At first slowly and then with the force of other viral hashtags, the term #GirlMath has started to take over TikTok.
Popularized by three radio hosts on New Zealand's FVHMZ radio station over the summer, the term refers to justifying one's frivolous purchases and shopping pick-me-ups — one TikToker used the example of how paying for something in cash "feels like I got it for free" while another described how she "returned something at Zara that was $50, bought something else that was $100 [so] it only cost me $50."
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While initially picked up as a way of justifying and in some cases poking fun at one's spending habits, brands quickly saw an opportunity to market smaller purchases to consumers.
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'You call it Girl Math, we call it the Labor Day sale,' brand tells followers
At the end of August, makeup giant Ulta Beauty (ULTA) -) released a TikTok video in which it said that girl math is "the only type of math that matters" over a six-second video of a woman filling a shopping basket with inexpensive hand creams and shampoos.
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The brand's followers quickly picked up on the post with one writing that she was "going to Ulta right now."
Lane Bryant, an Ohio-based store specializing in plus-size fashions, also recently released an Instagram (META) -) scroll of the outfits on its website with the caption saying that "you call it Girl Math, we call it the Labor Day sale."
As there is no official agreement on what sum is small enough to qualify for a "girl math" purchase, brands have some leeway in this regard — Lane Bryant classified it as "14 items for less than $150."
On Aug. 24, discount chain Five Below (FIVE) -) also posted a TikTok video of some of the stick-on nails and other beauty items it sells as part of its #GirlMath shopping haul suggestions.
Financial experts warn against using trends to hide behind bad financial habits
While videos with the #GirlMath hashtag have offered some levity and helped unite others who can relate to justifying little pick-me-ups, financial experts have been advising against treating even what feels like saving money (#GirlMath also stipulates that a found gift card is not "real" money) as a real budgeting strategy.
"'Girl math' is just the latest iteration of us trying to rationalize financial behaviors that we know we shouldn't be doing," YMW Advisors Managing Principal Brad Klontz told CNBC in August 2023. "Why the need to justify it? The answer to that is because you can't afford it."
Others have also sounded alarm around the term's sexist nature. While many of those who helped the term take off were female creators themselves, it inevitably associates poor financial habits as stereotypically "girl" or female behavior — similar concerns were raised when TikTok picked up the term #GirlDinner for eating a light dinner of different (and often low-calorie and vegetable-based) foods put together at random a few months earlier.
