Gender and finance: how much do you spend on hygiene?
Posted by Lise on 22 Aug 2008 at 12:07 pm | Tagged as: personal finance
Millionaire Mommy Next Door just featured an article on Why Women Need Money More Than Men. Her reasoning is that “having a child is now the single best indicator of financial collapse,” and that women, as the bearers of children, still bear an unfair portion of responsibility for child-rearing - and, if they don’t have a partner, all the related expenses. She suggests solutions such as delaying motherhood, sharing parenting and careers with a spouse, or becoming financially literate. (As we know, my husband and I are childfree, so I’d suggest avoiding children entirely, but I realize that’s not right for everyone).
One area MMND does not mention is how life expenses differ between men and women. In many areas, we pay the same the amount regardless of gender, i.e. housing, food, transportation. However, one category I suspect differs by gender is the one that in my budget is called “clothing, beauty, and hygiene.”
Why? The standard for professional women to look “put together” requires a greater expenditure of time and money than it does for men in similar positions.
Women’s fashions change more frequently than men’s. We have more options for kinds of clothes to wear. We wear makeup. We get manicures. Our haircuts cost much more. We have to shave more. We carry purses - often expensive designer handbags. We wear pantyhose (how I hate THAT one).
Some women like myself - acquiesce to these cultural standards grudgingly, seeing it as just part of getting ahead professionally; and some take a real joy in it. Rare is the woman who can escape from these standards completely; even a student who wears sweatshirts and jeans all the time may be expected to put on a dress and shave her legs for a wedding.
So, my readers, consider this a survey. (I am a market researcher, after all). If you could answer the next few questions, I’d be very appreciative.
- What is your gender?
- What is your occupation and level of responsibility? (manager, technician, etc)
- About how much have you spent on clothing for yourself in the past six months? If you don’t know, about how many shopping trips have you made? (or online purchases)
- How often do you get your hair cut? How much does it cost each time?
- What products do you use on your hair (shampoo, conditioner, sprays, gels, mousse, etc)? How much does each one cost? (if you don’t know, tell me the brand and I’ll calculate it)
- Describe your morning routine on a work day (or a day where you have to “dress up,” if you’re not currently employed).
- if you have a similar category to “clothing/beauty/hygiene” in your budget, tell me your monthly expenditure for just you.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and gleaning some data on how financial expenditure for hygiene differs between the genders.
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Female
Graduate Student, not much responsibility
~$100 on clothes in the last 6 months
Haircut every 6 months, $20
Shampoo, conditioner, leave in spray conditioner. I use pantene and dove.
Shower, put in contacts and brush teeth, dress, brush hair.
I actually don’t have that category - clothes go in fun expenditures, because I have plenty and the rest goes under “neccessary” or “food” since I get them at the grocery store.
*Male
*Instructional Technology, middle management responsibility level (although I don’t manage anyone, I have authority of direction and decision making)
*In the past 6 months I’ve spent ~$250. (slacks and buttonup cost more than jeans and sweatshirts, unfortunately) in about 3 or four trips/purchases
*Haircut every 6 months, $20
*Shampoo and Conditioner, less than $5 for the pair.
*Shower, shave, brush teeth and hair, dress (sometimes requiring ironing)
In addition to clothing I probably spend somewhere around $30 a month in hygiene/beauty. Razor blades, even for for very fancy razors, add up. The rest is fairly standard soap, shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, hair elastics, q-tips, etc. I don’t have a specific budget item for these consumables, as they’re usually bought out of a pooled ‘grocery budget’. As a cash item, it is hard to break that down meaningfully.
Oh, and I didn’t include one time expenses like Tux Rental…. that’s a) meaningless data in this survey, and b) unfair. I don’t get to keep the tux, and it costs less than the wedding dress anyhow.
Female
Clerical
Around $1000 (not including the $500 I spent on motorcycle gear)
2 times a year - $40 + tip, get about 3 manicure/pedicures per year - $100 plus tip
Shampoo, conditioner $25 every 4 months,
(negligable amount of hairspray/gel/etc, not to mention curlers, irons, hair falls - but you own them all for special events )
Get out of bed, put on clothes, brush hair, wash face, moisturize, put on make-up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, leave house - 30 minutes.
you should also compare the cost of jewellery, purses, and shoes; women are expected to accessorize more than men.
I probably spend about $200 a year on makeup and skin care.
- Female
- Technical Writer, level 2; been at the job 2.5 years and with the company 6.5 years.
- All secondhand so ~$60.
- I get my hair cut every eight weeks at $55/session.
- Twice weekly, I use Graham Webb shampoo and conditioner; once weekly, I use Herbal Essences shampoo with either Garnier Fructies leave-in conditioner or Matrix Sleek conditioner. I use either Suave mousse or Aussie spray gel for styling.
- I get up, wash my hair with either sets from above, use Bath and Body Works Orange Ginger body wash in the summer or Mango Mandarin in the winter, wash my face with Neutragena Grapefruit gel, use Aveda toner and apply Eucerine SPF 30 lotion for my face, add either mousse or spray gel to my hair, comb it and let it air dry. I then apply deordorant (Suave), lotion (if needed, also from Bath and Body Works), get dressed, brush my teeth and am out the door.
- I allocate $65 per month for personal care, but borrow from other categories for overages so likely closer to $70-75 (that perm every 9-10 months really throws to budget out of whack). This category covers all purchases that end up in the bathroom (lotions, shampoos, conditioner, styling products, deodorant, shave gel, razor blades, toilet paper, etc.) as well as trips to the stylist.
My monthly allocation for clothing is $20, but currently have a balance of $100 since I usually do not spend much in this category.
- Male
- Research associate, I don’t rule any people and nobody rules me (I have almost complete autonomy over my work).
- Hard to remember, I just got a bunch of polo shirts on freecycle (for free), and I spent $3 on 6 pairs of socks on sale. I also spent $8 on underwear, but that might have been more than six months ago.
- About every 6 weeks. My wife charges $0. Ain’t she nice? :-)
- Some big bottle of generic shampoo. I sport a buzz cut, so I don’t use a lot. My guess it that the two bottles I use costs $15 a year. For shaving a use a straight razor with replaceable blades. I replace the blade every six months. They last a long time as long as the beard is wet. I don’t use shaving cream - don’t really see the point. Also I don’t really use aftershave (what’s the point?). I use random tooth paste and sometimes baking soda. Floss. I’ll probably drop the Listerine (usually buy the big bottles with coupons at Walgreens).
- Stumble out of bed, get in the shower, wash hair, use bar soap for the rest, get out, use $3 deodorant, put on shirt and cycling shorts. Takes about 17 minutes total.
~female
~admin assistant
~i’m currently in a shopping fast, but i tend to spend about $100 or so every 6 months. (my wardrobe is fine for my work, and they provide a couple new tops a year)
~every 3 months, spend $35 after tip
~play the drugstore game so shampoo/condionter is free
~usually takes an hour to get ready - shower, wash hair, (shave if wearing skirt), lotion up, put on make up, dry/straighten hair, put on clothes (which can take any where from 2-15 minutes to find the right outfit)
~the other major “female” expenses are related to Aunt Flow. Tampons, liners (which i usually get cheap, so $2 or so a month) and $10 for birth control so that my pms/cramping isn’t so bad.
O hai ERE! I’ve been reading your blog for a week or so and loving it, so I’m happy to see you made your way here. Also a little embarassed - your simple, frugal life puts mine to shame.
Thank you - and everyone! - for your input.
Male
Middle School Teacher / Artist
Clothes - $600
Hair - once a year $30. Beard trim every three weeks $7
- MOP products Shampoo conditioner and spray about $45 every three months.
- wake at 6:10 (snooze twice), Shower, shave every other or third day, Dress, coffee, drive, coffee, work.
- Nothing earmarked but $100 a month or so. Save up three months to buy big ticket clothing. Back to School at Old Navy and Sales at Eddie Bauer or GAP.
[...] Frugal in the Fruitlands - Gender and Finance: How Much Do You Spend on Hygiene? [...]
Geees.
I cut my own hair (clipper). I cut it all off, so no shampoo.
I’ve basically got:
- soap
- deodorant
- moisturizer (for the bald head)
- sunblock (again, for the bald head)
- Labello (lip moisturizer, I’m an addict)
- ear buds (also an addict)
Clothes… I suppose about $500 per year. Most of which goes to sport-type-stuff, like running shoes or cycling pants. That’s it really!
:)
[...] Gender and finance: how much do you spend on hygiene? - Makes me glad to be a man! [...]
Female
Accountant, so professional, but not supervisory (thank heavens)
Clothing - about $200 in the last 6 months - lost some weight and had to replace part of work wardrobe.
Haircut every other month - $25 with tip.
Shampoo and Conditioner only - Salon brands, but I have a shortish “wash and wear” haircut and don’t use much - maybe $20 a month.
I shower/shave legs/do facial/lay out clothes/pack lunch in the evening after I work out and walk. So in the morning - wash face/mosturize (which is tinted, so doubles as foundation), brush/floss, brush out hair, feed dog, grab lunch out of fridge. I can make it out the door in a half hour. I’ve never worn much makeup - I tend to throw it out before it’s used up.
My personal care items other than hair care (see above) is in with the grocery budget. Maybe another $15 a month? Hummm, maybe I should break it out just to check.
“We have more options for kinds of clothes to wear. We wear makeup. We get manicures. Our haircuts cost much more. We have to shave more. We carry purses - often expensive designer handbags. We wear pantyhose”
ohhh pleeze, I’m a woman and those things do not cost much more.
I file my own nails and don’t wear expensive handbags your co workers don’t care about your handbags?
Stop making excuses. You make it sound like men do not groom themselves. They wear expensive suits and dryclean as well as get their shoes shine.
@Francois: Thanks for commenting! By the name, I’m assuming you’re male, correct?
Thanks for your thoughts, Moneymonk, though I don’t appreciate the tone.
The purpose of this article was to test that hypothesis. The sample size is small, but we’ll see.
If there’s any woman I’m making excuses for, it’s not me. I think the amount I spend on hygiene is quite minimal. However, from commenters above and from a lawyer friend, I know the range can go quite high.
I know that my coworkers DO notice when I dress nicely, cut my hair, have a manicure (which I have done once in my life, btw), so I think it is reasonable to assume they notice when I don’t look my best. Or, if you prefer, perhaps it’s best to say that enhancing your look reaps rewards, rather than, say, not getting a manicure discredits you.
[...] Sep 2008 at 06:00 pm | Tagged as: carnivals, link love I’m back from vacation! As expected, my post on gender and finance appeared in Monday’s Carnival of Personal Finance #168, hosted by One Caveman’s [...]
-Female
- Librarian
- $250. This includes a pair of sandals for $93 and about $100 on cycling attire.
- I cut my own hair (seriously!) so it’s free and happens whenever I feel like it.
- I use shampoo only. I usually use a solid shampoo bar which costs about $5 (sold by weights) and lasts for 2 months. Otherwise I use Pears which I can usually get on sale for about $2.
- Get up, shower (washing hair every other day, shave underarms in shower, don’t shave legs at all), apply deoderant, comb hair (I let it air dry or sometimes just put it in a ponytail), get dressed, eat breakfast, drink coffee while listening to radio or surfing the Internet, brush teeth, leave. My lunch is made the night before, and usually my clothes are laid out the night before too. I don’t wear makeup.
- Clothing is approximately $500 per year. I have a category for health, beauty and hygiene (includes prescription medication and supplements) which is $50 per month for me and my husband. If you don’t count the medication, I don’t think I spend more than him. He might even spend more than me because of shaving cream and razors and because he shampoos every day. I use the Keeper so I don’t have any feminine hygiene expenses.
I do think most women spend more than most men, but I don’t think they have to, and it’s perfectly possible to look reasonably professional while spending like a man.
- What is your gender? Female
- What is your occupation and level of responsibility? (manager, technician, etc)
Systems analyst.
More of a technician role than a manager as I have no one that reports to me.
- About how much have you spent on clothing for yourself in the past six months? If you don’t know, about how many shopping trips have you made? (or online purchases)
In the past 6 months, I would say maybe a couple of hundred bucks? A little more if you include the things that I ordered and returned because I didn’t like what I purchased.
- How often do you get your hair cut? How much does it cost each time?
I do my own hair and have for the past almost 6 years. When I do go for the occasional pampering session, I expect to spend $80 or more, not including tip, which is why I dont make salon visits part of my routine.
- What products do you use on your hair (shampoo, conditioner, sprays, gels, mousse, etc)? How much does each one cost? (if you don’t know, tell me the brand and I’ll calculate it)
Shampoo/Conditioner - 2.50 for the set (usually Suave) For the TreSemme 32 oz moisturizing shampoo and conditioner set I spent more, but I dont use those for every shampoo. I alternate between the products above and black soap on my hair.
- Describe your morning routine on a work day (or a day where you have to “dress up,” if you’re not currently employed).
Iron dress/slacks/blouse (whatever I am wearing that day), do make up (takes less than 10 minutes, if that), put on shoes that are at the door or under my desk at work. No matter what I wear, it takes me about a half hour to get ready for work on any given day.
- if you have a similar category to “clothing/beauty/hygiene” in your budget, tell me your monthly expenditure for just you. Other than maybe contact lens solution, soap and toothpaste, I am not sure what else would fall into this category that I purchase on a regular monthly basis.
[...] 2008 at 12:00 pm | Tagged as: Uncategorized In late August, I asked my readers, male and female, to provide insight into how much they spent on clothing, beauty and hygiene. My hypothesis is that as a professional woman it is difficult to spend frugally in the hygiene [...]
[...] also entered Gender and Finance: How Much Do Your Spend on Hygiene? in a carnival, but that won’t be out for a few more days. I am hoping to get more exposure [...]