumset, a dozen tattoos, and lived in a 3 bedroom townhouse by myself.

I figured when I got a 'real' job, I'd have plenty to pay it all back. I graduated with a master's degree and expected a job to fall into my lap, and when that didn't happen, I racked up $19,000 on personal credit cards.

The point of this post isn't to make myself into a martyr, but to provide some context about why this stuff is so important to me. It's more than one of those "if I knew then what I know now" posts. There is an entire culture of bad advice out there. I've seen so many blog posts encouraging recent college grads to spend their student loan money on a trip to Europe, or videos trying to convince us that the only way to live a good life is through music festivals and VIP rooms. It's all a sham!

There's an emphasis on living in the moment, and excursions instead of retail purchases. However, these experiences aren't somehow more 'authentic' than possessions, it's just consumerism with a facelift.

Invest Your Bar Tab means denying yourself immediate gratification and pleasure for long term gains. It's about self-control, and the opportunity cost of daily vices.

If you disagree with everything I'm saying I'm more than happy to discuss in the comment section. Do you know what I'm trying to describe, do you know what the Invest Your Bar Tab mindset is like?

Image by me :)