Nightlife

If you are anything like me, when your shift is over you can't just turn it off, go home and go to sleep. You are energized, hanging with some awesome people either want to have someone wait on you or blow off a little steam. Usually at some point in the shift someone starts discussing after work activities.

If you are waiting tables there are limited options after work. The movies, amusement parks, and most of the stuff that normal people do are all closed down. There is usually a restaurant that is open later or a bar in your future. These can be some of the best times you'll have.

Here's something to think about: For the price of one of those nights you an probably join a 24 hour gym for a month. Try hitting he gym twice a week instead of going out every night. Put the cost difference in a fund for something cool. Maybe a trip somewhere, maybe an upgrade for your car or a little safety net. Just my opinion on this.

I loved going out, but when I started adding up what I was spending a week in my head...ouch.

The Man is trying to bring me down - or maybe your friends are - or maybe it's just me.

The worst thing a crab can do is crawl out of the bucket. When a crab tries to escape the other crabs will pull it back in. Sometimes your coworkers may unintentionally do the same. You'll notice when things start working there will be some who try and edge you from the path.

Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

There will be times when it will be tempting to take all of your tips with you when you go out after work. "Don't worry about stopping by the bank...You can do that in the morning. We'll just be out for a little while and you won't spend much." A hundred bucks later you wake up with absolutely no cash and probably a decent sized headache. Just stop by the night deposit and drop some off on your way out. Sometimes if you actually head home for a bit first...you find you don't really want to go out, but if you do you can at least decide up front how much you will take with you and the maximum you should spend. These decisions are a lot better made up front than a couple of drinks in.

Maybe you have an exceptional night and want to celebrate. You should still drop some cash in a safe place and make your decision up front on how much you want to spend. I love celebrating - a lot: But you can easily turn an awesome $200 night into a $200 bar tab and a bunch of friends on the floor of your apartment. Which come to think of it can be a great night, but not if it means picking up three extra shifts later to make your bills.

How can I keep from blowing all of my tips?

So you've improved your game and you are making more money. How come at the end of the month you are still having to pick up shifts to make rent? I don't know about you but after waiting on people all day it was very easy for me to go and have someone wait on me. I had cash in my pocket and wasn't afraid to use it.

The problem is during the night I usually had no idea of what I spent, only what I had left.

The key here is to set aside something for monthly bills before you go out. There are a couple of ways to do this.

If you have any self-control at all just figure out about how much your housing expenses will be and divide it up by the days you are working and put that much plus 10 percent of your tips in an envelope and set it aside. The next morning you can consolidate it somewhere or bank it.

If your self control is lacking, get a checking account and a ton of deposit slips and instead of putting it in an envelope where you can grab it when you want another beer or two, drop it in the night deposit box.

At the end of the month you should be able to cover rent without totally freaking out and...You should have some extra in the account. If you want you can splurge with the extra (more likely you can use it to get your car fixed or for other emergencies) or better yet, drop it into a savings account for when an emergency hits. At a certain level you will have a ton of cash and can use it to improve your life.

Job choice and Cash

Sometimes to make more money you need to work at a more expensive restaurant. It's a tough truth but if your check average is $12 you have to serve a lot more tables to make a c-note ($100 bill) than if your check average is $100. However, Would you rather have 5 tables a night with a $200 average or 10 with a $100? Something to think about. A very high end place may not turn tables very quickly at all and one bad customer could really affect your tips. When you are looking for a wait job you should always be conscious of how much traffic as well as the price per check.

I realize if you are just getting you foot in the door you will often take whatever you get. Especially if you have no experience, the first job can be the most important. At that point you goal is to maximize your profit at that job, and build the skills that will make you valuable at either a higher end wait job, a bartending gig, or maybe you move to another job in sales. The skills you pick up in dealing with people and helping them make choices will translate to almost any sales job. Because, at its heart, a wait job is a sales job.

On a side note, how many of you know how many tables you see a night? How about customers? Does your station size affect you or can you sometimes turn more in a smaller section?

Why Don't I have any Money?

You ever notice that you get off at the end of the night and you have a wad of cash, but you always have to pick up a shift or suffer to make rent? Do you really understand how much you make on a weekly or monthly basis?

Here's a little experiment. It may seem kinda difficult (I know it was easier for me when I delivered pizzas....) Get a small notebook or a page in the back of your order book and write down every tip you receive. Strangely I think I actually made more just from recording it. Then at the end of the night write down the totals and keep a running tally for a week. You might be surprised. Your weekly totals should give you a good idea about how much money moves through your hands in a month. (4 weeks or so.) If you haven't already, try some of the selling techniques. See if the numbers don't improve. I'll bet they do.