The Unsung Benefits of Girl Math

My camera is on the fritz this morning, so I'm going to get a little philosophical instead of posting a WIW outfit today. :)

"Girl Math" is a term that is usually reserved to mock the spendy tendencies of a stereotypical woman. "50% off means I can buy twice as much!" or "This speeding ticked will cost me two pairs of boots!" or "Since I've returned $100 worth of stuff, I have $100 more to spend!" are the most common examples I've come across. I've mostly heard it used as a derisive term to suggest that females spend money unrealistically and can rationalize all sorts of expenditures, unbound by pesky things like budgets, value, or... you know... REAL math.

BUT. I've been thinking about this in light of some of our moves to Shop Your Closet status, in light of La Francaise's time here on the forum, and in light of some of our forum conversations about investment pieces/less being more/and closet space. When MaryK announced her SYC status, she said something that really stuck with me: that if she added up all the things she bought over the past year, she could have bought some things that she thought she couldn't afford - underneath it all, isn't THAT the core of Girl Math? And isn't it a good thing?

"50% off means I can buy twice as much!"
Instead of a greedy statement, this can be looked at as a value-driven statement. What's wrong with getting more for the same amount of money? Not that you need to get twice as much RIGHT NOW. But what if you kept track of all the things you waited to buy on sale instead of pouncing on at full price... and then rewarded yourself at the end of the year by getting something really nice with the money you saved? Wouldn't that inspire you to weigh cost a little more closely, strive to find the best deal you can, and truly evaluate how much you want and need each purchase?

"This speeding ticked will cost me two pairs of boots!"
You could say this is a materialistic way to think, but what's wrong with translating money into practical terms? I use this thought process a lot myself, thinking, "The cost of this top would get me 1/3 of the way to that jacket I want." Most of the time, the cheaper purchase doesn't seem worth it. I think this kind of equation helps me stay goal-oriented. Period.

"Since I've returned $100 worth of stuff, I have $100 more to spend!"
Now, I'm NOT advocating buying and returning a bunch of stuff you don't actually want and can't afford just to trick yourself into an irresponsible splurge. But I think this little mental trick is super useful in that it makes it okay to return things if you suddenly find that what you have isn't what you want most in the world. Like in the previous section, I see this type of thinking as goal-oriented thinking. It forces you to make a choice and give something up if you want to get something else.

Of course, this only works if the full-price item, or the object of your goal, or the amount of those items to return are within your budget. I am most definitely NOT an advocate of living above your means or in a fog of fiscal denial. However, I do think that Girl Math is a powerful tool to use in *conjunction* with a budget.

I feel like I've been doing this a lot lately and, really, it's prevented more purchases than it's enabled. I returned 3 pairs of BF jeans in favor of a much-needed and long-wanted photo print sundress. And I'm giving up my current meetup budget for a pair of elusive, classic, walkable, heeled engineer boots.

Maybe I've lost my mind and crossed over to the dark side. But I think I like Girl Math.

This post is also published in the youlookfab forum. You can read and reply to it in either place. All replies will appear in both places.

19 Comments

  • ManidipaM replied 11 years ago

    Ha, I'm all for 'girl math', even if the appellation irks me!

    My SO's been talking about replacing my broken iPod (which too was a gift from him), and we were comparing models today. He was just saying 'But there's so little difference in price between the 8GB and the 16GB, it obviously makes sense to get the bigger one!" (Which of course is precisely what marketers want you to think and want you to do.) My reply: "But that difference is enough to buy me a couple of tops or a pair of shoes too!"

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    Hehe, love that story, Manidipa. I haven't even filled up my 8 GB MP3 player yet... I mean, I love a lot of music, but somehow I just don't need to listen to it all on the go. I don't know what I'd do with 16 GB...

  • Transcona Shannon replied 11 years ago

    If I had taken Girl Math in school, I would have gotten MUCH better marks than in real math!

  • JulieJohn replied 11 years ago

    Rae, what a neat write-up! You have a great turn of phrase, and I was saying, "yep" and "uh-huh" to the computer as I read.

    I have always been instinctively good at girl math, and now I understand why. Maybe I'm ready to graduate to girl trigonometry or something!

  • replied 11 years ago

    Rae, my version of *girl math* is to save something, even if it is just a few dollars, on everything I buy.

    Maybe I am cheap, but I *generally* refuse to pay full price for anything these days. The reason is very simple. I became about sick and tired of seeing items I paid full price on, ending up on the sale racks a few weeks later. I do come up with a list of items I need or want and wait, in a very systematic way, for either a sale or a coupon code I can use. I also track inventories on particular items ( I know this is crazy, but I actually go and try to add to my shopping bag large quantities of that one item, until I get a message saying that my request exceeds inventory) and pounce to buy a full price if I see the item will be gone before going on sale. I also have very few of the pricier items, like shoes and bags. I only have 6 everyday bags, which I have bought in a period of about 5 years, and very few of the pricier boots. If I buy full price, I make sure I use the one card I have that gives me points that I can use on sites like Amazon.

    I have not tracked how much I save, but I guess it is a lot when you put all of the little savings together.

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    JulieJohn, I would like to join you in Girl Trig someday!

    Zap, thank you for sharing this technique - sooo useful. I currently track stock on Zappos and Amazon, but your way is great because you can use it anywhere. I will definitely be stealing this. :) I love coupon codes, too. Seems like I can find an extra % off more often than not.

  • Gaylene replied 11 years ago

    Interesting way of looking at wardrobe budgeting. And, I sort of agree with the 50% off and $100 returned = $100 that I can now spend, as long you are are VERY diligent about setting and sticking to the $$ you have budgeted for your monthly or yearly wardrobe purchases. But that "girl math" goes out the window if the budget gets exceeded. And, if the you get "hooked" on the 50% off equation, you still run the risk of accumulating items that you wouldn't choose if they were full price, turning the bargain into a orphan.

    But I totally agree with translating the cost of the item into other terms. Many years ago, I read an entirely forgettable book, but one statement from that book has always stuck with me:

    Think of a potential purchase in terms of what you are giving up by owning that item.

    Examples from the book were to think of the "cost' of the item in terms of how much effort it would take to look after that item, or the number of hours you would have to work to pay for the item, or what activity you would forgo in order to own the item. The final words in the book were that you should treasure everything you own and WANT to look after it. Otherwise, why do you want to own it?

  • replied 11 years ago

    Gaylene, yes, that is an economic term called "opportunity cost". So true!

  • Suz replied 11 years ago

    I love your girl math, Rae!

    And it is what I have been thinking as I get ready to switch my closet out for the new season. If, instead of this $20 thrift purchase, and that one, I had waited to spend the equivalent (plus more) at the end of the year, what might I have been able to buy?

    It is tough to delay gratification sometimes. But it can be a very good thing.

  • annagybe replied 11 years ago

    I find that waiting for sales often means missing out, or I have to wait till the end of the season. I don't really shop at the Gap, BR, Ann Taylor and the Loft which often have sales.

  • jayne replied 11 years ago

    thought provoking. Although I am hard to offend with things like girl math. I generally make it part of my work personality to throw in a shoe obsession or shopping night mania. It helps keep the boys tolerating a tigress in their midst. I seem a kitten then. Anywho (as my mother says) the money we do spend on clothes does come some pot or budget, and if that budget can be made to stretch further over many desirable items, rather than few, the math makes total sense. What does not make sense is spending it on thing you didn't want in the first place. returns, sales, coupons all help us stretch those dollars. Especially returns is an issue. Why would I return something from my cotes budget and then use that money on food? The clothes budget is hard enough to keep under control without moving the money over to another budget. Nope, makes total sense to me!

  • Doro replied 11 years ago

    Very well written! I chuckled aloud :o)

    Love "girl math", especially the part with the opportunity cost. I usually think about stuff this way (like, I'd rather do X than pay for Y which adds up - for example, I'd rather be lazy and order pizza with my boyfriend once a week than pay every day for a coffee at a coffee shop - I'll make myself tea at work instead). I was half expecting you to mention cost per wear (CPW) as well - as in justifying purchases: "These boots go with everything, I'll wear them ALL the time!" which of course doesn't come true. (There was a Friends episode where Monica buys ridiculously expensive boots that she justifies just that way, and her feet are in pain after a day.)

  • RoseandJoan replied 11 years ago

    *applauding*

    Girl Math or Maths 'cos I'm British proved to be a major catalyst for a job change seven years ago. I walked into a linen shop to buy a some bedding and froze in horror when it dawned on me that I had to work one whole day to afford a single fitted bed sheet. I stomped out of shop angrily thinking 'egyptian cotton or not I am not that cheap'. Within a month I had a new job with a much higher salary :-)

  • Vicki replied 11 years ago

    Excellent and thoughtful insights, Rae, on "girl math," "woman math" or "feminine finances," and you've given me a lot to think about.

    While you were returning your BFs, I was going and getting a second pair, because I realize that they are a natural part of my way of life, attitude and taste. But, I've also sold a few pairs of shoes and boots on eBay, that simply were adrift in my closet and I looked at them as misspent dollars that needed to be corrected! Would this then free me to buy a pair of shoes that I really wanted or sock it away for something else? That's difficult to say, because the delayed gratification Suz speaks of is a useful tool that I'm still working on to inspire me to really build the wardrobe that I truly want and is streamlined to lovely essentials.

  • MsMary replied 11 years ago

    Yes! I love it, Rae!!

  • Lisa replied 11 years ago

    I like your girl math and have used $100 returned means $100 more to spend when I return an item. I don't run out and spend it all immediately upon returns. But to me it means, "this item wasn't for me for X reason and now I have money for the item I really want."

  • Julie replied 11 years ago

    Hmmm. A speeding ticket that cost you two pairs of boots. That really puts it in perspective.

    So, if you've already bought the boots, you'd better be wearing them with some jeans so they will get you out of that speeding ticket.

    I've been able to pull that one off a few times since I was 16, but I sometimes wonder if my time for doing that may be coming to an end.

    My dad found out about the first few such indiscretions, and his "punishment: was to send me for 3 weeks of high performance driving instruction. There was a catch, though. I had to pay for the flight, hotel, and meals. He picked up the "education fees". He said there was no point trying to keep me from driving fast, so I may as well know how to do it properly. Well worth the money. The instruction has gotten me out of more serious situations at regular driving speeds than it ever has when I've been outside the law.

    I wonder are there any theorems in "Girl Math" like Pythagorean, Pi, etc.?

    Cheers

    Julie

  • replied 11 years ago

    Rae, what a well written and articulated post! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and all of the comments. I told hubs about *shoe math* when we were discussing that on the forum a while back. He thought the concept was hilarious and recognized that I sometimes used that reasoning on him, lol! Now he calls all money from returns shoe math.

    You are so right about saving for important purchases. After putting a bunch of my clothes into hidden storage, and analyzing why they weren't working for me, I'm now asking myself some hard questions about new acquisitions. I don't want the *good* to keep me from getting the *best*.

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    Gaylene and Jayne - you are so right! An unneeded purchase at 50% off is still an unneeded purchase and ultimately a waste. The budget definitely has to be present - I guess that means Girl Math should exist within Real Math, and not be a separate entity a la Non-Euclidian Geometry. :)

    Suz - Thank you for bringing up delayed gratification - isn't that a foreign concept in today's world sometimes? We can travel, communicate, cook food, and buy so many things without any effort or significant wait... delayed gratification is a lost art.

    Doro - I remember that episode! I just saw it again not too long ago, and I thought, "Gee, Monica really should have worn those around the house before wearing them out!"

    RoseandJone - High five! Your time is worth what you demand for it, right?

    Vicki - Ooh, I am loving that you got a second pair of BFs. I love mine so much, but the DH does not. Until I am spending more time away from him, like at a job outside the home, I'm holding off. I will live through you for the moment. :)

    Claire - I admire how much thought you put into every purchase - even thrifted purchases. It's wild how fast the little things can add up, isn't it?

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