# Women's spending habits



## daltonr (26 Jan 2004)

I don't know if this should be in The Craic, or here.

There's a magazine called Company which is a womans mag like Cosmo or whatever.  (please don't ask how or why I was reading it!!!).

Anyhooo.  Possibly the funniest/scariest column I've seen for a long time was one entitled "Creative Accounting", which explained to ladies how they could juggle their figures in order to afford that expensive dress, or pair of shoes or whatever.

I was expecting something along the lines of using the 56 days interest free credit on a card, or haggling with the store for a cash price instead of paying with VISA, or avoiding store credit like the plague!

But no.  The advice was as follows:

Find a dress that is extremely expensive say...£600.  Then don't buy it.   Buy a dress for £60 instead.  Now, you've saved yourself £540.  Now you can buy those shoes for £140, and your still £400 to the good.

It goes on in this vain and gets MUCH worse.  

Is this really how women think?  

I don't want to appear rude or chauvinistic but seriously if there are people walking around with this kind of reasoning then I'd like to know about it because they clearly pose a danger to all of us.

I'd like to think that this column was in jest, but there's nothing to suggest that it was.  Maybe by not having womens intuition I wasn't able to see though the joke!

-Rd


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## Conan (26 Jan 2004)

*Money management*

I don't know why you are so surprised. Just look at the women involved in the three Show me the Money programmes. Remember the one who said that cutting up the credit card or refusing to accept a loan offer was like throwing away real money.


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## daltonr (26 Jan 2004)

*Re: Money management*

Just for the record, I don't want this to be a "women are crap with money" thread.  For one thing I don't believe that that's true. (Irish Mammies in particular do wonders with limited amounts of money).  

I'm curious though.  DId I happen to hit on the one really bad column, or is this kind of advice routinely handed out in these glossy mags?

-Rd


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## Aegonite (26 Jan 2004)

*Yeah*

But that's because Hobbs is a Sexist.


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (26 Jan 2004)

*Re: Yeah*

From what I heard about SMTM the men weren't exactly financial wizards themselves.... :|


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## MC (17 Feb 2004)

*company magazine financial advice to woman*

Hi Daltonr.

Ok, I would very much  be in the target audience for company magazine and while I wouldnt be as bad as the girl on the "show me the money" I must admit it takes a lot of self control sometimes not to go out and buy shoes with my plastic flexible friend.

I didnt read the article you are referring to but I can safely say that we are not that stupid with money and nor would most magazines assume us to be. 

These magazines are primarily focussed at fashion (not finance) is it possible that this quote...:

"Find a dress that is extremely expensive say...£600. Then don't buy it. Buy a dress for £60 instead. Now, you've saved yourself £540. Now you can buy those shoes for £140, and your still £400 to the good."

...Was saying find a dress that is extremely expensive but rather than buying it wait until there are cheaper imitations at £60.  ie Quite frequently when a look is made popular by some star there are very quickly cheaper imitations in the shops. Are you sure it didnt mean that?  (Which would be quite good advice)

Just wondering, but no, rest assured, we are not that financially dim.

MC


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## sueellen (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: Hilarious Article - Creative Accounting*

"please don't ask how or why I was reading it!!!"

But I will ask - was it to get a good laugh at our expense?

As a matter of interest daltonr approx. just how much of the Irish female population would you think falls into this category taking "Irish Mammies in particular do wonders with limited amounts of money" into consideration? :rolleyes


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## daltonr (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: Hilarious Article - Creative Accounting*

sueellen,



> But I will ask - was it to get a good laugh at our expense?



Absolutley not.  I had no idea until after I read it that it would be so laughable.  I read it because it was there, and the only other thing on offer was the Evening Herald.



> As a matter of interest daltonr approx. just how much of the Irish female population would you think falls into this category



I would hope that very very few people are as bad as the one that wrote this article.  Although I have to say since reading it and hearing some peoples reaction to it, I do wonder.  Shoes in particular seem to be a big weakness.  All logic seems to go out the window when faced with a shoe shop.  I suppose in my life I've spend as much on Books, CD's and DVD's, but I'd like to think a library is more sensible than a shoe rack.

Your take on the article is sensible, but if you read it you'll see it wasn't quite as sensible as that.  In fact I didn't even do justice to the sheer stupidity of it in my earlier post.  

It included:

Justifying the purchase of a new pair of shoes by deciding not to go out that night, and then having bought them deciding that she just had to go out to show them off.

Justifying another expense on the basis that she and partner had talked vaguely about going to Paris some time, and since she wasn't in Paris she could clearly afford to go out.

I don't know, maybe if I read it regularly I'd realise that this column was a satire which takes the piss out of people with this attitude, but I fear the whole thing was straight up financial advice for the busy shopaholic.

-Rd


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## MC (17 Feb 2004)

*company magazine*

In fairness daltonr, it is company magazine...Im not exactly going to read heat magazine for stock market advice and investment.

But you have a valid point, those magazines havent a clue about sensible finance advice for their target market and your suggestions above about store credit cards etc would be much more sensible and much more in their interest.

I think the moral of the story is...next time pick up the evening herald


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## daltonr (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: company magazine*



> ...Im not exactly going to read heat magazine for stock market advice and investment.



Now there's a point.  I don't read Mens mags either but would you see an article like this in Heat or FHM?  Would they advice on how to afford the latest Boys Toy using similar rationalle.

I suspect a boys mag would choose the following line 

"This flat screen TV costs €5000, you may have to stop feeding your kids for a month or two but that'll teach them valuable survival skills that will stand to them in future life, and besides, you're worth it."

i.e. the Boys mag advice would be more obviously a joke and would be less likely to be followed by a reader.  If anyone posts saying they'd stop feeding their kids to buy a tv I'll take back everything I've said about women.

The Company magazine logic I can actually imagine being taken seriously.  

-Rd


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## MissRibena (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: company magazine*

I'm not trying to be sexist here but maybe _Company_ have more confidence in their readership's intelligence and ability to pick up on more subtly ironic (?) articles whereas the lad-mags have to spell it out more.  Vive la difference and all that mullarky.  Pity there isn't a link to the article - I'd love to read it now.

Rebecca

PS  DaltonR, thanks for fixing my post yesterday re the Foreign Nationals/Banks.


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## daltonr (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: company magazine*



> maybe Company have more confidence in their readership's intelligence



Could be!  As I said from the start I'd like to think this column was a send up.  Maybe I'm not into the subtlety of female humour.   I don't get Deirdre O'Kane, does that mean anything?



> Pity there isn't a link to the article - I'd love to read it now.



I'll go and try to find that mag again and photocopy the article.  I'll bring it along to the next AAM night out. 

-Rd


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: company magazine*



> I don't get Deirdre O'Kane, does that mean anything?



Not really - she's simply not funny. Just for balance neither is Des Bishop.


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## MC (17 Feb 2004)

*Forget the shoes girls its official*

Hey Daltonr 

I went looking online to see if I could find the offending piece and I couldnt (unfortunately) however on their homepage www.company.co.uk there is a link to an article on mortgages beginning with the following sentence:

"Forget shoes – the latest must-have purchase for women is a home of their own. " 

:lol 

Oh dear.


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## daltonr (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*



> "Forget shoes – the latest must-have purchase for women is a home of their own. "



Why stop at one home, surely you'd need a couple.  I mean it's not like you can buy just one that goes with everything!



> Just for balance neither is Des Bishop.



No he's not great.  He has his moment, but he's no Bill Hicks.
Does anyone find it a bit ironic that an American is trying to educate us about the minimum wage!?!?!?

But at least he hasn't done a car Ad yet!   Shame on you Deirdre.  SHAME ON YOU!!!

-Rd


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (17 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*



> No he's not great. He has his moment, but he's no Bill Hicks.



He's a pain in the Boll Hicks if you ask me.



> But at least he hasn't done a car Ad yet! Shame on you Deirdre. SHAME ON YOU!!!



Maybe that rule of thumb posted here a while back should be extended to cover this scenario too...

"Never, ever buy a financial product advertised by Linda Martin, any member of the cast of Glenroe" ... or any other Irish B list (if that's not a tautology?) celebrity...


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## mollser (18 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*

This may be relevant...

click on to www.independent.ie and take a look at the pop up MBNA add, titled Crazy Jane - its quite funny, but scary at the same time.


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## Brendan Burgess (19 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*

On a serious note, I wonder if there is any research into gender differences on money and spending issues.

I remember reading one of the threads about the differences between men and women and one was:





> A woman will buy something that is reduced in price, even if she doesn't need or want it.
> A man will buy something he wants, no matter what price it is.


I can think of loads of confirming examples. But, if I wanted to disprove it, I could probably find loads of contradicting examples.

I posted a link to some research which showed that women stock market investors outperform men fairly consistently. But someone else questioned the validity of the research.

Brendan


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## daltonr (19 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*



> I posted a link to some research which showed that women stock market investors outperform men fairly consistently. But someone else questioned the validity of the research.



There have been one or two high profile cases of Investment Clubs consisting entirely of woment that have done well.  Of course there are probably many times more that have failed.

Like everything else in this world I doubt there is anything inate in women that gives them a different attitude to money.  As much as Shoes have become a bit of a cliche for womens spending habits, men have equivalents, like DVD's, or Home entertainment equipment, or bits and pieces for the Car.

The one think I will say is that women need to cop themselves on and refuse to pay the Hairdressers the fees they are charged.  If you tried to charge men €150 for a haircut there'd be a lot more men with long hair and home made haircuts.

Oh and one other money saving tip ladies...  YOU LOOK MUCH BETTER PALE THAN WITH FAKE TAN!!!!!  In fact you look terrible with fake tan and it's about time you stopped kidding yourselves.

-Rd


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (19 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*

Does that mean that I should stop using my Grecian 2000 too?


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## Brendan Burgess (19 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*

Hi daltonr

The research to which I referred seemed to me to be very good research and not anecdotal reports.

They researched the performance of thousands of account holders at some large stock brokers and found that the women did better than the men. Their performance was inversely proportional to the frequency of their trading.  Women tend to buy and hold, whereas men trade frequently. Their performance is reduced by the transaction costs.

Brendan


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (19 Feb 2004)

*Re: Forget the shoes girls its official*


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## Bridget (20 Feb 2004)

*fashion costings*

The best fashion advice I ever got was the "cost per wear": If a coat costs €400, but you wear it every cold day for 2 years, that works out at X per wear;  if you buy a top for €25 but only wear it twice, that's (where's the calculator?) €12.50 each wear.

It especially works out for shoes and coats...... spend more and you'll get more out of it!


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (20 Feb 2004)

*Re: fashion costings*



> The best fashion advice I ever got was the "cost per wear"



My father sat me down and gave me the same advice in relation to women - but did I listen...? :\


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## temptedd (21 Feb 2004)

*Re: fashion costings*

I'm not sure about the validity of the whole cost per wear theory. Say you have 500 to spend in a year on clothes. Buy one coat for 500 and *of course* you're going to wear it every day, because you have no other clothes...does that mean it was better value than ten items priced at 50 each?


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## fatherdougalmaguire (21 Feb 2004)

*Re: fashion costings*

Bridget,
If you are who I think you are, spend it on ear muffs  

Did anyone listen to Kevin Myers on NewTalk 106 this evening? Talking about thongs? Great stuff? I think even he enjoyed it.


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (21 Feb 2004)

*Re: fashion costings*



> I think even he enjoyed it.



Why? Did he work the evil nature of all Republicans and the heroic nature of the all British WWI/WWII war dead into it somehow?


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## pthec (23 Feb 2004)

*Men's buying habits*

There was an amusing story in the Observer yesterday about men coming to a point where they never buy anything new, just replace old stuff:

observer.guardian.co.uk/r...71,00.html


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## Brendan Burgess (23 Feb 2004)

*Re: Men's buying habits*

Thanks for the link pthec. Great writing.

Brendan


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## Denzer (24 Feb 2004)

*Spot on*

Bridget is spot on - that's why I'll rarely change my underwear from now on, to increase the cost of use ratio. Well on ye girl.


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## The Snork Maiden (24 Feb 2004)

*i dont know about you but....*

If I spent €500.00 on a coat I wouldnt be wearing it everyday or nothing like it!

It would be cast in bronze for persevation and only taken out on special occasions!

Or maybe I am a cheapskate!


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## sueellen (6 Mar 2004)

Sorry to be lettin' the side down girls but can't resist telling this for a laugh.  While preparing school lunches the other mornin' I saw a repeat of doomed About the House and they showed a selection of women's handbags etc.  One particular small evening bag that they showed was approx. €560 and wait for it ... there's a waiting list for it!

Have heard many a group of females discuss these ridiculously priced bags and cannot stop laughing when I think that anyone would pay that price for a handbag.  Its even funnier when you think that there's a waiting list!!!!

The following were featured:
LuLu Guinness Bag - €240.
Furla Bag - €150. 
Orla Kiely Bag - €90.
Gucci - €190.  
:rolleyes


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## <A HREF=http://pub145.ezboard.com/baskaboutmoney.s (6 Mar 2004)

Bear in mind that some men (or women) would pay up to 100 times those figures (not necessarily of their own hard cash) for motorised vehicles that they reckon would fulfill some need and impress other people.


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