hot take: girl math is just proof of behavioral economics
first, i want to address the fact that i've barely posted in the past few months. i'm sorry, my schedule was just been so packed with school, i forgot to update this blog! i'll try to be more consistent now.
anyway, girl math isn’t people being bad with money. it’s people being textbook examples of how behavioral economics works in real life.
the whole “if i pay in cash it’s free” or “i returned something for fifty so this sixty dollar thing only cost ten” logic sounds silly, but it’s actually kind of genius. it’s not a financial mistake, it’s data. it’s proof that we don’t spend based on numbers, we spend based on feelings, stories, and tiny mental shortcuts that make sense only to us.
behavioral economics was built on this idea. it says people don’t make perfectly rational choices; they make human ones. we value emotions more than math. we separate money into imaginary categories. we justify, compare, and reframe until a purchase feels right.
girl math is that theory in action. it’s mental accounting when we treat cash like it’s “not real money.” it’s loss aversion when we chase discounts just to avoid feeling like we “missed out.” it’s anchoring when a $300 coat suddenly looks affordable next to a $600 one. it’s instant gratification when future-me gets sacrificed so present-me can feel joy right now.
every behavioral economist should be thanking the internet for girl math. it’s a living case study, wrapped in humor and self-awareness. people are literally turning cognitive biases into memes. and what’s wild is that it proves the science works; the same patterns researchers wrote papers about decades ago are now trending audio on tiktok.
girl math isn’t financial literacy. it’s not trying to teach you how to budget. it’s showing, in real time, how our brains bend logic to protect our emotions. it’s the theory of behavioral economics playing out in public, in a way that’s funny, relatable, and way more honest than any econ textbook.
so yeah, maybe it’s not “good math.” but it’s perfect science.
