SINGAPORE — If you don’t buy something that’s on sale, you’re losing money. If you return an item for a refund, you’ve made money. If you buy yourself coffee using prepaid value, the drink is free.

Anything under S$5 is practically free. Paying with cash on hand doesn’t count because your bank balance didn’t decrease.

That’s “girl math” — a viral TikTok trend in which young women rationalise their money habits or spending in inventive ways that don’t always make mathematical sense.

While the thinking behind girl math is not novel, and certainly not gender-specific, the concept recently earned a fancy new name.

HOW DID GIRL MATH COME ABOUT?

The term “girl math” is believed to have been coined in July by a New Zealand radio show called Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley, which features a segment where the DJs help listeners justify extravagant purchases, such as spending NZ$999 (S$810) on a luxury tote bag or NZ$5,600 on four nights of Taylor Swift tickets.

In one episode, a listener calls in to the show to ask the crew to “girl math” the cost of a NZ$800 diamond ring. The caller had recently separated from her husband but said she “missed wearing a diamond ring”.

Arguing that diamond rings are an asset that can “last more than a lifetime”, a crew member named Shannon reasoned that the listener would be saving money if she handed down the ring to a future child or descendant.

Here is how local TikToker Atiqa Dar explains the concept, almost satirically:

If you wanted to buy a dress that costs S$50 now, but waited until it was on sale for S$30, you made a S$20 profitIf you go to a store and you don’t buy anything, you made moneyIf you buy headphones that cost S$200 and you wear it for more than 200 times, it’s freeIf you don’t own a car but you take cabs all the time, you are still making moneyHaving expensive cafe dates with a friend is a form of therapy. But it’s cheaper than going for actual therapy so technically, you’re making money

Singapore-based lifestyle influencer Chloe Liem also posted a “girl math” video justifying her purchase of a bracelet from luxury jewellery brand Van Cleef & Arpels for S$6,100.

Whipping out her father’s financial calculator, Ms Liem begins by saying that the key to “Van Cleef girl math” is the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) method which Ms Liem humorously defines as “cost per Alhambra”. Alhambra refers to the clover-shaped motifs that are iconic of the jewellery brand.

@chloeabeth4545 Replying to @user1372390633336 It’s just logic! 🤓🤓 #girlmath #vancleef #fyp ♬ original sound – Chloe L.