When it comes to learning how to manage your money, there’s a huge difference on what girls spend money on and what boys spend on. There’s also the debate between who is better at managing money?
When your children are young and live at home with you, it’s easy to keep a watchful eye on their spending habits. As they get older and go away to university and get jobs, it becomes a lot harder to keep track of where their money is going.
There are a few different opinions when it comes to the question of who is actually better with their money. Let’s review some of the most popular beliefs when it comes to which gender is better at saving money.
What do we learn as children about managing finances?
When it comes to money, girls are often disadvantaged as they are taught about money in a way that is very different to their male siblings. One of the teachings that girls learn about money is that men know more about money. Women assume that menl know how the stock market works and how to make more money.
Why does this theory about managing finances exist? From an early age, girls are told things like “money won’t buy you happiness” and “it’s better to be good than to be rich”. While there may be some sense to this, it also gives a very skewed perception of money.
For a lot of people, happiness is a result of not having debt and being able to handle your financial responsibilities without hiring a financial planner. When you do not have demands and collections companies calling you every day, you do not need to worry as much over money. This lack of worry and stress-free life can bring a person happiness. So in short, while money may not make you happy in the traditional sense, it can give you security, which is one of the biggest things that a woman wants.
Where do the differences between genders and budgeting money start?
We mentioned before that when your children live under your roof, you can watch over their money. When they start moving away from home to go to university or to go to work, we can start seeing a lot of differences in spending habits.
When it comes time for your young adult to leave home, they may be elated! They will get to eat what they want, go to bed when they want and live life on their own terms. This will be apparent in how they budget their money.
When a boy starts university, the majority of his money will be spent on things like beer, food and clothes. While girls will be more than happy to hit the shops for a bit of shopping, they will actually spend less than their male counterparts. When it comes to food, girls will be willing to go to the supermarket and cook for themselves. Boys are often more reluctant to do this. Perhaps it is because of stereotypes and boys feel that cooking is a girls domain. Maybe it is because girls were taught to cook and boys were not taught as many of these skills.
Another reason for this is that a girl will take the time to look for a bargain. Perhaps it is the fact that boys dislike shopping, so they adopt the “get in and get out” approach and just grab the first thing they see, rather than take the time to look for which one is cheaper or which shops have better prices. Girls will take the time to look around for what is available.
These habits likely stem back to how you budget your money. Girls will learn from their mothers about how to do the weekly shopping and how to find the best deals. Boys will not be taught these things. Instead, they will be taught the more hands-on things around the home, such as fixing the car. While these things are useful, the practice of being able to save money is an important lesson too.
What are the different spending habits?
Girls like clothes and boys like video games. As stereotypical as that sounds, for the most part, it is rather accurate.
Girls will tend to spend their money consistently with buying new make-up and clothes on a regular basis. For young girls, there is a lot of pressure for them to be on top in terms of fashion, so they will spend a lot of money making sure that their clothes are perfect and that their shoes match and that they have the perfect make up. This can be a very costly habit and will result in them not saving money in their 20s.
Boys, on the other hand, tend to make infrequent but bigger purchases. Video games are a very expensive habit. So even though boys might be able to save up their money and will not spend their money as often as their female counterparts, they are certainly spending a big amount when it comes to keeping up with the latest video game releases!
What roles does maturity play in managing your money?
When it comes to young adults, it is believed that girls mature faster than boys do. As such, perhaps this is why they are more financially responsible when it comes to spending while they are at university.
However, when it comes to earning money, boys usually end up on top. So despite the fact that they were not as good with their finances while they were in school, they will be earning more upon graduation.
Are these gender stereotypes about managing finances?
When it comes to how you budget your money, the chances are that you picked up your habits from your parents. If your parents are always very careful with their spending, then you will most likely pick this habit up from them. If your parents are always racking up credit card debt, then the odds are that the young adult will get their first credit card for college students and rack up debt as well.
If parents take the time to sit their children down and teach them good financial planning strategies from an early age, then their children (regardless of gender), will be financially responsible. This isn’t say that you should introduce your 5 year old child to online stock brokers.
It makes sense to keep the lessons simple. If you give your children an allowance, teach them about savings. When you are out shopping, explain to them about sales and how to find good deals. Later in life, these lessons will be invaluable to them and will help them with their personal finances when it comes time for them to have their own income and their own family to support.
This was a guest post from Timothy Ng.