How much a bartender earns generally depends on where the bar they work at is situated and how good they are at bartending, getting people to stay around and keep buying drinks.  One bartender in particular that I know makes about 2,000 a month, give or take.  That is enough to get by on so long as she’s frugal and manages her money well.  However, her father is a successful personal injury attorney in Atlanta and her mother is a more than successful photographer.  I’m not really sure how it works for her, but her parents pay for a lot of her expenses and some she pays herself.  For example, she lives in the greatest condo apartment in the city.  It’s 2 floors with 2 bedrooms and plenty of space.  She could rent out her closets as bedrooms if she wanted.  And what kind of car does she drive?  None other than a gas-guzzling Range Rover.  She tends to travel a lot, flying back and forth to Atlanta to visit her family and sometimes she flies to Manhattan to see her father since he sometimes works up in New York as well.  What does she pay for for herself?  I think food and clothes and alcohol, though she works at a bar so I doubt she ever need worry about that.