Do Men And Women Handle Money Differently?

I’ve been reading a very interesting book about understanding the differences between men and women called Men Are Like Waffles Women Are Like Spaghetti by Bill and Pam Farrel.  Although it doesn’t focus too much on men and women’s differences when handling money, there are a few things the authors mentioned that caught my attention that I thought I would share:

“A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item she doesn’t want.”

Another illustration the authors provide compares when men and women eat out with their friends:

“When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob, and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $22.50.  None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.  When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.”

I find the statement and illustrations above to be quite interesting.  Although it’s impossible to say that all women or men would behave in the manner presented above, it is possible that there is some truth to these ideas.

For me at least I often am tempted to buy items that are on sale even if I don’t really want them, simply because I think it is possible that I could use them in the future, and besides, they are such a great price!  By contrast, my husband never seems to get suckered into buying something just because it’s cheap.

As for eating out, when my girlfriends and I are splitting the bill, it is true that we pay for our own order separately and we do expect to get change back if we have a larger bill.  I can’t speak for men, but I bet they are less likely than women to be so precise when it comes to determining their individual amount owing.

As everyone knows, men and women are very different in many ways.  We are wired that way.  But are we really that different when it comes to handling money?

What are your thoughts?  Do you agree with the illustrations above?