How do you earn gold bars?

But what can you use the gold bars for? And where are they stored?

They are used exclusively for Style Picker, which is available for certain 3x3 buildings (Estate, Fountain, Stables, Orangerie, Windmill, Vineyard, Central Station, Observatory, Bathhouse) with more to come in the future. Tap on any one of those buildings, then the yellow button with house&hammer symbol to open the Style Picker window, where you will see your gold bars stored at the top.

If I dont use the gold bars, are they stored until I have enough for next building upgrade?

This is ridiculous because it costs buckets and loads of gold bars to upgrade in Style Picker, and if you're going to do that you should also sell them outright.

Its not a hurry up and rush to get gold bars, its playing the game as intended and thats a bunch of side games to build stars, coins, diamonds and other things to add to the island, plus all the extra games to play. If you only played the island, whats the point of playing, all your doing is waiting for the next stand of games to play.

Yes, gold bars are stored. To see how many you've accumulated tap on any 3x3 building or the Estate, then select the icon with the hammer & key. Total is above the Style Picker menu.

For those of us who cannot join a club for health or too busy reasons, there should be an alternative for us to earn these bars to upgrade our buildings! Seems unfair to penalize those of us who CANNOT join a club! PLEASE GIVE US AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO EARN GOLD BARS! Many of us are too busy with working and raising kids or are dealing with serious health problems that do not allow us to join ANYTHING that runs on somebody else’s schedule.

I agree with those above who believe there should be more ways to earn gold bars. I have seven structures that are upgraded up to the final gold level and I still don’t even have enough gold bars to upgrade the fountain that is the least expensive structure to upgrade. I see no way to ever earn enough to upgrade these buildings which is the main way to earn enough flowers to progress in the game. Between waiting for flowers, energy, or group events to end and pay (which depends on the group’s success) I spend most of my time stuck.

I too am busy so don't join a club. I DO get gold bars when certain plants get gifted to me.

Clubs don't have to take much time. You can set an alarm for the meeting time each day, and share the free drink. In the cafe, tap on the competition icon (trophy) to join the comp, then you will automatically earn ribbons for the club competition without having to actually do the competition events yourself - as long as you tap on the trophy weekly you will receive the prizes, including gold.

You can be a part of a club without having to be there at specific meeting times. Just show up when you can, share a drink, and play club games when you have time. No pressure, it’s simple and you can enjoy all of the rewards that come with being in a club.