Gentle note: This is not financial advice. It’s just me sharing what I’ve learned while trying to survive adulthood without losing my mind over money. Take away what resonates with you, and leave what you don’t need.
Introduction: first approach to managing your finances
When you become an adult, one thing you start thinking about —like all the time— is money. Especially after leaving university.
Your first approach to managing your personal finances was probably deciding what to spend your allowance or birthday money on. When you’re a kid, you think that a single dollar is enough to buy you the entire toy store. Only to become extremely disappointed when you realize it’s practically the same as having nothing.
You became better at choosing what you wanted to spend your savings on as you grew older. This included spending extra money you gained by working a part-time or summer job. You started developing specific criteria to make these decisions. You start noticing the standard prices of certain products or services in the market. You can recognize when something is “expensive” somewhere else. You notice that you can buy things when they’re on sale. You begin to see which purchases could actually be assets that benefit you in some way.
However, when you become an adult, managing your finances gains new layers of complexity. You have to prioritize needs that you must cover, live your social life, and handle self-care. There are also health expenses and debts. Opening bank accounts like credit, debit, savings, retirement, HYSA, and investment accounts becomes necessary.
No one tells you that after graduation, money becomes background noise in your brain.
Rich girl problems
Adulthood is basically a constant negotiation between responsibility and self-care. Especially for us girls. Since society puts constant pressure on us to always look “put together,” we feel urged to invest in beauty products and treatments.
You want to be financially stable.
You also want to enjoy your twenties.
You want to build wealth.
You also want to drink matcha, buy flowers, and wear cute dresses.
And it’s okay 😌
None of this makes you —or me tbh— shallow, materialistic, or irresponsible. It makes you human. It’s normal.
We need money to survive. That’s a fact. But don’t forget that we also need money to live.
The problem isn’t wanting nice things.
The problem is not knowing how to prioritize them.
Because everything feels important to us.
And here’s where financial literacy stops being “boring adult stuff” and starts becoming a necessity out of self-respect.
We need to manage:
Responsibilities and self-care: Paying for therapy and skincare and groceries and still trying to build savings.
Attending dinners, dates, and birthday parties: Even if our bank account is judging us. Sometimes I’ve said yes to things I couldn’t afford just because I didn’t want to feel left out.
Girl trips and weekend escapades: Either on a budget or with a credit card. We don’t want to be left behind. Maybe it’s FOMO.
Money stuck is money lost: Leaving money in your checking account can result in missed opportunities. Choosing whether to build an emergency fund or start investing, but doing nothing out of fear or misinformation.
Girl math…and why it works
So, I already mentioned the most common financial problems and decisions a girl has to deal with. How do we deal with it? With the recent phenomenon called “GIRL MATH”. Seems like magic, but it’s effective.
Now, for girl math to work for you, you have to understand it first. This is because, if not used well, it can lead you to make terrible financial decisions.
Welcome to GIRL MATH 101! Where you’ll learn how to manage your finances like a girl boss, or at least understand how your girlfriend, sister, wife, or daughter uses her money without claiming bankruptcy.
Module 1: Understanding it (the theory behind girl math)
Girl math isn’t delusion. It’s cost-benefit analysis in cute packaging 🎀✨
It’s not just “if it’s on sale, it’s free.”
It’s asking: What is this actually costing me and what is it giving me back?
It’s a cost-benefit analysis*.
For example:
If you buy a $5 loaf of bread that lasts five days, that’s $1 a day.
If that bread means you’re not ordering takeout twice this week?
That $5 just saved you $40.
Now let’s level up.
If you split rent with a partner, you might pay $800 instead of $1,600.
That’s $800 saved every month.
That’s $9,600 a year.
Girl math works when you use it to understand trade-offs. It’s not just girls justifying impulse decisions.
Relax. You should know that women have been the ones managing households’ finances for years. While men were the breadwinners, women were the ones in charge of the money.
But be careful when using GIRL MATH —you still need to set boundaries.
Module 2: Using it responsibly (applied girl math —practice module)
Here’s how to actually use girl math responsibly:
Step 1: Check your numbers first.
Before you justify anything, know your real financial situation —or at the very least have a general idea. What’s your income? What are your fixed expenses? Do you have enough money to cover this purchase without causing yourself a stressful financial situation?
You cannot girl-math your way out of numbers you refuse to look at. Be responsible. Don’t sabotage yourself.
Step 2: Do the math.
Calculate the benefits correctly.
You want to buy a pair of $200 boots? If you wear them 100 times? That means they’ll be $2 per use.
Or maybe a $60 top you’ll wear once a week? That makes it $1.20 per use in a whole year.
Rationalize it. Suddenly, your “expensive” purchase might actually be cheaper than your impulse buy.
Step 3: Delay the purchase.
In case whatever you want is extremely expensive, then wait. If you still want it after 72 hours, it’s probably not just a mood or an impulse. It’s calling you.
*Trust me. As an honorary ADHD girlie, I’m familiar with impulsive purchases —and how dangerous they are for your personal finances. Using the “three-days-rule” has stopped me from buying things I don’t really like.
Step 4: Set a mental budget.
This is crucial. If you allocate money for things that give you dopamine, you won’t feel guilty after spending it. Mentally set a budget of how much you can spend on things you want. Remember that you also have to pay for your credit cards too —sooner or later.
Freedom within limits —you set yourself— feels better than chaos disguised as freedom.
That’s responsible badass GIRL MATH.
Other methods and strategies to become an educated finance girl baddie
Rule of thumb: 50-30-20
Chances are you’ve seen or heard about this method — or rule of thumb — for personal finances. But if you haven’t, let me explain.
The 50-30-20 method consists of classifying your expenses into three categories: Must have, Nice to have, and Savings and Investments. The main objective is to divide your income (100%) so that:
- 50% goes to your Must have expenses,
- 30% goes to your Nice to have expenses,
- and at least 20% goes to Savings and Investments.
For example: If your net income (so, after taxes) is $1,000 a month, your Must have expenses shouldn’t exceed $500. Your Nice to have expenses shouldn’t be more than $300. And you should aim to save or invest at least $200.
That’s pretty much it.
This method helps you keep your finances balanced while also giving you clarity when planning your weekly, monthly, or yearly budget. (You can use my FREE TEMPLATE to organize yours accordingly —it’s simple, practical, and made for finance educated girlies who like structure but not chaos.)
But here’s the real power of this method:
It can also help you diagnose your financial health.
Track your spending for 1–3 months to regain control over your finances. Calculate how much of your income is actually going into each category.
And don’t panic if it doesn’t follow the 50-30-20 rule. First, you need awareness.
Then, you can make adjustments.
Maybe right now your reality looks like 85-10-05. Maybe it’s 70-30-0 where you’re barely saving anything at all.
That’s okay.
You can’t fix what you don’t know.
Once you know your numbers, you can create a realistic plan to improve your financial health gradually into balance.
My tip is that you use tools like ChatGPT to help you analyze your situation. Give it context. Give it your income, your debts, your timeline. Ask for strategy, with a goal in mind.
Knowledge is power.
And sometimes the problem isn’t that you don’t make enough money.
Sometimes the problem is that you don’t know where it’s going.
Financial clarity doesn’t judge you.
It frees you.
Retirement: looking out for the old you
Retirement is important. It’s you taking care of the woman —the person— you want to become.
Think of retirement as present self writing love letters in the form of deposits 💸 to your future self.
Everyone should, at the very least, save a percentage of their income in an account specifically meant for long-term growth. Even if it’s small.
Compound interest* doesn’t care about how much you start with. $5 or $1,000
It cares about consistency.
Small amounts can grow more than you think over time.
Plus, nothing screams self-love louder than planning for a version of you that you have yet to meet.
Investing – so you can be the rich auntie of the family
Investing isn’t exclusive for the stock market. Thinking of buying and selling stocks can be scary —at least to me it is, since I don’t completely understand it. Stocks mean volatility. Charts going up and down. People who work on Wall Street. Thousands of videos telling you the “right” method to invest in the stock market.
But investing doesn’t have to start there.
I said it before, “money stuck is money lost”. What I meant is that money that sits in a regular checking account slowly loses value over time due to inflation.
So what you need to do to avoid this, is put your money someplace where it can beat the inflation rates. Here are two options where you can begin investing with low-risk and zero-stress that’ll help your money grow safely.
HYSA — High-Yield Savings Accounts
A High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) is basically a savings account that pays you interest for keeping your money there. In other words, the bank pays you money for keeping your money there.
It’s:
- Low risk (you don’t have to fight others).
- Usually insured (depending on your country and the institution).
- Your money stays accessible for whenever you might need it.
- It’s perfect for emergency funds.
It won’t make you rich overnight. But it allows your money to grow quietly and safely. And that matters. It’s money you didn’t have to work for. You just put it there and wait —the longer you wait, the more money you earn.
Think of a HYSA as your “money working quietly in the background” account.
Tip: keep your emergency fund in a HYSA. It’s money you won’t use unless in an emergency, so it can grow safely overtime.
Government bonds and funds
Government bonds are another conservative option for investing —meaning it’s a low risk option. When you buy one, you’re essentially lending money to the government in exchange for interest over time. The government pays you back what you lend them plus some extra money as a “thank you” tip.
They’re considered low risk because they’re backed by the government (especially stable ones). Even so, it doesn’t mean there’s zero risk —every investment has its risk— but governments are generally considered more stable borrowers than individuals or companies.
You won’t see dramatic gains.
But you also won’t see dramatic losses.
It’s perfect for conservative investors, people building long-term stability, and girls who like sleeping peacefully at night —AKA, me.
Financial education
Nobody teaches us how to manage our personal finances in school.
We learn algebra. But not taxes. We learn history. But not how credit scores work.
You could learn something about finance in university. But unless it has real relevance in your degree, chances are you won’t see much.
So if you feel behind in this topic, you’re not dumb or slow.
You’re underexposed.
Start small:
- Learn how interest rates work.
- Understand inflation.
- Know the difference between saving and investing.
- Understand what your bank is actually doing with your money.
Simply aim to understand basic financial tools like different types of bank accounts and the main factors that directly affect your money —like inflation. But don’t overexpose yourself, since this type of information can become overwhelming really fast. Especially since it has to do with OUR hard-earned money.
Financial education isn’t about becoming obsessed with money.
It’s about not being controlled by it.
Saving challenges and strategies
If you feel like investing is still not for you, then at least save some of your income.
Saving isn’t punishment. It’s delayed self-care.
There are countless “saving” challenges:
- Do a no-spend month.
- Automate transfers in your bank account so you never “see” the money.
- Do the 10K saving challenge.
- Create sinking funds (travel, gifts, emergencies, skincare, whatever matters to you).
Saving should be part of your identity. Think of it as money you can invest in yourself later.
Dealing with debts (credit and other debts)
If there’s only one thing I want you to remember from this section, it’s this:
Always pay your debts. On time. Every time.
I know it’s tempting to ignore them. To say “I’ll handle it next month.” To just pay the minimum and move on.
Interest can be beautiful if you know how it works. As mentioned before, when investing, it makes your money grow. But when you owe money? It grows the other way —a way that can ruin your life and limit your freedom.
If you don’t pay your credit card in full, interest gets added to what you already owe. Next month, you’re paying interest on top of that. And then again. And again. Credit card interest rates can be extremely high —much higher than most people realize— so you’ve got to be EXTREMELY careful.
Missed payments can also affect your credit history. And future you —the one who wants an apartment, a car, a business, options— she will feel that.
Think of interest like a snowball at the top of a mountain. It looks small. Manageable. But once it starts rolling, it grows faster than you expect.
If you have debt right now, don’t panic. Remember, clarity brings you freedom.
Run the numbers. Make a plan.
And please —don’t keep adding new debt while trying to pay off the old one.
There is no shame in having debt. Life happens. But you can’t ignore it. It always comes back for you.
Handle it early. Handle it calmly.
Your future self will thank you for being brave enough to look at the numbers.
Real talk: being a broke girl is not for you
To end this —very long— blog post, let me say this clearly:
Struggling financially is not romantic.
Being constantly stressed about money is not aesthetic.
Living paycheck to paycheck when you don’t have to? Not empowering.
It’s not cool to be broke.
It sucks. It’s exhausting.
And you deserve peace —you deserve financial freedom.
Classify, prioritize, and manage your expenses
CLASSIFY, PRIORITIZE, and MANAGE your expenses.
You don’t need to become rich overnight.
You don’t need to have everything figured out.
But you do need to start. Start for yourself. Love yourself.
Because the woman you’re becoming? (even if it’s happening slowly)
She deserves stability.
She deserves freedom.
She deserves options.
Author’s note
Hi babes!
Thank you for reading this blog post. If you’d like to read more posts like this, click here.
Sorry it took me so long to publish. Last week, I mentioned that I was going to work on the site’s layout. I worked on it for a couple of days. However, this week hasn’t been a gentle one for me.
On Monday, I was “let go” from my corporate job — I’ll get into it in next week’s corporate blog post. While I was processing that, I had to take my mom to the doctor because of an intense pain in her calf. After driving her all around the city for multiple exams, a doctor — we visited three — finally diagnosed her with a blood clot extending down her leg.
Two days of doctor visits later, almost hospitalizing her, and after several more tests, she was prescribed absolute rest. Like, she has to stay in bed and can only get up to use the bathroom. So, since I no longer have a job, I’ve been taking care of her 24/7. I haven’t slept much or eaten much, so I didn’t have the time or energy to finish this post. Thankfully, I wrote most of it during a flight back home — I had been away.
Anyway, I plan on writing more about this subject and simplifying financial concepts so anyone can understand them — from one non-finance graduate to another.
I’m also planning on creating my own GIRL MATH FINANCE TEMPLATE. I’ll be working on it this weekend so it’s ready before next week’s post. Do you think it’s a good idea?
Leave a comment. I’d love to know if you enjoyed this type of content and whether you find it useful. Or if you have other finance tips for the girlies.
