I think what a lot of people aren't getting is that when we say "it's free," what we mean is "I can enjoy this without thinking about my budget, because it doesn't currently impact my budget." Calling it "free" is just a playful way to frame it that helps us relax and enjoy. Cash is free money because it's been taken out of the budget as petty cash. It is no longer part of the general fund that is being tracked to make sure that bills and groceries are covered. When you pay for lunch for your friends, you first make sure that you can handle the whole charge on your account, even if your friends decide to be flaky. So you've determined that your budget can withstand the charge. When they reimburse you, you don't have to add that money back into your general fund, because you already know that fund is stable. It's "free money" in that it's available for you to enjoy without re-examining your budget first.
I honestly never see cash likr that. Cash is money that could be savings, so it's to be rationed and what's not used becomes saving that goes right into the account. Having it physically makes me more conscious of it amd stops Mr from spending becomes I can see if directly
This! I feel like this is the part that people miss when they explain girl math. Girl math is about getting the most out of your funds that are allocated for fun spending.
EXACTLY. Like the girl math thing is a colloquial and simplified version of a discussion on weighing up consumer freedom against the capitalist system, it's a way we communicate about how we find joys in surviving under this system. As long as the girl math thing isn't being used to justify genuinely irresponsible and harmful spending or ignorance to trying to understand exactly why we have all these promo offers and free shipping etc that goes into it, I'm fine with it. It's like a new branch on the "no ethical consumption under capitalism" phrase. We use it to justify the fact that people besides the rich deserve nice things and to heal sometimes genuine trauma in fearing costs, but we don't use it to justify helping Shein become more disgustingly massive.
@@professorfoxtrot Sounds like someone who doesn't understand what girl math is. I'm sure you'll get it eventually, if you keep trying to learn and doing your best!
Yeah, my first thought was similar. This is literally how all international trade works, (also all economics I think?), Every country needs to replace the Office Trade Secretary/Minister wirh 'The Office of the "Girl Mathematician."
We used to pay our rent in person in cash three months at a time (because we don't trust the mail). Once we misplaced the rent. That was a pain to build back up to paying multiple months at once, but a couple of years later when we were moving out, we found the lost rent! Free money! A friend of mine was like "It's not really free..." But nope, it's free. Found money is fun money.
@@gotmilkbuttya but if they hadn't found it it would still be lost. They already had to make up for it and didn't plan on getting it back, therefore free.
you call it fun money too??? I'm very financially responsible (according to most of my older family members) and when I had just moved out, sometimes they would get concerned that I didn't spend money on fun things at all. This resulted in many birthdays where someone would hand me maybe like, 500DKK (I think just under $100 if you convert) and tell me that those were strictly "fun money" because they knew I would've put them in savings otherwise😹
I have never been financially stable enough for girl math to make sense. The only exception would be the grocery store math, though that only really works when you are buying non perishables. For girl math to work, you need to have a certain level of financial security.
@@zbcrazy ok but e.g. with the jeans, as much as I’d love to buy 4 pairs, and I know it’d mean one was free, there’s a high chance I could only afford one at that time, so not even get another half-price. Like it doesn’t apply in every situation but it defs does. If you’re living Paycheck to Paycheck, what about the holidays? You can understand it but still not be able to afford it
Exactly. Especially the "it's 6.99 so it's 6". I wish I had the ability to think like that instead of looking at thing's priced per kg and always worrying about not spending money so that I can keep my rainy day fund at an acceptable level because it seems like financial monsoon season comes around way too often.
Loved your takes, only one I can't get behind; I wish the economy were good enough here that I could consider eating out cheaper than cooking food. As far as my girl math is concerned, kitchen food is free. I already committed to the purchase of that food, I have $20 in my bank account to feed me and my boyfriend. Cooking is free. Period.
Yes, cooking is free because it’s down time. Like, if I did get delivery and saved the time I would have spent cooking, I wouldn’t have used that time on anything I could actually get paid for. Especially at the end of the day, my brain is fried, I’m not going to use that time productively anyway so I might as well cook.
I can understand the reasoning behind giving yourself a reason to not feel guilty about spending money. After all we all need to be able to enjoy ourselves to get by in this world. But the reason I can't personally do it is that if I thought about my money this way, I would end up spending way more of it than I already do.
Now that I learned what “girl maths” is, I’m definitely NOT doing that… I work at a restaurant, so I get paid partly in cash. If my cash money was “free money” then my savings would deplete way faster because I would spend my cash for stuff I don’t really need. On that note, money I FIND because I forgot about it does feel like free money.
I love how it all made sense in my head and men made me feel silly about it but now that you went into detail and I got why it made sense to me I just think men are silly. I love this. Women supporting women.
The idea of bulk purchasing has existed forever. "Girl math" is simply a means of acknowledging that women are unaware of this and can't do actual math.
@@professorfoxtrotwhy are you here? All of your comments on this person's videos have been you trying to start arguements just give it a break already
@@professorfoxtrot yeah, Maryam Mirzakhani? she could not do math the gal, no idea why she won a noble prize. hah, women really can't do math aha ha. what? I'm an ignorant douchebag? well, I guess you're right.
@overlordfemto7523 booo terf booooo!!! Boooo tomatoes we don't want you here booooo!!! Happily engaged to my beautiful transgender wife while ur spending your life hating boooooo
My husbands boy math is spending hundreds at vending machines at work while we have the exact same snacks in the house. Then having a shocked pikachu face when he has no money left. He couldve taken the snacks from the house but thats too much like hard work for him
My view on this might be kinda bleak but I feel like this is mostly just people falling victim to marketing and consumerism which obviously isn't inherently a bad thing because no one is immune to marketing and advertisement. I also understand the need to justify spending money in one's own head, I myself have always felt kinda guilty when I spent money on something I wanted but did not need, but I also think that that can be a dangerous path to go down especially for people who might have or are susceptible to developing an addiction to spending money or buying new stuff
The only one of these I disagree with is the "savings" at somewhere like H&M. There weren't any savings. That's just marketing. The ticket price is the real price, they lie to you to make you think it's secretly more expensive. It isn't. Everything is somehow always "on sale".
I related to all of these! As a man, I suppose I subscribe to girl math! Its nice to have a name for this phenomenon. Still, it's really funny and nice to see everyone share their "girl math" experiences.
Maybe showing my age, but cash feels more real to me than just tapping my card. Totally agree on the buying more stuff for free shipping when I'm within around $30, especially if it's something you buy again. I also feel that when I cancel subscriptions, that money is now free money. The whole "if I buy something over multiple transactions it counts less" is a demonstrable phenomenon, and is part of the reason afterpay is thriving. Just make sure you can actually make those repayments.
I was wondering if it was as much an age/generation thing, too. Because I'm approaching 50 and cash is more real to me because I never used to pay using a debit/credit card until the last few years. I agree that buying more to reach the free shipping limit makes sense to me, especially if it is a) something I use regularly so will need more again soon enough, or b) I am closer to the limit than the cost of the shipping, eg. Shipping is 4.99, it is free when you spend 50 and my current balance is 46. I actually would sooner spend 6 to take it up to 52 than pay that 4.99 shipping lol. I think for me it stops being worth it if there is when you get to being the same amount over as the shipping would have cost (if you got something that makes your total 55 or over) OR if there is absolutely nothing else in the store that I need/could use and then it is just buying for the sake of not paying the shipping. But when I am buying clothes for example, I would usually add in some socks or something to make it to the limit. If they have something that can take me to spot on the free shipping amount, that's even better. I also understand the idea of putting the money on a store card, like Starbucks as in the video, that money has then been spent and the coffee is free, but that is because I see loading that card up as making a purchase. Whereas withdrawing cash is not making a purchase, it is just changing the location from held in the bank balance to the held in my wallet balance. The only time cash is free (that I withdrew) is if I forget about it for a few months and rediscover it later. Like there has to be some time passing for the money to no longer count as part of my current balance.
It’s partly an age phenomenon but also family customs. I’m 24 and I prefer using cash instead of a card to pay because I can *physically see* money leaving my hands/ wallet. Additionally, my dad is really distrustful of online banking, therefore when I grew up a trip to the bank meant retrieving cash and printing out bank statements. I don’t need the bank statements anymore (online is just faster) but I still regularly go to a bank to retrieve cash and pay with that. I usually use my card in situations where I pay more than ~50€ but for the smaller purchases I always carry cash with me.
Since most places take card now and that's usually how I pay for things, to me it does feel like I'm saving money when I use cash. Cash for me is kind of the same thing as using coupons to save money, it's not directly using "my money" from my account but I'm still able to buy the thing that I'm trying to buy.
My main issues with "girl math" It centers around money. I always hear the most middle class takes. All of the "buy more save more" and "it makes more sense" is true But also... its so entwined with capitalistic takes and it feels gross as fuck- not to mention the cultural aspect that tell women and girls that they are shoppers! We love going to the mall! That is how girl math perpetuates those stereotypes. Yes we can use it in other places but what videos do you see it the most in? Groceries. Makeup. Clothes shopping. Edit: the end of the video is also pretty sad at how common it is. It all feels... "older generations shamed us for spending money on anything so we had to teach ourselves finances" which is messed up in its own right and 100% did happen. Women are so much less likely to be taught economics or money management growing up. I had 2 older brothers and each of them had bank accounts by the age of 12 while i wasnt allowed to get one until 16. (Also please do add your takes id like to understand more about what yall think)
My problem with girl math is not with the trend itself. It's with what we call it. Because men have done "girl math" since the dawn of time and I understand that anyone can do "girl math", but *notice* how as soon as a girl explains it out everyone calls her irrational and emotional. Like before "girl math" was a term, women were regularly put down for having the Same spending habits that men have or doing math in the same way some men do. So in my opinion calling it "girl math" reinforces that double standard. In my opinion the term still reinforces the stereotype that girls are "illogical" because of that history of there being a double standard between how women are treated for spending money verses how men are treated for spending money in the same way. And like the "math" we're doing isn't a bad way of thinking sure, but you Know that if a guy were to buy more clothes because he got shoes for a cheaper price no one would be putting him down or telling him it didn't make sense and no one would be calling it "girl math".
For a lot of these examples I'd not say 'it's free' per se, but rather I'd say 'it's already budgeted for'. It makes sense though. If you spent money then returned an item, you can definitely afford to spend that again, because it was affordable to spend it the first time. On some webstores I'll have a 'wishlist' saved of things I don't need yet but can add on to a purchase when I do need something specifically to reach free postage. Getting things on sale is definitely saving money, that's the point... (as long as it's stuff you want and not pointless stuff you later regret).
Makes sense. To me, if I would have hypothetically still been willing to spend 'x' amount of money on something at full price, then I consider myself as having saved money if I wind up paying a discounted price on that item instead, since I was going to get it anyway and therefore spend a certain amount of money toward that item anyway.
This seems to me like the modern version of couponing, which was generally a way for women-who did most of the grocery shopping back in the day (and still probably do)-to save money.
Or airline/rewards card "churning" -- people used to be super into spending enough on their credit cards to get cashback, don't know how big it is now.
@@JovanDacic You can only really do that if your mega rich now. That is probably why it stopped. Or they just stopped offering those benefits all together.
Everything you're describing was shown in a study to be how more financially privileged people spent money and ended up saving money in the long run vs people who cannot afford to buy two packs of on-sale toilet paper and end up spending more money in the long-run. It's not "girl math," it's capitalism exploiting extremely poor people & making light of that is just flaunting privilege in the faces of people who can't afford basic necessities.
YES THIS EXACTLY. I'm currently so fucking stressed about how I can even feed myself when there's one more week until I can go to the food bank again, but I guess I should just order takeout! How silly of me not to think about that!!
i think that's a bit of a stretch tbh- at the end of the day it's just people having fun sharing about this thing they've been doing and seeing that a lot of other people do that too and learning about each other's experiences. i completely agree that this is a thing that financially privileged people can afford to do, and capitalism sucks and we all need to acknowledge that while talking about girl math. but i don't think talking about this phenomenon is somehow flaunting privilege in the faces of people who can't afford basic necessities
As a poor person who used to survive on less than $900 per month, bull. I had no problem buying the cheaper, larger packs to save money. Because I pre bought them before I needed them and didn't wait until the end of the month when I didn't have any money left. I would also go shopping with my friends or family. Buy in bulk, split it up, pay for your fair share. For the first month, you may have to sacrifice some things, but you can build a cushion to be able to buy those sale items later. And get the rebates. I need deodorant, laundry soap, dish soap and tampons. If I buy all of them on the same receipt and spend $60, I will get a $15 rebate in a few weeks. Am I eating peanut butter sandwiches, salads, eggs, rice, beans, and pasta the whole week I spend that? Yes. Do I also have enough laundry soap, dish soap, etc to last 2-6 months? Also yes.
With the shipping thing, I think of it as more stuff per stuff. Like, if you just pay shipping you're paying like $10 for nothing when you could pay $10 for something and not pay shipping at all!
A lot of this is just psychological tricks that marketing uses to make you buy more. Buy one get one is only a good choice if you actually need two of the item. Yeah you're getting a better "deal" by getting two for the price of one, but did you actually need two? Or are you buying more than you originally intended because there's a sale?
To me, it's just wasting money on things you don't really want. Some people will buy stuff just because it's half price, but it's actually cheaper if you don't buy it. Maybe I'm just greedy
Best free money I ever got was I paid for two day shipping on an item I bought at like 11pm and I got an email saying it wouldn't get to me in two days and so they gave me the $10 I spent on shipping. Then I still received it in 1-2days anyway
The only thing I dont get is rounding down. I round up (especially if it's #.99??). That way, when it's rung up and it's a little less, then I didn't spend as much money as I expected >:3
The way I understand it, the only reason people seem to struggle to understand girl math is because they assume there's no implied meaning behind it. It just seems more practical from a language sense and less literal, since it doesn't assume the listener needs everything to be explicitly stated to understand.
@@eldritchbidoofBasically an inside joke of sorts, or code phrases that equate to a meaning, “free” doesn’t mean free it’s money back but the idea of money your getting “back”=“free” is dumb in a literal context but it’s not the exact implied meaning.
Girl math makes me feel that I grew up really poor - because that‘s not how money works when you‘re really poor and have to decide if you replace your jeans that just ripped or get food because you need to eat. If I’m saving 50% on a pair of jeans, then I can still afford half a week’s worth of food. Also, that is the exact reason why I hate sales people, because if I walked into a store wanting to buy two pairs of jeans, then I want to buy two pairs of jeans. Don‘t make me buy four just because one is “free” then. Again, that’s not how money works when you’re poor. The only thing I do get is the one where if an item was cheaper than expected, you can spend the amount that you “saved” because you were going to spend it anyway. And I feel like the free shipping stuff only works for stuff that doesn’t go off or that you were going to buy anyway - if you weren’t going to buy it anyway, you just spend 40 moneys that you otherwise wouldn’t have spent, at least not on that. Again, my head immediately goes to groceries, which you need to survive. Also, I enjoy cooking and I enjoy the food I cooked myself more than deliveries and take-aways, so that logic doesn’t track for me either. Okay, rant over. I just had to get it off my chest, because I’m a girl and I don’t get girl math but I wonder if that is because I grew up really poor, like 20 moneys for a week of groceries for two people poor, so idk 🤷🏼♀️
I'm the same. Cooking actually saves time. You spend it in the moment yeah, but if yoi cook for more then one meal you've saved time later. I have to do that with my disability. Cook when I have the spoons and freeze it, then when I have no very few spoons I havd food and didn't waste energy. Also the sale one: if I planned to spend $120 , but only spend $50, I didn't spend $120, I saved $70 and put it into my savings to not touch. That's why I havs a savings account dispite how little I make. I refuse to spend what I don't have to
Definitely agree with this take. It feels like girl math doesn't really take into account the frugal mindset of some people. It's economically insensitive. Just because we don't wanna spend money on a discount doesn't mean we're all miserly penny-pinchers, we could just save it for something more worthwhile. It's how reality works.
I do think the jeans thing would work if you brought a friend. Like if the sale was actually “buy 3 get 1 free” instead of “buy 1 get 1 hand off”. You buy 2 jeans for yourself and 2 for your friend and you both split the cost evenly, that way each of you got 2 for the cost if 1.5 which is saving money if you already budgeted for 2.
ngl, no matter if a new trend is actually harmful or just fun, I'm getting real tired of this useless gendering of behaviours and thought patterns that actually aren't related to gender at all
I got a whole side of my family whose rallying cry is "It was on sale!" Wanting to get more bang for one's buck isn't gendered, and neither is having some discretionary funds to play around with. Example: when someone pays with cash or a gift card they already know isn't going to affect whether their rent payment is gonna bounce. It's nice not having to worry, once in a while. Yay capitalist utopia!
The only thing I don’t like about some of these, like “saving more than you spent” etc is a marketing ploy used to target people who think exactly like that. A lot of stores/companies deliberately mark up items just to put them “on sale”.
My Boyfriend was the one that taught me (allegedly a girl) how to do girl math on groceries. And every time he goes alone to the supermarket he returns all proud and reads the recipe out loud like "Today I saved $40 in groceries!" I've always loved that ❤️
I absolutely get some of the logic here like- this is just budgeting and long term thinking but the language around it is just- very frustrating to me and that makes it difficult to comprehend? Like in the example of having $100 that you were going to spend on a single item but then find a cheaper alternative so you buy other things to compensate - that doesn't make the additional items 'free' that's just. reallocation. Calling it free just- doesn't make sense to me but I get the principle. I think the specific framing of it- as girl math and something that it's 'weird' if you don't get is just- overall kinda condescending and blocks the ability to teach very real financial skills.
One thing i understand men more on, is like, its not free if you bought it. If you already wanted to spend that money, yes its free. If you didnt plan to spend anything and only got it because it was on sale then you are losing money.
I like to consider the logistical impact of my economic decisions. Like if you save money by returning something, it still has to get picked up and transported which costs fuel emissions. Manufacturing products also comes with some emissions and material waste and such. You're profit maximizing, but profits isn't like the only thing to maximize on.
Think about it this way: if the prices are all just made up to be halved anyway, you are just playing into the marketing. A $3 thrifted shirt is different from a $13 marked down from $26 dress. Thrifting is amazing! 😂❤
I wouldn't call this girl math, more class math. If I budget $120 and I spend $50, I'm not spending the rest. The remember goes into saving. Money is only spend when ABSOLUTELY necessary. So if i go out to buy a thing, im ONLY buying that. Extra isn't needed and that savings is for keeps. I grew up very very poor, so if I can save and not spend, i will. The shipping thing however did make sense if it's an item you use alot and won't go bad quickly. Buying in bulk to save shipping cost is great, the other stuff no. If I cam spend $60 on a meal or cook myself I'm cooking because I cam make multiple meals for the same price. My time means little in the scale of continuing to exist (other meals = less time before starving=more time not dead or sick. So it's time earned not lost)
Okay girl math yes but ADHD math where you make one number 10 to make the addition easier is a math trick I do on a nearly daily basis and when I tell you I found out not everyone does that it was like. "... that's part of my adhd too???" Because it makes sense
Person: "What's 6 + 7?" Me: "Well, 7 is almost 10 just short by three. So give seven three so that it becomes 10. Now we have 10+6 which is 16, but we borrowed three and now have to give it back, so 16 - 3 which is 13." Person: "Why did you do all that extra work?" Me: "It makes it easier for me."
I thought most people do this. It’s how teachers tell you to add when you’re a kid just learning to add without counting on your fingers! Although it depends on the number for me. Like with 7+6 they’re only different by one so I’d start to count by 7’s or 6’s and change as needed (so “7,14 but minus 1 is 13” or “6,12 but plus 1 is 13”)
I don't think I agree with conspicuous consumption. I don't think it has much to do with status or other external forces. I'm more reminded of the description of how money flow creates value@@professorfoxtrot
Sometimes the “girl math” things are actually just normal things that everyone does but are usually surrounding products/purchases that are labeled as girly or feminine. A lot of these things are just a question of the concept of money flow vs total money. Like the majority of girl math examples I’ve seen are just small scale investing, “more bang for your buck,” or budgeting… like spending small increments over a longer period is more feasible for many as while their total yearly income may be able to afford the full cost of the purchase, the way people get paid for their work is often incrementally (ie pay day every 2 weeks or so). With the “free money in the Starbucks app” thing, it is just investing money for later use lol… Same with spending more money on nice things rather than buying the cheaper version because the more expensive product often is better quality so will last longer and therefore save you money in the long run as you avoid the cost of replacing or repairing the product. It’s so annoying that these actually reasonable money habits (for those with a decent amount of expendable income that is) are being made out as irresponsible or stupid because it has been associated with women. :/ This is all ignoring the fact that women are expected to constantly dress and look nice, which means investing money in clothing and makeup and grooming/hygiene, but then are immediately called stupid for spending money on such things and even the measures we take to make those payments more affordable or efficient… literally wtf 😩
20:39 I really need this girl to be so serious. Saying $6.99 = $6 is girl math is a lie, that's "I dont understand how rounding works" math. The rest of us know that $6.99 = $7.
There are some misconceptions in these points that need addressing: The value of cash remains regardless of its form, and withdrawing it doesn't mean it's already spent. Buying additional items just to qualify for free shipping leads to impulsive, unbudgeted expenses. Treating cash gifts as "free money" ignores the opportunity to save or invest it for the future. Buying in bulk can be cost-effective, but only if you'll utilize everything you've purchased. When returning items, you aren't "making money"; you're merely getting back what you previously spent. Pre-paying for experiences, like a Florida trip, doesn't make them free when the time comes to enjoy them; the cost has merely been postponed. For those who are genuinely budget-aware, recognizing and acknowledging the actual costs of purchases is crucial, rather than allowing oneself to be swayed by mental rationalizations. I might be a 41 year old boomer, but I wish I had better financial literacy when I was 23.
i'd WAY rather spend some extra money on other items to get free shipping, than spend money on a service i can easily get for free (shipping) and NOT get any more items
why would i spend the money on a service that i can get for free i'd rather spend a bit extra getting a couple extra items i would've bought later (or maybe something i WANT but wasn't in my budget if the shipping wasn't free)
Buying things you don't need is not saving money, that is called "spending money", which is the exact opposite. You've been convinced to give Amazon more money because you think you're getting a good deal.
Idk if Ulta is outside the U.S., but it's a cosmetic store. And for every dollar you spend you get a point. And those points add up to get you a certain dollar amount of your future purchases (if you decide to use your points) If I spend a lot of money at Ulta and let my points build only to then go a spree and only pay tax, I basically got some or all of my stuff for free.
girl, I'm going to be the villain here, because your statement about cash triggered me so much that I couldn't even watch the video, and I was thinking about it even though I tried to just forget about it, I couldn't. your words just stuck in my head. I don't think that this is called "girl math" I think that this is called "I'm privileged AF" because we are not far apart in terms of age, I'm 28 (even though I consider myself a millennial), and I could never imagine not realizing that cash, especially 100 bucks, isn't a real money, I grew up poor, so even a dollar matters to me, no matter if its cash or its on my bank account.not even telling about how much you can buy in my country for a 100 bucks, like my cat's operation was 200 bucks, and I was honestly struggling to find it.
As someone who works in retail, I hate shit like this. I watch people spend their food/rent money on ridiculously overpriced bags and jewellery they don't need and justify it by using BNPL apps. A lot of the people using this kind of logic are spending more than they can afford to spend and being tricked into it by clever marketing. While I understand being pressured to meet store targets, I think talking people into spending more is pretty exploitative (particularly when your wages are fixed and your high sales figures don't even benefit you, just the corporation), especially with the current cost of living crisis.
This is hysterical to me. I understand it both ways. One way, cash and prepaid are already spent in the budget, so unless that cash is literally planned for something, then it won't hit the budget. But for some people, everything goes on the budget, even if it's cash. The question is how do you look at your budget. The whole spending money and having people pay you back, makes sense. If I pay for everything, I assume no one will pay me back, because if they don't, doesn’t hurt my budget. So if they pay me back, yeah, that's a bonus because I don’t plan for it so it doesn’t hurt my budget. But a lot of this is thrift. Shopping sales, buying things before you need them so you get the free shipping... these are things my grandmother taught me that she learned from her mother over 100 years ago! This thinking isn't new! But this is usually how women run the household and have for generations, which is why men don't get it. This thinking doesn't work the same when you have to balance the business books, and 100+ years ago, that was all men, and how men taught men to manage their money. Women's traditional lore and traditions on running a home and spending are fantastic, and highly underrated!
@@professorfoxtrot Anything could be invested but I wouldn't consider enjoying your life instead of investing every penny the best way to live a life. This way let's people get around the guilt at having a good time and saving. Just let people be happy. The reason I also called a way of thinking about money is because this is obviously not budgeting/ a way to budget money for savings.
Some girl math I've been doing: 200€ for one concert is unreasonable but if I also buy a ticket for another concert that is 20€, then they're 220€ together which is the same as 110€ for each and 110€ for a concert ticket is perfectly reasonable.
Yeah no that girl in the car was not going to but that stuff anyway. It’s a fast fashion haul! She spent $34 for no reason! I agree with the girl math in groceries and toilet paper and things that you HAVE to buy anyway, and maybe even for jeans if you’re the kind of person who stays the same size for a long time. But I don’t believe that the “I saved $36” girl would have bought those things anyway.
We see a sale advertisement and that makes us want the thing, then our brains convince themselves that we wanted it all along and would have bought it anyway. But if we just walked into the store and the thing was there at full price we wouldn’t have even wanted it in the first place
I feel like the spending more for free shipping is extremely situational because like yes if it’s something you already needed/wanted in the future anyways it makes sense but to look afterwards doesn’t really make sense to me and sometimes the shipping cost is just cheaper then the additional thing.
I totally do “time is money” math for things that shorten the amount of time I need to do something or if I’m paying someone else to do a task I don’t want to do. For example, three hours of my work time costs XXX, if I’m driving somewhere and I decide to take a toll road that costs one hour of my work time-$15 for an hour that cuts my drive to 2.5 I have saved a good chunk of money and paying the toll is worth it. Also if I make X dollars an hour and I can pay someone X-15 for an hour of work then I’ve saved money because now I can focus on something else I need/want to do and still get the other task done
I understand none of this and it baffles me. I hate spending any money and will absolutely not spend MORE money to “save” money that’s not how that works at all for me. This makes no sense and I will never understand it. Spend however much money you want but personally I do not get it at all
I do get it in the cases when you know the other thing you buy is something you know you’ll need. But I don’t get it when you’re not sure you’ll ever use the additional thing
I seriously can't believe I am even writing this, but holy SHIT do you not hear your PRIVILEGE?? it's not cheaper to eat out when your food comes from the food bank. It's not saving money to buy clothes on sale when you can't pay rent. This is so gross and disappointing, really bummed out about this. My girlfriend and I were so put off by this one and we always look forward to seeing you, but I guess we're too poor to see the "empowerment" in capitalism right now.
Fr it’s just not something that “pays off” unless your doing well Financially and it’s still not paying off it’s just something you won’t notice because you don’t need that money because you make a lot as is that it’s not a big deal☠️
So for me, I round up before I spend it that way I have some left over at the end of the month to go towards random fun things, or to whatever I’m saving for Like Milk-3.99 is 5 Bread- 2.99 is 5 Eggs-3.99 is 5 Sugar-1.99 is 5 So I’ve spent $20 in my head, but when I’m at the register it’s $12.96 (no tax on food here) meaning I’ll have an extra $7 going to wherever I need it to
I totally got the lady buying the cheaper item and buying more. I do that every time I shop, I will buy a knock off just to buy more so I feel better about the purchase.
As a latin american , this is just how it works, but with things that you actually *need*, like food and stuff for the house, you have to get more for less and think long term
I get that you should be able to spend your money just because it makes you feel good, but most of these are simply corporate manipulation imo. Like you said you worked in sales, do you think the corporations do that because it lets their customers save money? I really wouldn't expect that from you. If a corporation is encouraging you to do something, you most likely are the one losing money, as the advantage they get must be coming from somewhere.
@@Tanasalla i normally like her perspective on things, but this one is so strange. i didn't even talk about the sexism of this whole. like this isn't the same thing as reclaiming pink and femininity and all that, this is literally saying "girls" (30 year old fucking adults) don't understand something as basic as how fucking numbers work.
I agree, that comment about the jeans sales felt weird. Though it depends on if you know you’ll use the additional thing/wear the additional jeans you want to buy. If you know you will, then great, but you shouldn’t buy something you don’t even know if you’ll ever use
No...that's NOT how it works. That money still came out of your bank account for the Starbucks card. It was just bough previously or loaded with money previously. It's not free because there was passed through a middle step. Girl math = no accountability.
People are reading too much into girl math, I think it’s just a fun and silly way for women to explain the thought process to a purchase they make, a lot of it something we all do and think of when purchasing things. Like I was confused on the cash concept until it was first explained and I immediately realized I do the same thing when I shop.
The basis of "if it doesn't leave my bank account it's free" and "cash isn't real money" is literally because of the financial capitalistic world we live in. You can't pay you bills or rent with cash/gift cards/store credit. If I have money that can be spent on other stuff but CANNOT be spent on bills/rent, then it's free money, spending money.
I personally think the only thing that makes sense is your example with the protein powder. Yes, if you will use it in the future it's a way to safe money. But most times girl math is just used as a justification for consumerism.
The funniest is when they don't understand when you literally get things free. Example. Jar of peanut butter is usually $2.99. This week it is on sale for $2.29 and is always a 100% Bogo. I buy 4 instead of 1. My husband cannot understand how that saves money, because I spent more than $2.99. And I am like, yes, but the next 3 weeks I will be spending $0. Also, girl math is literally just accounting. When I get a $20 addon or gift card to a Starbucks or Subway, I have already written down that I spent that $20. So, when I go and use that card to get a sandwich, I don't write down that I spent that money again, it has already been accounted for. Doing it any other way is bad accounting. Same with cash. That cash was either given to me or I already wrote down that I pulled out cash. I am not going to write it down again later on when I spend it. Same for returns. I already wrote down the initial purchase. If I immediately spend it or only get store credit, I am not going to write down the new thing I get with that money I had already accounted for previously. If it does get returned to the card or bank account, then I do write it back in and it becomes part of all my money again and is forgotten about.
If you have to do all these mental gymnastics whenever you buy something then you shouldn't buy it. If I need something I get it If I don't I don't. The best way to save money is to not spend it in the first place.
I think it all comes down to the perceived value of the money. There are fewer places to spend cash, and most of people's money is stored in their bank. The process of going to a bank to put the cash back into your bank is quite time-consuming and will cost money in public transport/petrol, so instead its easier to write that cash off and spend it rather then add it to the savings.
I'm personally on the fence about girl math so I'd like to see what boy math has to say about that! When it comes to spending habits, I want to make sure what I'm buying is worth the money. Every money I have is mine, including cash. I only kiss it goodbye when I actually spend it or donate. And if an article of clothing costs say, $13.99, then I'm gonna round it up to $14 because that just makes sense to me. Although one thing I do agree on is that it's better to spend a big amount of money on multiple items as opposed to one usually.
The only thing in girl math I don't do is saying 13.99 is 13, in my head it's 14... I would rather get money back, when calculating how much my entire purchase will be, then standing there and not afford it🙈 Probably a thing I learned from growing up on the poorer side🤷🏽♀
When it comes to that online free shipping, that's made so that you buy more, just to meet the required free shipping delivery. And you can either save money or get some thing for free with that but it depends grately. It's a case by case basis. Yes, if you routinely buy the same thing online over and over again but buying in bulk would be cheaper then yes, that's saving money. If you impulse buy 3 times the amount you were supposed to just to get free shipping which would have been only 5 dollars... then that's when you lose money. If you were 1 dollars away from free shipping, and the shipping would have been 10 dollars, then by buying something up to 10 dollars it's basically free. Because the money would have gotten into shipping anyways...but at the same time it is not free because by only spending 1 dollar you would have saved 9, but by buying the "free" thing you already spent the money so the only way to save money in that instance is buy something worth a dollar, not 10, because the 10 is an illusion.
If you go to thrift store and buy some thing and then you see something similar in another store for more money you have then saved that amount of money
what gets me is some of them are "buy in bulk and take advantage of sales" and some are like "here's how i can justify spending more" but you call it the same thing. but i am a boy so maybe its not FOR me
I'm a girl and I don't get it either. Buying I'm bulk isn't the same as "I spend 100, had a sale so I bought more stuff" those aren't the same. Also the "I spent 34 but saved 36". No, yoi spent 34, that's the end of it. You save if it goes back into your account. Also that "saved so much" is a corporation thing to make things seem cheaper then they are, you didn't save, that's a fake price customers are given to feel better. We learned this I'm marketing classes
Sales vary. Shops do price hike temporarily so they can offer "discounts", particularly during autumn&Dec. But using end of season clearance to save money the next year is logical.
@@aBombinaBubble there is a difference between end of season clearance and the reciet saying "you saved x amount" which is what the lady on the tick tock mentioned. But it was something you didn't need,even if you bought it on clearance you spent money, you didn't save, just spent
@@fallenking578 oh that comes into play too. Things you would have needed eventually anyway are fair, things you just want require further debate. Took over a year of not struggling financially to just let myself have the odd "want" item even on clearance though.
Im personally not a fan of the girl math trend. It reads as misogynistic to me but also like I'm not saying if you find it funny you're sexist or anything. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth
I get you. I can see your way of thinking. Can you help me with this little conundrum? The day our daughter was born, I bought my new-born a Children's Bond. I put a grand aside. This matured in time for her 21st. With the monies she received, my little girl was able to buy herself a damn-fine car, with cash left over. OK, so far, so good. Win, Win right? Wrong. As far as my daughter was concerned, I did not buy her a birthday present. She hates me for being mean. As far as she is concerned, whatever I spent on her before she turned 18 was my legal duty. Despite the fact that I invested the cost of a family holiday for her, with the sole intent of this becoming her 21st birthday present; I am evil and selfish. Is my daughter right, or wrong?
I do agree that paying for her basic needs and maybe getting her some toys, books, etc. before 18 was a responsibility you took on willingly when you had a child, but like she’s being so ungrateful. You literally saved enough money to get her a car?? That IS the bday present?? Sounds like she does not understand the significance of money and she’ll learn her lesson soon enough in the real world
Ive already adjusted my bank accout to the loss so its no longer relevant. Aka its basically free. I have a weekly budget when im on the next week thats a new set of money.
I'm a trans girl studying comuter science, and I'm sorry to inform you, that my head works differntly. For example I keep track of my cash, so my balance is my bank account + cash. And when someone gives me back money that they owe mw, it's not free money. I despretly need it for groceries and stuff. And takout is so so expensive. When money is tight I can eat 3 meals a day for 3 bugs. And when someone buys me pizza I think to myself "man, I could have had 3 days worth of food instead...". Okay, maybe I'm just poor xD
I've never not related to something girly that much in my whole life. I am actually a girl ?!? I think it's partially because I have a scientific / analytical brain and I tend to look for the bigger picture. It's so weird having such a different opinion to you on your video I feel bad. I mean don't get me wrong I understand the thought process in those. Just it's absolutely not how my brain works and some of it makes me a bit uncomfortable because of the underlying over-consumerism agenda. Like you said, it is a marketing tactic. So how many of those people are smart spending and how many are victims of capitalism tactics ? But I sure would never shame or belittle someone for using that kind of logic. To each their own and we know girls and women are already shamed enough for enjoying stuffs as it is ! It's just not for me I guess.
As she said, it’s not actually a gendered thing so you don’t have to feel bad about being anti-feminist or something for criticizing “girl math”. I think some of it makes sense but some of it is just falling for predatory marketing tactics. If you can get cheaper toilet paper by buying twice as much at once, go ahead. You’d have had to buy it anyway so that actually does save money. But you’re not saving any money by buying something on sale that you wouldn’t have bought at full price (even if you think you would have bought it anyway). I think sundress girl is in denial and wouldn’t have even wanted to buy that stuff at full price, and knockoff doc martens girl fully admitted to buying stuff she wasn’t planning to buy anyway. She was planning to buy one pair of boots, so she could have gone home with the boots AND some “free” money (since she budgeted to spend it that day but actually didn’t). I guess I get the idea of budgeting out ‘spending money’ and then spending it… but if you have some left over, why not put it back in the bank and have more of a cushion for later? Future you will probably get into trouble eventually and need all the extra money they can find.
I usually like your videos but this one made me really uncomfortable and triggered. I had to pause the video to catch my breath. I grew up poor (not having enough money to buy food poor) and I can say that a lot of points in this video are coming from a place of financial privilege. People from different economic backgrounds think and understand money differently: for people who are poor money is only spent once you finalise a purchase/transaction, money exists in the now and based on your immediate needs. Also, sometimes you don’t have the money but you have the time. Please see explanations below: 1/ Money withdrawn from account are not spent yet. You can choose not to spend it if you see that your account is too low and you still have a choice what to spend it on because it is still real money and you can still save some on buying sth essential or cheaper. Also in some cases, cash is the only money you get and have. 2/ Buy 3 get 1 for 50% off encourages consumerism and also assumes you have a need and the money to buy 4 pairs of jeans ( for your reference I grew up having only two at a time - dark and light) and it pushes you to overspend the money that you’re already short on. So instead of buying essentials you get stuff you don’t need to save 50% on what you didn’t plan to buy on the first place. So at the time my family and I’d perceive this as on overspending rather than saving because our way of looking at money is connected to survival and short-term planning connected to it and we could not afford thinking about spending in a longer term. And I can imagine that people with no stable income would have to this feeling to a much much stronger degree. 3/ Making groceries means you can cook more and bigger variety stretching these 150 dollars for much longer than 1 dinner. And also delivery isn’t always cheaper because sometimes you don’t have the money but you might have the time. So, sorry eating out is not possible for some people at all, so no, it’s not cheaper. Not everyone can afford “being lazy and having their food delivered.” It comes even to buying groceries - I grew up having to help my family garden so that we can save money on buying food later in the year. Yes it takes time, but time was what we had unlike money. Same went for fixing plumbing or knitting/sewing clothes. 4/ How much you saved doesn’t mean you didn’t spend money. Spending 34$ and saving 36$ still means you spent money. So unless you planned to spend 70$ I would not count it as pure saving. Yeah you bought it cheaper than you would but you still paid money. Again, if I have a limited budget, I might not be able to buy it even for 34$ 🤷♀️ not to say that you should not shop on sale but to highlight that the saving now might not be enough of a reason to buy. 5/ Paying for everyone and getting money back is not making money. I’m expecting to get it back, it’s in my budget, it will affect me if I don’t get. 6/ Spending money on holiday is still money, especially if your currency is weaker, and even if not there are fees etc. You can come home with more money on your account if you choose to. I guess my general point is the whole “I committed to spend it” and “the money not in the account isn’t my money” is mind boggling and is a great privilege to have. All money I have access too is real whether cash, savings account or sth because this is what I can rely on.” Like nothing is free if you’re power or financially struggling. So please when talking about money, consider other realities and know that the way we view money is not the same based on our socio-economic background and that the views that have been translated are incredibly privileged and somewhat classists.
I relate to your comment so so much I see it the same! Eating out just feels like a special occasion that we only do when it's multiple families involved. Otherwise we just cook everything at home. Because think about it, just how many things u can buy for food with 150 dollars! How many cans of beans or peas or stuff for soup. And then you have an almost entire week worth of soup! I love soup. And also, it bothered me when they gave the example of "I bought a pair of boots that was only 50 dollars instead of 150...so I spent 100 more dollars on something else and it felt like it was free...no! No.... You spent 50 dollars, you got 100 left...WHY ARE U WASTING IT ON IMPULSE BUY?? If you really wanna dedicate that money to clothes further then put it aside in a jar and name it "clothes money bonus" so that u can take money out of that jar only when you KNOW what you will be buying with them! And it's much more satisfying to go out with the plan on buying clothes and spending a certain sum and then coming home with the money you have left instead of coming home without the money and more useless items...
I have mixed feelings about the trend, but it's very interesting to talk about and analyze the pros and cons of different ways to view money and spend. I understood a lot of the girls' explanations, and I think the most financially helpful takeaway is to remember that marketing is ultimately for the bottom line of the company HOWEVER you can make it work for you too. Example: the "saved more than I spent" is dependent on your intentions going into the store. Did you need a few new items and were you intending to spend a certain amount of money of an outfit? Yay! You saved money by choosing those items vs what you COULD have spent on them. Did you wander in to look and just ended up buying some clothes you liked BECAUSE they were on sale? You spent 34 dollars.
the "saving more than you spent" thing i just can't get behind, like yes the savings are greater than the total left _after_ the savings, but that total is with the savings already taken into account. anyway my girl math is that where i live you can return drink bottles and cans to these machines in any grocery store to get a refund for 10-40 cents depending on what kind of bottle it is. and that's free money even though when i bought the drink that included the sum that i'm being paid back now. i already budgeted around not having that money. but now i do have that money. so it's free
It works in general, yes, but as a person who LOOOVES thrift and second hand stores, I always think "well you could've gotten the same stuff for cheaper and without contributing to consumerism and bad ecology Like, yeah if I buy food with a discount yes absolutely girl math forever, but with clothes, not so much
It makes sense to me now but when I was being paid in cash a few years ago, girl, no girl math would relieve my constant state of financial anxiety hahahah
This made me literally cry with frustration lol. I was raised to be really financially responsible and this all just seems like a really irresponsible way of looking at your money.
my personal favourite example of girl math is when i went into hmv last week and bought three taylor swift cds. two were 6.99 and the other was 9.99 which is basically £7 and £10 right?? which means it was £24 but when i went to pay bcs it was actually 1p off 7/10 it was £23.97 so i actually just saved 3p
Sorry, but I'm "boring" with my money. Your attitude is just not how my brain works- I would feel so guilty spending money like that 😭 I don't see a problem with seeing money differently as long as you're responsible with it, but I'm conscious of everything I spend. If I don't need something in bulk at the moment, then I'm not buying more than I need. How do I know I won't find it cheaper once I need more? Nothing is free unless it's given to me. I feel bad spending money on things I don't KNOW I'll use, or something I could've gotten cheaper.
I study logistics and your example with buying more protein powder because you’ll need it later is basically the formula we learned last year. The difference is that since you already have space for it weather you buy it or not, the storage cost don’t change. They teach this at my university
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I think what a lot of people aren't getting is that when we say "it's free," what we mean is "I can enjoy this without thinking about my budget, because it doesn't currently impact my budget."
Calling it "free" is just a playful way to frame it that helps us relax and enjoy.
Cash is free money because it's been taken out of the budget as petty cash. It is no longer part of the general fund that is being tracked to make sure that bills and groceries are covered.
When you pay for lunch for your friends, you first make sure that you can handle the whole charge on your account, even if your friends decide to be flaky. So you've determined that your budget can withstand the charge. When they reimburse you, you don't have to add that money back into your general fund, because you already know that fund is stable. It's "free money" in that it's available for you to enjoy without re-examining your budget first.
Amazing clarification! Thank you very much!
Thank you for your wonderful explanation! Definitely helped me to understand this mindset.
I honestly never see cash likr that. Cash is money that could be savings, so it's to be rationed and what's not used becomes saving that goes right into the account. Having it physically makes me more conscious of it amd stops Mr from spending becomes I can see if directly
This! I feel like this is the part that people miss when they explain girl math. Girl math is about getting the most out of your funds that are allocated for fun spending.
EXACTLY. Like the girl math thing is a colloquial and simplified version of a discussion on weighing up consumer freedom against the capitalist system, it's a way we communicate about how we find joys in surviving under this system. As long as the girl math thing isn't being used to justify genuinely irresponsible and harmful spending or ignorance to trying to understand exactly why we have all these promo offers and free shipping etc that goes into it, I'm fine with it.
It's like a new branch on the "no ethical consumption under capitalism" phrase. We use it to justify the fact that people besides the rich deserve nice things and to heal sometimes genuine trauma in fearing costs, but we don't use it to justify helping Shein become more disgustingly massive.
As a guy, I’ve spent my entire life not knowing that I was doing girl math. I’m basically a girl mathematician at this point
That is to say, you're incapable of math.
Hell yea! Girl math is for everyone hehe 😂
@@sageXwolfegirl man is for people who can't do math
@@professorfoxtrot Sounds like someone who doesn't understand what girl math is. I'm sure you'll get it eventually, if you keep trying to learn and doing your best!
@@professorfoxtrot Literally ignoring the point of this video
I'm pretty sure corporate accounting is just girl math with bigger numbers.
you're honestly so right. the amount of girl math i do for business spending and explaining to my accountants 😭
As an accountant for non-profits, I can confirm.
As an accountant for a small company, this idea pains me in my soul.
Yeah, prepaid expenses
Yeah, my first thought was similar. This is literally how all international trade works, (also all economics I think?), Every country needs to replace the Office Trade Secretary/Minister wirh 'The Office of the "Girl Mathematician."
We used to pay our rent in person in cash three months at a time (because we don't trust the mail). Once we misplaced the rent. That was a pain to build back up to paying multiple months at once, but a couple of years later when we were moving out, we found the lost rent! Free money! A friend of mine was like "It's not really free..." But nope, it's free. Found money is fun money.
@@gotmilkbuttbut still free:)
Yup. That's exactly how it works.
@@gotmilkbuttya but if they hadn't found it it would still be lost. They already had to make up for it and didn't plan on getting it back, therefore free.
you call it fun money too??? I'm very financially responsible (according to most of my older family members) and when I had just moved out, sometimes they would get concerned that I didn't spend money on fun things at all. This resulted in many birthdays where someone would hand me maybe like, 500DKK (I think just under $100 if you convert) and tell me that those were strictly "fun money" because they knew I would've put them in savings otherwise😹
@@pancakelord83aww❤😂
I have never been financially stable enough for girl math to make sense. The only exception would be the grocery store math, though that only really works when you are buying non perishables. For girl math to work, you need to have a certain level of financial security.
Not at all, I’m broke af going from paycheck to paycheck, and this is still how my brain works.
It made zero sense for me when I was paid in cash every week 😅
Yesss absolutely
@@zbcrazy ok but e.g. with the jeans, as much as I’d love to buy 4 pairs, and I know it’d mean one was free, there’s a high chance I could only afford one at that time, so not even get another half-price. Like it doesn’t apply in every situation but it defs does. If you’re living Paycheck to Paycheck, what about the holidays? You can understand it but still not be able to afford it
Exactly. Especially the "it's 6.99 so it's 6". I wish I had the ability to think like that instead of looking at thing's priced per kg and always worrying about not spending money so that I can keep my rainy day fund at an acceptable level because it seems like financial monsoon season comes around way too often.
“Money is for consuming!” You heard her here folks, *eat the damn paper*
i BURST OUT laughing when i read this
@@fleuriannn glad I was of help
So this is what they mean by eat the rich.
*E A T M E T A L C O I N S*
Money machine goes "buuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrr".
Loved your takes, only one I can't get behind; I wish the economy were good enough here that I could consider eating out cheaper than cooking food. As far as my girl math is concerned, kitchen food is free. I already committed to the purchase of that food, I have $20 in my bank account to feed me and my boyfriend. Cooking is free. Period.
Yessss mood
Cooking is free in money but not in time or energy. Depends on the person
Yes, cooking is free because it’s down time. Like, if I did get delivery and saved the time I would have spent cooking, I wouldn’t have used that time on anything I could actually get paid for. Especially at the end of the day, my brain is fried, I’m not going to use that time productively anyway so I might as well cook.
You are correct. Its the only thing that matters
I can understand the reasoning behind giving yourself a reason to not feel guilty about spending money. After all we all need to be able to enjoy ourselves to get by in this world.
But the reason I can't personally do it is that if I thought about my money this way, I would end up spending way more of it than I already do.
omg same. Me and my ADHD impulsive overspending + girl math... *shouldn't* be together😂
Now that I learned what “girl maths” is, I’m definitely NOT doing that… I work at a restaurant, so I get paid partly in cash. If my cash money was “free money” then my savings would deplete way faster because I would spend my cash for stuff I don’t really need.
On that note, money I FIND because I forgot about it does feel like free money.
I love how it all made sense in my head and men made me feel silly about it but now that you went into detail and I got why it made sense to me I just think men are silly. I love this. Women supporting women.
Men saw women joke around and have their little fun and decide to be misogynistic and try to tarnish it. They are spiteful
The idea of bulk purchasing has existed forever. "Girl math" is simply a means of acknowledging that women are unaware of this and can't do actual math.
@@professorfoxtrotwhy are you here? All of your comments on this person's videos have been you trying to start arguements just give it a break already
@@professorfoxtrot yeah, Maryam Mirzakhani? she could not do math the gal, no idea why she won a noble prize.
hah, women really can't do math aha ha. what? I'm an ignorant douchebag? well, I guess you're right.
@overlordfemto7523 booo terf booooo!!! Boooo tomatoes we don't want you here booooo!!! Happily engaged to my beautiful transgender wife while ur spending your life hating boooooo
As a girl who has been in banking for 6 years, this is all correct.
My husbands boy math is spending hundreds at vending machines at work while we have the exact same snacks in the house. Then having a shocked pikachu face when he has no money left. He couldve taken the snacks from the house but thats too much like hard work for him
Sounds like my ex. The large choc bars and energy drinks I got to stop this weren't good enough for him. We were broke with a newborn...
I could not have snacks in the house. They would be gone in one day
There is no "boy math," it's simply just called math. Your husband is doing girl math.
@@professorfoxtrot 🥱
@JhericFury it's fine, in our house we have toddler locks on the doors and they are also apparently husband proof too
My view on this might be kinda bleak but I feel like this is mostly just people falling victim to marketing and consumerism which obviously isn't inherently a bad thing because no one is immune to marketing and advertisement.
I also understand the need to justify spending money in one's own head, I myself have always felt kinda guilty when I spent money on something I wanted but did not need, but I also think that that can be a dangerous path to go down especially for people who might have or are susceptible to developing an addiction to spending money or buying new stuff
The only one of these I disagree with is the "savings" at somewhere like H&M. There weren't any savings. That's just marketing. The ticket price is the real price, they lie to you to make you think it's secretly more expensive. It isn't. Everything is somehow always "on sale".
Omg in Woolies and coles where there’s a “discount price” over an original price but you lift up the discount and the og was the exact same price 😭
it’s like a little scavenger hunt to find the Actual Price
I related to all of these! As a man, I suppose I subscribe to girl math! Its nice to have a name for this phenomenon. Still, it's really funny and nice to see everyone share their "girl math" experiences.
Girls can't do math.
I think its just poor math cuz I do the same but girl math makes it sound so much more fun😭
Maybe showing my age, but cash feels more real to me than just tapping my card. Totally agree on the buying more stuff for free shipping when I'm within around $30, especially if it's something you buy again. I also feel that when I cancel subscriptions, that money is now free money.
The whole "if I buy something over multiple transactions it counts less" is a demonstrable phenomenon, and is part of the reason afterpay is thriving. Just make sure you can actually make those repayments.
I think it is definitely an online banking phenomenon. Being able to see your bank balance whenever you want
I was wondering if it was as much an age/generation thing, too. Because I'm approaching 50 and cash is more real to me because I never used to pay using a debit/credit card until the last few years.
I agree that buying more to reach the free shipping limit makes sense to me, especially if it is a) something I use regularly so will need more again soon enough, or b) I am closer to the limit than the cost of the shipping, eg. Shipping is 4.99, it is free when you spend 50 and my current balance is 46. I actually would sooner spend 6 to take it up to 52 than pay that 4.99 shipping lol. I think for me it stops being worth it if there is when you get to being the same amount over as the shipping would have cost (if you got something that makes your total 55 or over) OR if there is absolutely nothing else in the store that I need/could use and then it is just buying for the sake of not paying the shipping. But when I am buying clothes for example, I would usually add in some socks or something to make it to the limit. If they have something that can take me to spot on the free shipping amount, that's even better.
I also understand the idea of putting the money on a store card, like Starbucks as in the video, that money has then been spent and the coffee is free, but that is because I see loading that card up as making a purchase. Whereas withdrawing cash is not making a purchase, it is just changing the location from held in the bank balance to the held in my wallet balance. The only time cash is free (that I withdrew) is if I forget about it for a few months and rediscover it later. Like there has to be some time passing for the money to no longer count as part of my current balance.
It’s partly an age phenomenon but also family customs. I’m 24 and I prefer using cash instead of a card to pay because I can *physically see* money leaving my hands/ wallet.
Additionally, my dad is really distrustful of online banking, therefore when I grew up a trip to the bank meant retrieving cash and printing out bank statements. I don’t need the bank statements anymore (online is just faster) but I still regularly go to a bank to retrieve cash and pay with that. I usually use my card in situations where I pay more than ~50€ but for the smaller purchases I always carry cash with me.
I'm only 21 and I feel the same way about cash. I'm more conscious of my money when it's physically leaving my hands
Since most places take card now and that's usually how I pay for things, to me it does feel like I'm saving money when I use cash. Cash for me is kind of the same thing as using coupons to save money, it's not directly using "my money" from my account but I'm still able to buy the thing that I'm trying to buy.
My main issues with "girl math"
It centers around money.
I always hear the most middle class takes.
All of the "buy more save more" and "it makes more sense" is true
But also... its so entwined with capitalistic takes and it feels gross as fuck- not to mention the cultural aspect that tell women and girls that they are shoppers! We love going to the mall!
That is how girl math perpetuates those stereotypes.
Yes we can use it in other places but what videos do you see it the most in?
Groceries.
Makeup.
Clothes shopping.
Edit: the end of the video is also pretty sad at how common it is. It all feels... "older generations shamed us for spending money on anything so we had to teach ourselves finances" which is messed up in its own right and 100% did happen. Women are so much less likely to be taught economics or money management growing up. I had 2 older brothers and each of them had bank accounts by the age of 12 while i wasnt allowed to get one until 16.
(Also please do add your takes id like to understand more about what yall think)
Math is for men
Girl math is for girls
My problem with girl math is not with the trend itself. It's with what we call it. Because men have done "girl math" since the dawn of time and I understand that anyone can do "girl math", but *notice* how as soon as a girl explains it out everyone calls her irrational and emotional. Like before "girl math" was a term, women were regularly put down for having the Same spending habits that men have or doing math in the same way some men do. So in my opinion calling it "girl math" reinforces that double standard. In my opinion the term still reinforces the stereotype that girls are "illogical" because of that history of there being a double standard between how women are treated for spending money verses how men are treated for spending money in the same way. And like the "math" we're doing isn't a bad way of thinking sure, but you Know that if a guy were to buy more clothes because he got shoes for a cheaper price no one would be putting him down or telling him it didn't make sense and no one would be calling it "girl math".
I agree, I'm a girl and I don't fall for any of this stuff. This ain't "girl math" this is idiot math, and idiots are all genders!
For a lot of these examples I'd not say 'it's free' per se, but rather I'd say 'it's already budgeted for'. It makes sense though. If you spent money then returned an item, you can definitely afford to spend that again, because it was affordable to spend it the first time. On some webstores I'll have a 'wishlist' saved of things I don't need yet but can add on to a purchase when I do need something specifically to reach free postage. Getting things on sale is definitely saving money, that's the point... (as long as it's stuff you want and not pointless stuff you later regret).
Makes sense. To me, if I would have hypothetically still been willing to spend 'x' amount of money on something at full price, then I consider myself as having saved money if I wind up paying a discounted price on that item instead, since I was going to get it anyway and therefore spend a certain amount of money toward that item anyway.
This seems to me like the modern version of couponing, which was generally a way for women-who did most of the grocery shopping back in the day (and still probably do)-to save money.
Then they took a little off the top for their thriftiness and hard work ie free money😉
Or airline/rewards card "churning" -- people used to be super into spending enough on their credit cards to get cashback, don't know how big it is now.
@@JovanDacic You can only really do that if your mega rich now. That is probably why it stopped.
Or they just stopped offering those benefits all together.
Everything you're describing was shown in a study to be how more financially privileged people spent money and ended up saving money in the long run vs people who cannot afford to buy two packs of on-sale toilet paper and end up spending more money in the long-run. It's not "girl math," it's capitalism exploiting extremely poor people & making light of that is just flaunting privilege in the faces of people who can't afford basic necessities.
YES THIS EXACTLY. I'm currently so fucking stressed about how I can even feed myself when there's one more week until I can go to the food bank again, but I guess I should just order takeout! How silly of me not to think about that!!
i think that's a bit of a stretch tbh- at the end of the day it's just people having fun sharing about this thing they've been doing and seeing that a lot of other people do that too and learning about each other's experiences. i completely agree that this is a thing that financially privileged people can afford to do, and capitalism sucks and we all need to acknowledge that while talking about girl math. but i don't think talking about this phenomenon is somehow flaunting privilege in the faces of people who can't afford basic necessities
Thanks, "girl math" is just annoying.
@@rachelpicard9024 Hihi thats how it work giiiirl, silly men dont understand thaaaat.
As a poor person who used to survive on less than $900 per month, bull. I had no problem buying the cheaper, larger packs to save money. Because I pre bought them before I needed them and didn't wait until the end of the month when I didn't have any money left. I would also go shopping with my friends or family. Buy in bulk, split it up, pay for your fair share. For the first month, you may have to sacrifice some things, but you can build a cushion to be able to buy those sale items later. And get the rebates. I need deodorant, laundry soap, dish soap and tampons. If I buy all of them on the same receipt and spend $60, I will get a $15 rebate in a few weeks. Am I eating peanut butter sandwiches, salads, eggs, rice, beans, and pasta the whole week I spend that? Yes. Do I also have enough laundry soap, dish soap, etc to last 2-6 months? Also yes.
With the shipping thing, I think of it as more stuff per stuff. Like, if you just pay shipping you're paying like $10 for nothing when you could pay $10 for something and not pay shipping at all!
A lot of this is just psychological tricks that marketing uses to make you buy more. Buy one get one is only a good choice if you actually need two of the item. Yeah you're getting a better "deal" by getting two for the price of one, but did you actually need two? Or are you buying more than you originally intended because there's a sale?
Fr I don’t see this as a win unless you needed it if not then it’s lost of money
To me, it's just wasting money on things you don't really want. Some people will buy stuff just because it's half price, but it's actually cheaper if you don't buy it. Maybe I'm just greedy
Best free money I ever got was I paid for two day shipping on an item I bought at like 11pm and I got an email saying it wouldn't get to me in two days and so they gave me the $10 I spent on shipping. Then I still received it in 1-2days anyway
The only thing I dont get is rounding down. I round up (especially if it's #.99??). That way, when it's rung up and it's a little less, then I didn't spend as much money as I expected >:3
In shops, £6.99 is £7. In my bank account £67.56 is £60 for things I need now & £7.56 to put in savings.
The way I understand it, the only reason people seem to struggle to understand girl math is because they assume there's no implied meaning behind it. It just seems more practical from a language sense and less literal, since it doesn't assume the listener needs everything to be explicitly stated to understand.
I just love how women all around the world all did this without ever discussing it until now.
I read this 3 times and still don't understand what you mean lol
@@eldritchbidoofBasically an inside joke of sorts, or code phrases that equate to a meaning, “free” doesn’t mean free it’s money back but the idea of money your getting “back”=“free” is dumb in a literal context but it’s not the exact implied meaning.
I'll only do the shipping thing if the product cost is not more than the shipping cost.
Girl math makes me feel that I grew up really poor - because that‘s not how money works when you‘re really poor and have to decide if you replace your jeans that just ripped or get food because you need to eat. If I’m saving 50% on a pair of jeans, then I can still afford half a week’s worth of food. Also, that is the exact reason why I hate sales people, because if I walked into a store wanting to buy two pairs of jeans, then I want to buy two pairs of jeans. Don‘t make me buy four just because one is “free” then. Again, that’s not how money works when you’re poor. The only thing I do get is the one where if an item was cheaper than expected, you can spend the amount that you “saved” because you were going to spend it anyway. And I feel like the free shipping stuff only works for stuff that doesn’t go off or that you were going to buy anyway - if you weren’t going to buy it anyway, you just spend 40 moneys that you otherwise wouldn’t have spent, at least not on that. Again, my head immediately goes to groceries, which you need to survive. Also, I enjoy cooking and I enjoy the food I cooked myself more than deliveries and take-aways, so that logic doesn’t track for me either.
Okay, rant over. I just had to get it off my chest, because I’m a girl and I don’t get girl math but I wonder if that is because I grew up really poor, like 20 moneys for a week of groceries for two people poor, so idk 🤷🏼♀️
I'm the same. Cooking actually saves time. You spend it in the moment yeah, but if yoi cook for more then one meal you've saved time later. I have to do that with my disability. Cook when I have the spoons and freeze it, then when I have no very few spoons I havd food and didn't waste energy. Also the sale one: if I planned to spend $120 , but only spend $50, I didn't spend $120, I saved $70 and put it into my savings to not touch. That's why I havs a savings account dispite how little I make. I refuse to spend what I don't have to
Definitely agree with this take. It feels like girl math doesn't really take into account the frugal mindset of some people. It's economically insensitive. Just because we don't wanna spend money on a discount doesn't mean we're all miserly penny-pinchers, we could just save it for something more worthwhile. It's how reality works.
I do think the jeans thing would work if you brought a friend. Like if the sale was actually “buy 3 get 1 free” instead of “buy 1 get 1 hand off”. You buy 2 jeans for yourself and 2 for your friend and you both split the cost evenly, that way each of you got 2 for the cost if 1.5 which is saving money if you already budgeted for 2.
*half, not hand!
ngl, no matter if a new trend is actually harmful or just fun, I'm getting real tired of this useless gendering of behaviours and thought patterns that actually aren't related to gender at all
Exactly!!
Yeah it dose get very annoying
As a girl, I think this girltrend is girlstupid.
I got a whole side of my family whose rallying cry is "It was on sale!" Wanting to get more bang for one's buck isn't gendered, and neither is having some discretionary funds to play around with. Example: when someone pays with cash or a gift card they already know isn't going to affect whether their rent payment is gonna bounce. It's nice not having to worry, once in a while. Yay capitalist utopia!
let's just abolish gender while we're at it right?
The only thing I don’t like about some of these, like “saving more than you spent” etc is a marketing ploy used to target people who think exactly like that. A lot of stores/companies deliberately mark up items just to put them “on sale”.
THANK YOU! THIS
My Boyfriend was the one that taught me (allegedly a girl) how to do girl math on groceries. And every time he goes alone to the supermarket he returns all proud and reads the recipe out loud like "Today I saved $40 in groceries!" I've always loved that ❤️
That’s so cute what
I wanna use allegedly a girl for some reason
@@Chib_Lee I mean, I identify as a girl most days, but sometimes I'm not feeling it, you know? 😂😂😂
I absolutely get some of the logic here like- this is just budgeting and long term thinking but the language around it is just- very frustrating to me and that makes it difficult to comprehend? Like in the example of having $100 that you were going to spend on a single item but then find a cheaper alternative so you buy other things to compensate - that doesn't make the additional items 'free' that's just. reallocation. Calling it free just- doesn't make sense to me but I get the principle.
I think the specific framing of it- as girl math and something that it's 'weird' if you don't get is just- overall kinda condescending and blocks the ability to teach very real financial skills.
One thing i understand men more on, is like, its not free if you bought it. If you already wanted to spend that money, yes its free. If you didnt plan to spend anything and only got it because it was on sale then you are losing money.
I like to consider the logistical impact of my economic decisions. Like if you save money by returning something, it still has to get picked up and transported which costs fuel emissions.
Manufacturing products also comes with some emissions and material waste and such. You're profit maximizing, but profits isn't like the only thing to maximize on.
Think about it this way: if the prices are all just made up to be halved anyway, you are just playing into the marketing.
A $3 thrifted shirt is different from a $13 marked down from $26 dress. Thrifting is amazing! 😂❤
My thoughts exactly! I don't girlmath in department stores but when I go to estate sales and thrift stores, I girlmath to high heavens! 😂
I wouldn't call this girl math, more class math. If I budget $120 and I spend $50, I'm not spending the rest. The remember goes into saving. Money is only spend when ABSOLUTELY necessary. So if i go out to buy a thing, im ONLY buying that. Extra isn't needed and that savings is for keeps. I grew up very very poor, so if I can save and not spend, i will. The shipping thing however did make sense if it's an item you use alot and won't go bad quickly. Buying in bulk to save shipping cost is great, the other stuff no. If I cam spend $60 on a meal or cook myself I'm cooking because I cam make multiple meals for the same price. My time means little in the scale of continuing to exist (other meals = less time before starving=more time not dead or sick. So it's time earned not lost)
Okay girl math yes but ADHD math where you make one number 10 to make the addition easier is a math trick I do on a nearly daily basis and when I tell you I found out not everyone does that it was like. "... that's part of my adhd too???" Because it makes sense
Person: "What's 6 + 7?"
Me: "Well, 7 is almost 10 just short by three. So give seven three so that it becomes 10. Now we have 10+6 which is 16, but we borrowed three and now have to give it back, so 16 - 3 which is 13."
Person: "Why did you do all that extra work?"
Me: "It makes it easier for me."
I thought most people do this. It’s how teachers tell you to add when you’re a kid just learning to add without counting on your fingers!
Although it depends on the number for me. Like with 7+6 they’re only different by one so I’d start to count by 7’s or 6’s and change as needed (so “7,14 but minus 1 is 13” or “6,12 but plus 1 is 13”)
Really? I usually do up to 10 and then add the rest, like 9+7=(9+1)+6=10+6=16.
Can confirm.
it is always really helpful to split the numbers up into smaller more familiar parts and then put it all together at the end
most "girl math" sounds suspiciously like complex economic theory and capital market growth
It's literally just bulk purchasing and conspicuous consumption.
I don't think I agree with conspicuous consumption. I don't think it has much to do with status or other external forces. I'm more reminded of the description of how money flow creates value@@professorfoxtrot
Sometimes the “girl math” things are actually just normal things that everyone does but are usually surrounding products/purchases that are labeled as girly or feminine. A lot of these things are just a question of the concept of money flow vs total money. Like the majority of girl math examples I’ve seen are just small scale investing, “more bang for your buck,” or budgeting… like spending small increments over a longer period is more feasible for many as while their total yearly income may be able to afford the full cost of the purchase, the way people get paid for their work is often incrementally (ie pay day every 2 weeks or so). With the “free money in the Starbucks app” thing, it is just investing money for later use lol… Same with spending more money on nice things rather than buying the cheaper version because the more expensive product often is better quality so will last longer and therefore save you money in the long run as you avoid the cost of replacing or repairing the product. It’s so annoying that these actually reasonable money habits (for those with a decent amount of expendable income that is) are being made out as irresponsible or stupid because it has been associated with women. :/ This is all ignoring the fact that women are expected to constantly dress and look nice, which means investing money in clothing and makeup and grooming/hygiene, but then are immediately called stupid for spending money on such things and even the measures we take to make those payments more affordable or efficient… literally wtf 😩
20:39 I really need this girl to be so serious. Saying $6.99 = $6 is girl math is a lie, that's "I dont understand how rounding works" math. The rest of us know that $6.99 = $7.
Yeah, that rubbed me the wrong way too. It's better to round up.
also tax
There are some misconceptions in these points that need addressing:
The value of cash remains regardless of its form, and withdrawing it doesn't mean it's already spent.
Buying additional items just to qualify for free shipping leads to impulsive, unbudgeted expenses.
Treating cash gifts as "free money" ignores the opportunity to save or invest it for the future.
Buying in bulk can be cost-effective, but only if you'll utilize everything you've purchased.
When returning items, you aren't "making money"; you're merely getting back what you previously spent.
Pre-paying for experiences, like a Florida trip, doesn't make them free when the time comes to enjoy them; the cost has merely been postponed.
For those who are genuinely budget-aware, recognizing and acknowledging the actual costs of purchases is crucial, rather than allowing oneself to be swayed by mental rationalizations. I might be a 41 year old boomer, but I wish I had better financial literacy when I was 23.
Yea honestly most of this is just trying to remove your guilt from consumerism to me
i'd WAY rather spend some extra money on other items to get free shipping, than spend money on a service i can easily get for free (shipping) and NOT get any more items
why would i spend the money on a service that i can get for free
i'd rather spend a bit extra getting a couple extra items i would've bought later (or maybe something i WANT but wasn't in my budget if the shipping wasn't free)
Buying things you don't need is not saving money, that is called "spending money", which is the exact opposite. You've been convinced to give Amazon more money because you think you're getting a good deal.
i love your top so much-
girl math is the only math that should be taught in schools
This is how China will take over the US
Idk if Ulta is outside the U.S., but it's a cosmetic store. And for every dollar you spend you get a point. And those points add up to get you a certain dollar amount of your future purchases (if you decide to use your points)
If I spend a lot of money at Ulta and let my points build only to then go a spree and only pay tax, I basically got some or all of my stuff for free.
Queer Kiwi is never late, nor is she early. She always talks about subjects precicely when she means to
-Gandalf, definitely
She's late and slow
girl, I'm going to be the villain here, because your statement about cash triggered me so much that I couldn't even watch the video, and I was thinking about it even though I tried to just forget about it, I couldn't. your words just stuck in my head. I don't think that this is called "girl math" I think that this is called "I'm privileged AF" because we are not far apart in terms of age, I'm 28 (even though I consider myself a millennial), and I could never imagine not realizing that cash, especially 100 bucks, isn't a real money, I grew up poor, so even a dollar matters to me, no matter if its cash or its on my bank account.not even telling about how much you can buy in my country for a 100 bucks, like my cat's operation was 200 bucks, and I was honestly struggling to find it.
As someone who works in retail, I hate shit like this. I watch people spend their food/rent money on ridiculously overpriced bags and jewellery they don't need and justify it by using BNPL apps. A lot of the people using this kind of logic are spending more than they can afford to spend and being tricked into it by clever marketing. While I understand being pressured to meet store targets, I think talking people into spending more is pretty exploitative (particularly when your wages are fixed and your high sales figures don't even benefit you, just the corporation), especially with the current cost of living crisis.
This is hysterical to me. I understand it both ways. One way, cash and prepaid are already spent in the budget, so unless that cash is literally planned for something, then it won't hit the budget. But for some people, everything goes on the budget, even if it's cash. The question is how do you look at your budget.
The whole spending money and having people pay you back, makes sense. If I pay for everything, I assume no one will pay me back, because if they don't, doesn’t hurt my budget. So if they pay me back, yeah, that's a bonus because I don’t plan for it so it doesn’t hurt my budget.
But a lot of this is thrift. Shopping sales, buying things before you need them so you get the free shipping... these are things my grandmother taught me that she learned from her mother over 100 years ago! This thinking isn't new! But this is usually how women run the household and have for generations, which is why men don't get it. This thinking doesn't work the same when you have to balance the business books, and 100+ years ago, that was all men, and how men taught men to manage their money.
Women's traditional lore and traditions on running a home and spending are fantastic, and highly underrated!
Girl math is the smartest math I know
It's not math
spitting facts bestie (i love your username, frog gang ftw)
@@professorfoxtrot It's not really math it's more of a budgeting system. way of thinking about money
@@Best_BlakeIts not a budgeting system. Is a misuse of money that could have been invested.
@@professorfoxtrot Anything could be invested but I wouldn't consider enjoying your life instead of investing every penny the best way to live a life. This way let's people get around the guilt at having a good time and saving. Just let people be happy. The reason I also called a way of thinking about money is because this is obviously not budgeting/ a way to budget money for savings.
Some girl math I've been doing: 200€ for one concert is unreasonable but if I also buy a ticket for another concert that is 20€, then they're 220€ together which is the same as 110€ for each and 110€ for a concert ticket is perfectly reasonable.
Just get a job. Problem solved.
@@professorfoxtrot what made you assume I don't have one...?
@@IKnowYouKnowLeeKnow Because you're a woman, and women don't work. 😄
girl math can be logical sometimes
Edit: Wow, people are triggered
When? Because spending more money to save a little money isn't logical.
@bjarkiengelsson ur such an L
@@ikaart6247 Nice self like. What are you, five? No wonder you think girlmath works. Grow up
@@bjarkiengelssonwrong, that's not what it is
@@yababyfava00 Then what is it, genius? The real world doesn't work like that. The real world doesn't care how you spin it. It isn't good math.
Yeah no that girl in the car was not going to but that stuff anyway. It’s a fast fashion haul! She spent $34 for no reason! I agree with the girl math in groceries and toilet paper and things that you HAVE to buy anyway, and maybe even for jeans if you’re the kind of person who stays the same size for a long time. But I don’t believe that the “I saved $36” girl would have bought those things anyway.
We see a sale advertisement and that makes us want the thing, then our brains convince themselves that we wanted it all along and would have bought it anyway. But if we just walked into the store and the thing was there at full price we wouldn’t have even wanted it in the first place
The three girls in the car around 25:00 were so ON POINT
I want to be in that car with them because the vibes are IMMACULATE
I think the interesting thing about girl math is now it’s really about the psychology of spending money
my autistic self doesnt get this but im so intrigued and i think this way of thinking explains my moms spending habits
I feel like the spending more for free shipping is extremely situational because like yes if it’s something you already needed/wanted in the future anyways it makes sense but to look afterwards doesn’t really make sense to me and sometimes the shipping cost is just cheaper then the additional thing.
I totally do “time is money” math for things that shorten the amount of time I need to do something or if I’m paying someone else to do a task I don’t want to do. For example, three hours of my work time costs XXX, if I’m driving somewhere and I decide to take a toll road that costs one hour of my work time-$15 for an hour that cuts my drive to 2.5 I have saved a good chunk of money and paying the toll is worth it. Also if I make X dollars an hour and I can pay someone X-15 for an hour of work then I’ve saved money because now I can focus on something else I need/want to do and still get the other task done
I understand none of this and it baffles me. I hate spending any money and will absolutely not spend MORE money to “save” money that’s not how that works at all for me. This makes no sense and I will never understand it. Spend however much money you want but personally I do not get it at all
Same I believe if you can avoid paying for something do it savings and planning out pays off big time
I do get it in the cases when you know the other thing you buy is something you know you’ll need. But I don’t get it when you’re not sure you’ll ever use the additional thing
I seriously can't believe I am even writing this, but holy SHIT do you not hear your PRIVILEGE?? it's not cheaper to eat out when your food comes from the food bank. It's not saving money to buy clothes on sale when you can't pay rent. This is so gross and disappointing, really bummed out about this. My girlfriend and I were so put off by this one and we always look forward to seeing you, but I guess we're too poor to see the "empowerment" in capitalism right now.
Fr it’s just not something that “pays off” unless your doing well Financially and it’s still not paying off it’s just something you won’t notice because you don’t need that money because you make a lot as is that it’s not a big deal☠️
So for me, I round up before I spend it that way I have some left over at the end of the month to go towards random fun things, or to whatever I’m saving for
Like
Milk-3.99 is 5
Bread- 2.99 is 5
Eggs-3.99 is 5
Sugar-1.99 is 5
So I’ve spent $20 in my head, but when I’m at the register it’s $12.96 (no tax on food here) meaning I’ll have an extra $7 going to wherever I need it to
I totally got the lady buying the cheaper item and buying more. I do that every time I shop, I will buy a knock off just to buy more so I feel better about the purchase.
As a latin american , this is just how it works, but with things that you actually *need*, like food and stuff for the house, you have to get more for less and think long term
I get that you should be able to spend your money just because it makes you feel good, but most of these are simply corporate manipulation imo. Like you said you worked in sales, do you think the corporations do that because it lets their customers save money? I really wouldn't expect that from you. If a corporation is encouraging you to do something, you most likely are the one losing money, as the advantage they get must be coming from somewhere.
yes, thank you. i feel so frustrated after watching this video D:
@@Tanasalla i normally like her perspective on things, but this one is so strange. i didn't even talk about the sexism of this whole. like this isn't the same thing as reclaiming pink and femininity and all that, this is literally saying "girls" (30 year old fucking adults) don't understand something as basic as how fucking numbers work.
I agree, that comment about the jeans sales felt weird. Though it depends on if you know you’ll use the additional thing/wear the additional jeans you want to buy. If you know you will, then great, but you shouldn’t buy something you don’t even know if you’ll ever use
No...that's NOT how it works. That money still came out of your bank account for the Starbucks card. It was just bough previously or loaded with money previously. It's not free because there was passed through a middle step. Girl math = no accountability.
People are reading too much into girl math, I think it’s just a fun and silly way for women to explain the thought process to a purchase they make, a lot of it something we all do and think of when purchasing things. Like I was confused on the cash concept until it was first explained and I immediately realized I do the same thing when I shop.
Please do not tie your bad financial choices to an entire gender, straight people will do anything except go to therapy.
The basis of "if it doesn't leave my bank account it's free" and "cash isn't real money" is literally because of the financial capitalistic world we live in. You can't pay you bills or rent with cash/gift cards/store credit. If I have money that can be spent on other stuff but CANNOT be spent on bills/rent, then it's free money, spending money.
I personally think the only thing that makes sense is your example with the protein powder. Yes, if you will use it in the future it's a way to safe money. But most times girl math is just used as a justification for consumerism.
Yeah it really depends on if you’ll use the additional thing or not
The funniest is when they don't understand when you literally get things free. Example. Jar of peanut butter is usually $2.99. This week it is on sale for $2.29 and is always a 100% Bogo. I buy 4 instead of 1. My husband cannot understand how that saves money, because I spent more than $2.99. And I am like, yes, but the next 3 weeks I will be spending $0.
Also, girl math is literally just accounting. When I get a $20 addon or gift card to a Starbucks or Subway, I have already written down that I spent that $20. So, when I go and use that card to get a sandwich, I don't write down that I spent that money again, it has already been accounted for. Doing it any other way is bad accounting. Same with cash. That cash was either given to me or I already wrote down that I pulled out cash. I am not going to write it down again later on when I spend it.
Same for returns. I already wrote down the initial purchase. If I immediately spend it or only get store credit, I am not going to write down the new thing I get with that money I had already accounted for previously. If it does get returned to the card or bank account, then I do write it back in and it becomes part of all my money again and is forgotten about.
If you have to do all these mental gymnastics whenever you buy something then you shouldn't buy it. If I need something I get it If I don't I don't. The best way to save money is to not spend it in the first place.
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I think it all comes down to the perceived value of the money. There are fewer places to spend cash, and most of people's money is stored in their bank. The process of going to a bank to put the cash back into your bank is quite time-consuming and will cost money in public transport/petrol, so instead its easier to write that cash off and spend it rather then add it to the savings.
I'm personally on the fence about girl math so I'd like to see what boy math has to say about that! When it comes to spending habits, I want to make sure what I'm buying is worth the money. Every money I have is mine, including cash. I only kiss it goodbye when I actually spend it or donate. And if an article of clothing costs say, $13.99, then I'm gonna round it up to $14 because that just makes sense to me. Although one thing I do agree on is that it's better to spend a big amount of money on multiple items as opposed to one usually.
The only thing in girl math I don't do is saying 13.99 is 13, in my head it's 14... I would rather get money back, when calculating how much my entire purchase will be, then standing there and not afford it🙈 Probably a thing I learned from growing up on the poorer side🤷🏽♀
If you spend more for free shipping the extra item isn't free. The original item costs more.
My mom always said “cash doesn’t count” when she went shopping and paid in cash.
When it comes to that online free shipping, that's made so that you buy more, just to meet the required free shipping delivery. And you can either save money or get some thing for free with that but it depends grately. It's a case by case basis.
Yes, if you routinely buy the same thing online over and over again but buying in bulk would be cheaper then yes, that's saving money.
If you impulse buy 3 times the amount you were supposed to just to get free shipping which would have been only 5 dollars... then that's when you lose money.
If you were 1 dollars away from free shipping, and the shipping would have been 10 dollars, then by buying something up to 10 dollars it's basically free. Because the money would have gotten into shipping anyways...but at the same time it is not free because by only spending 1 dollar you would have saved 9, but by buying the "free" thing you already spent the money so the only way to save money in that instance is buy something worth a dollar, not 10, because the 10 is an illusion.
If you go to thrift store and buy some thing and then you see something similar in another store for more money you have then saved that amount of money
what gets me is some of them are "buy in bulk and take advantage of sales" and some are like "here's how i can justify spending more" but you call it the same thing. but i am a boy so maybe its not FOR me
I'm a girl and I don't get it either. Buying I'm bulk isn't the same as "I spend 100, had a sale so I bought more stuff" those aren't the same. Also the "I spent 34 but saved 36". No, yoi spent 34, that's the end of it. You save if it goes back into your account. Also that "saved so much" is a corporation thing to make things seem cheaper then they are, you didn't save, that's a fake price customers are given to feel better. We learned this I'm marketing classes
Sales vary. Shops do price hike temporarily so they can offer "discounts", particularly during autumn&Dec. But using end of season clearance to save money the next year is logical.
@@aBombinaBubble there is a difference between end of season clearance and the reciet saying "you saved x amount" which is what the lady on the tick tock mentioned. But it was something you didn't need,even if you bought it on clearance you spent money, you didn't save, just spent
@@fallenking578 oh that comes into play too. Things you would have needed eventually anyway are fair, things you just want require further debate. Took over a year of not struggling financially to just let myself have the odd "want" item even on clearance though.
Im personally not a fan of the girl math trend. It reads as misogynistic to me but also like I'm not saying if you find it funny you're sexist or anything. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth
I get you. I can see your way of thinking. Can you help me with this little conundrum? The day our daughter was born, I bought my new-born a Children's Bond. I put a grand aside. This matured in time for her 21st. With the monies she received, my little girl was able to buy herself a damn-fine car, with cash left over. OK, so far, so good. Win, Win right? Wrong. As far as my daughter was concerned, I did not buy her a birthday present. She hates me for being mean. As far as she is concerned, whatever I spent on her before she turned 18 was my legal duty. Despite the fact that I invested the cost of a family holiday for her, with the sole intent of this becoming her 21st birthday present; I am evil and selfish. Is my daughter right, or wrong?
I do agree that paying for her basic needs and maybe getting her some toys, books, etc. before 18 was a responsibility you took on willingly when you had a child, but like she’s being so ungrateful. You literally saved enough money to get her a car?? That IS the bday present?? Sounds like she does not understand the significance of money and she’ll learn her lesson soon enough in the real world
@@malithiweragama418 Thank you. Much appreciated.
Ive already adjusted my bank accout to the loss so its no longer relevant. Aka its basically free. I have a weekly budget when im on the next week thats a new set of money.
I'm a trans girl studying comuter science, and I'm sorry to inform you, that my head works differntly. For example I keep track of my cash, so my balance is my bank account + cash. And when someone gives me back money that they owe mw, it's not free money. I despretly need it for groceries and stuff. And takout is so so expensive. When money is tight I can eat 3 meals a day for 3 bugs. And when someone buys me pizza I think to myself "man, I could have had 3 days worth of food instead...".
Okay, maybe I'm just poor xD
I've never not related to something girly that much in my whole life. I am actually a girl ?!?
I think it's partially because I have a scientific / analytical brain and I tend to look for the bigger picture.
It's so weird having such a different opinion to you on your video I feel bad.
I mean don't get me wrong I understand the thought process in those. Just it's absolutely not how my brain works and some of it makes me a bit uncomfortable because of the underlying over-consumerism agenda.
Like you said, it is a marketing tactic. So how many of those people are smart spending and how many are victims of capitalism tactics ?
But I sure would never shame or belittle someone for using that kind of logic. To each their own and we know girls and women are already shamed enough for enjoying stuffs as it is !
It's just not for me I guess.
As she said, it’s not actually a gendered thing so you don’t have to feel bad about being anti-feminist or something for criticizing “girl math”. I think some of it makes sense but some of it is just falling for predatory marketing tactics. If you can get cheaper toilet paper by buying twice as much at once, go ahead. You’d have had to buy it anyway so that actually does save money. But you’re not saving any money by buying something on sale that you wouldn’t have bought at full price (even if you think you would have bought it anyway). I think sundress girl is in denial and wouldn’t have even wanted to buy that stuff at full price, and knockoff doc martens girl fully admitted to buying stuff she wasn’t planning to buy anyway. She was planning to buy one pair of boots, so she could have gone home with the boots AND some “free” money (since she budgeted to spend it that day but actually didn’t).
I guess I get the idea of budgeting out ‘spending money’ and then spending it… but if you have some left over, why not put it back in the bank and have more of a cushion for later? Future you will probably get into trouble eventually and need all the extra money they can find.
@@emmanarotzky6565Yeah I agree. You were better than me at articulating what irked me.
She saved 36 dollars, so it was like 55% off. Good sale!
I usually like your videos but this one made me really uncomfortable and triggered. I had to pause the video to catch my breath.
I grew up poor (not having enough money to buy food poor) and I can say that a lot of points in this video are coming from a place of financial privilege. People from different economic backgrounds think and understand money differently: for people who are poor money is only spent once you finalise a purchase/transaction, money exists in the now and based on your immediate needs. Also, sometimes you don’t have the money but you have the time. Please see explanations below:
1/ Money withdrawn from account are not spent yet. You can choose not to spend it if you see that your account is too low and you still have a choice what to spend it on because it is still real money and you can still save some on buying sth essential or cheaper. Also in some cases, cash is the only money you get and have.
2/ Buy 3 get 1 for 50% off encourages consumerism and also assumes you have a need and the money to buy 4 pairs of jeans ( for your reference I grew up having only two at a time - dark and light) and it pushes you to overspend the money that you’re already short on. So instead of buying essentials you get stuff you don’t need to save 50% on what you didn’t plan to buy on the first place. So at the time my family and I’d perceive this as on overspending rather than saving because our way of looking at money is connected to survival and short-term planning connected to it and we could not afford thinking about spending in a longer term. And I can imagine that people with no stable income would have to this feeling to a much much stronger degree.
3/ Making groceries means you can cook more and bigger variety stretching these 150 dollars for much longer than 1 dinner. And also delivery isn’t always cheaper because sometimes you don’t have the money but you might have the time. So, sorry eating out is not possible for some people at all, so no, it’s not cheaper. Not everyone can afford “being lazy and having their food delivered.” It comes even to buying groceries - I grew up having to help my family garden so that we can save money on buying food later in the year. Yes it takes time, but time was what we had unlike money. Same went for fixing plumbing or knitting/sewing clothes.
4/ How much you saved doesn’t mean you didn’t spend money. Spending 34$ and saving 36$ still means you spent money. So unless you planned to spend 70$ I would not count it as pure saving. Yeah you bought it cheaper than you would but you still paid money. Again, if I have a limited budget, I might not be able to buy it even for 34$ 🤷♀️ not to say that you should not shop on sale but to highlight that the saving now might not be enough of a reason to buy.
5/ Paying for everyone and getting money back is not making money. I’m expecting to get it back, it’s in my budget, it will affect me if I don’t get.
6/ Spending money on holiday is still money, especially if your currency is weaker, and even if not there are fees etc. You can come home with more money on your account if you choose to.
I guess my general point is the whole “I committed to spend it” and “the money not in the account isn’t my money” is mind boggling and is a great privilege to have. All money I have access too is real whether cash, savings account or sth because this is what I can rely on.” Like nothing is free if you’re power or financially struggling.
So please when talking about money, consider other realities and know that the way we view money is not the same based on our socio-economic background and that the views that have been translated are incredibly privileged and somewhat classists.
I relate to your comment so so much I see it the same! Eating out just feels like a special occasion that we only do when it's multiple families involved. Otherwise we just cook everything at home. Because think about it, just how many things u can buy for food with 150 dollars! How many cans of beans or peas or stuff for soup. And then you have an almost entire week worth of soup! I love soup.
And also, it bothered me when they gave the example of "I bought a pair of boots that was only 50 dollars instead of 150...so I spent 100 more dollars on something else and it felt like it was free...no! No.... You spent 50 dollars, you got 100 left...WHY ARE U WASTING IT ON IMPULSE BUY?? If you really wanna dedicate that money to clothes further then put it aside in a jar and name it "clothes money bonus" so that u can take money out of that jar only when you KNOW what you will be buying with them! And it's much more satisfying to go out with the plan on buying clothes and spending a certain sum and then coming home with the money you have left instead of coming home without the money and more useless items...
I have mixed feelings about the trend, but it's very interesting to talk about and analyze the pros and cons of different ways to view money and spend. I understood a lot of the girls' explanations, and I think the most financially helpful takeaway is to remember that marketing is ultimately for the bottom line of the company HOWEVER you can make it work for you too. Example: the "saved more than I spent" is dependent on your intentions going into the store. Did you need a few new items and were you intending to spend a certain amount of money of an outfit? Yay! You saved money by choosing those items vs what you COULD have spent on them. Did you wander in to look and just ended up buying some clothes you liked BECAUSE they were on sale? You spent 34 dollars.
the "saving more than you spent" thing i just can't get behind, like yes the savings are greater than the total left _after_ the savings, but that total is with the savings already taken into account.
anyway my girl math is that where i live you can return drink bottles and cans to these machines in any grocery store to get a refund for 10-40 cents depending on what kind of bottle it is. and that's free money even though when i bought the drink that included the sum that i'm being paid back now. i already budgeted around not having that money. but now i do have that money. so it's free
I go to the supermarket and i always look at the "$$ per oz" to make sure im spending as little as i can while getting the most i can
It works in general, yes, but as a person who LOOOVES thrift and second hand stores, I always think "well you could've gotten the same stuff for cheaper and without contributing to consumerism and bad ecology
Like, yeah if I buy food with a discount yes absolutely girl math forever, but with clothes, not so much
I bought 2 sims expansions for $50 with one being $20 and the other being $30. Theyre normally $50 each there for I made moneu off sims
I’m not a girl, but if someone cashapps me 30 dollars for buying them dinner, whatever I use that 30 dollars for is automatically free.
It makes sense to me now but when I was being paid in cash a few years ago, girl, no girl math would relieve my constant state of financial anxiety hahahah
Dude math: "crypto will make you RICH!!!"
YEEEEEE these guys out here saying girl math is bs but stocks ?? y’all play with that but think girl math isn’t valid ???? feral
Everyone knew crypto was a scam though. Only real dunces invested. And they still fork out money for prices that keep falling.
This made me literally cry with frustration lol. I was raised to be really financially responsible and this all just seems like a really irresponsible way of looking at your money.
girl math makes me feel better about needing to work to live and i think thats a good thing bc its not like i can do anything else
My god, I did NOT expect to get CALLED OUT in this video😭
What do you mean?
my personal favourite example of girl math is when i went into hmv last week and bought three taylor swift cds. two were 6.99 and the other was 9.99 which is basically £7 and £10 right?? which means it was £24 but when i went to pay bcs it was actually 1p off 7/10 it was £23.97 so i actually just saved 3p
Thier first mistake was buying anything Swifty puts out.
@@paulroggenbeck3129 reading this while listening to the debut cd i bought and i can confirm that it was not a mistake
Sorry, but I'm "boring" with my money. Your attitude is just not how my brain works- I would feel so guilty spending money like that 😭 I don't see a problem with seeing money differently as long as you're responsible with it, but I'm conscious of everything I spend. If I don't need something in bulk at the moment, then I'm not buying more than I need. How do I know I won't find it cheaper once I need more? Nothing is free unless it's given to me. I feel bad spending money on things I don't KNOW I'll use, or something I could've gotten cheaper.
Please make a video on boy math as well, I'm curious of your thoughts on the difference in the attitudes and intentions towards girl and boy math.
I study logistics and your example with buying more protein powder because you’ll need it later is basically the formula we learned last year. The difference is that since you already have space for it weather you buy it or not, the storage cost don’t change. They teach this at my university