Lifestyle

The girl math trend: cash is free money and returning clothes is profit

By Bo Geschiere | #!31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:002231#31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:00-3Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202331 17pm31pm-31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:003Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam2023312023Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200153158pmThursday=9#!31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam8#08-17-2023#!31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:002231#\/31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:00-3Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202331#!31Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:15:22 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam8#

$Kim Kardashian walks with dollar jacket and bag$

Mathematics has never been my best subject in school. But there is now a new kind of math that I personally have a bit less trouble with: girl math. ‘Girl math’ is currently a viral trend on TikTok that explains women's logic about money in detail. Personally, I find it hilarious. Because what has been shown? Many women have the same peculiar way of thinking financially. Cash is, in our eyes, ‘free money’, returning one item from a large order is a form of saving, and Botox is an investment in yourself for later. Although these purchases obviously cost money, it doesn't in the eyes of the woman.

Another example. TikToker Alyssa Davies from the @mixedupmoney account said the following: ‘When I get coffee with the Starbucks app, it's free. If my favorite clothing store has a sale, I have to buy something, otherwise I'm losing money. And if I wear a three-hundred-euro bag every day for a year, it actually cost me nothing.’

@mixedupmoney #girlmath ♬ original sound – Alyssa Davies

When I saw this while scrolling, a whole new world opened up for me. I can completely relate to this. There is no better feeling than when you return an order and suddenly see sixty euros appear in your account. The money was basically already gone, and now suddenly you get it back. Or when you buy a ticket for a concert that is a year away. Once you step into the venue, I always think to myself: this feels like a free concert. That one hundred fifty euros for a ticket has suddenly disappeared like snow in the sun.

But where does this logic actually come from? According to Tori Dunlap, author of the book Financial Feminist, there is a simple reason for that. Women are always told to spend money on ‘wise things’. This certainly does not include an iced latte from Starbucks every day, or forty euros on your nails every month. These expenses are supposedly not worth the money according to our society and therefore have no value. As a result, women feel the urge to justify every purchase they make to not feel guilty, in other words, girl math.

Meanwhile, the hashtag #girlmath has already been viewed 37.1 million times on TikTok and the reactions are hilarious. ‘I just justified a €1200 purchase to my boss through girl math and the office was speechless’, ‘Everything I buy for myself on my birthday doesn't count and feels free’ and: ‘I always thought I was the only one’. Yep, we all thought that.

Anyone need a math lesson aka girl math? I hereby make myself available.

Source: refinery29.com