Male to Female ratio?

[Broken Arrow]

Haw haw. That's funny Jackie. You remind me of a joke I heard once:

"A great woman is someone who makes the man feel like he's the chairman of the board when he's only the head of the entertainment committee."

I am a dominant personality, but even I learned to say, "Yes dear".

[PrincessPerky]

yes dear has its place..and so does 'no way dear'.....
from both myself and my husband...if I was in charge we wouldn't have bought a house...not the end of the world, but I like my house...
if he was in charge we would still have CC debt, not large but he likes to buy more..fun now...

With a partnership we can work together..two heads are only better than one if both are working for a common goal......A better more secure life for our family.

[pearlieq]

You know, my original thought on why there is such a disparity in the gender ration here (though, as has been pointed out, this is by no means an accurate measurement) had nothing to do with who was more thrifty/budget minded, but rather who would be more likely to join a social group discussing money matters.

In my mind, women are more likely to join a discussion-based social grouping than men. We're usually more verbal and more likely to seek support in other people. When my DH has a money question it wouldn't really occur to him to ask in a forum like this. He would just go out, do independent research, and come to the best conclusion he can with the information.

Every once in a while I'll see one of DH's technology discussion boards, which are about 90% male. The discussions are generally terse and problem-focused. Aside from some male posturing, there isn't too much chit-chat.

That's my thought on the issue, anyway.

[Broken Arrow]

Ah yes, pearlieq, I agree completely with those observations. It does typically seem to be that way, doesn't it? I have noticed that as well.

Actually, I have also thought that money would be a male-dominated issue as well? I know, I know... how wrong I have been. Well, it's just that you'd think guys would love the idea of investing (money working instead of guy working), being "rich", and getting to call the shots. Hmm... now that I think about it though, most of their "plans" has to do with spending and not saving....

In fact, I didn't realize that so many women are so keen on finances until I came here. But then, I did live under a rock with a woman that wasn't.

[Bookie]

Posted by Broken Arrow
In fact, I didn't realize that so many women are so keen on finances until I came here. But then, I did live under a rock with a woman that wasn't.

It occurs to me that a "dominent personality" of my acquaintance had better be careful what he posts, or he might find himself back under a rock."

[Broken Arrow]

I'm sorry, bookie. I have absolute no idea what you are referring to. Again.

Is my foot-in-mouth disease acting up again or something?

[Ima saver]

I think you are doing great, broken arrow!

[PRICEPLUS]

I let my wife make most of the decisions and I go along on most things. When it came to money I put my foot down and made a stand. My wife is a lovely person but she is a spendthrift.

I don't care about most things as I am very easy going. I will only take a stand on things I feel are very important. In this fashion my wife realizes that I am as serious as a heart attack when I take a stand on something.

I don't think I am henpecked. I think it is just easier to agree with the wife on most things and be resolute in defense of a few things.

[JanH]

I get tickled when I think about my mom. She made a fraction of the money my dad did, but did way better than him in investments and frugality. So many people thought she was wrong, but in the long run, she was very right. She probably did ask more questions and had a different viewpoint than dad. Makes me hopeful I'll learn enough to do well, also.

[jodi]

To take this one step further...I wonder what the breakdown would be on individual forums. i.e. investing vs. freebies vs. coupons/recipes. I think we might find some more division of the sexes there, although I will keep my gender-based preconceptions to myself
Although I will say my expectation to find more women, for example, on the freebies board is based on time I have spent there, not any other preconceived notion I might have.

[sweeps]

General discussion, freebies, coupons, food & recipes, frugal Q&A -> More women
Personal finance, investing and banking -> More men

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Broken Arrow

I am constantly surprised by the number of females on this forum. Better yet, there are some who turned out to be female whom I originally thought was male!

Old Joke:
You may be spending too much time on the internet if...
you don't know the gender of your five best friends because they all have gender neutral screen names and you haven't bothered to ask.

(been there, done that. )

[Gruntina]

I know in a few cases that my girlfriends wait too long in hoping they find a Prince Charming to rescue them. When that doesn’t happen, they see their financial problems get worse and in bad shape and make it hard for them to get their own place and so on. When they reach that point of realizing that no one will take care of them, they are driven to fix their problems and work hard at finding ways to be thrifty. This is just a few cases and not at all a generalization.

[Broken Arrow]

Erg. After what I went through with my ex, NO WAY am I going to be the only one to worry about finances any longer! NO MORE!

The next woman (if there is a next woman) will just have to take some interest in it and have the same basic goals as I do. FINANCIAL FREEDOM!

THEN we can talk about romantic seaside strolls in a horse-drawn carriage, up to our seaside chateau equipped with satellite TV, 100" plasma screens, 1080p HDMI fed XBox 360 / PS3 love, and getting it on in multiplayer online capture-the-flag fragilicious mayhem bew bew! Bang! Kersplat....

What?

[tinapbeana]

I love that this poll is busting up some preconcieved notions about who is better with money/who handles the money/whatever. just some thoughts to add.

• as someone had mentioned before, many women were 100% dependant on their husbands in the past (whether by choice or by force or a little of both). thing is, woman have lived longer than men for many a moon now, so all these women were left with no financial clue when their spouses died. in my area, there is an entire historic district that was prev known as the widows district. all these grand, fab homes that went to hell in a handbasket after WWII: all the men head of households died in the war, and their spouses left behind had no means or knowledge of finances, income, or maintaining their house. it took about 25 years for that area to get cleaned up and made a historic district. maybe the number of women in charge of finances now has a tie to these kinds of experiences: it's definitely within memory.
  
• maybe (don't shoot me!) being better with finances has some sort of link to shopping history. now i'm not just talking the prada gucci type of shopping here, anything will do including groceries. IMO, people who shop like to find deals, even those who are typically wasteful with their money: it's the thrill of the hunt and the challenge. shopping is a practice where you try to find the better deal, the better sale, and figure out of the 28 oz can of peas for 50 cent is a better deal than 10 oz cans 10 for a dollar.
  
• in a galaxy far far away in a time not so long ago, i think many of us watched out mothers control the finances when they were SAHMs with no income of their own. being good with finances and being able to set some aside in a cookie jar for a rainy day was in a lot of ways the only control they had over their own well-being.

as for me, DH's finances were in a mess when he met me, and he even spent about 6 months catching up on check advances after we got together. he started giving me the bulk of his paycheck well before we were married in order to make sure his bills got paid on time. for the two of us, it's a personality thing. plus, i just got a job 2 mos ago making about 35% more than i was, so with higher income comes higher responsibility...

[Hez]

Hm, this raises some interesting questions! I'm definitely more thrifty than my brothers despite being raised in the same environment. With one of my bros especially, if he gets money as a gift or whatnot it seems to burn a hole through his pocket, whereas I'm more likely to save it or spend it on something I absolutely need.

I always thought that this was just a personality thing, but now I wonder if it has anything to do with gender!

[Mabuisakura]

Now it is 17Men to 53 Women. I think women are the more thrifty ones. b/c most of them are the homemaker no matter if they work or not. I know once I became a WAHM I tried to become more frugal. My husband on the husband on the other hand sucks at saving money!

[Broken Arrow]

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but my current hypothesis is that women tend to think more along the lines of marriage, children, and having a home on the prairie. Be it by interest, necessity, or both. These endeavors, I think, do require having a sense of personal finances, no?

Men are interested in such things as well... but not as much I think. I think, if it comes down to it, some of us guys are willing to put up with a run-down shack if it means filling it with our favorite gadgets and toys, and living the party boy life.

Of course, there are always exceptions, and I'm just musing. Still, it is an interesting statistic, isn't it? Hard to believe that, once upon a time, I thought women had no interest in finances while most men did. What a misguided life I led.

[rduell]

I am female and definitely the financial one in our family. At one time my DH tried doing the finances to save me the stress, but it stressed me out more to see him put the paychecks aside and not make deposits for days afterward! And working with finances is something I love to do, hence the work on my accounting degree!

[Diolla]

Originally Posted by Broken Arrow

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but my current hypothesis is that women tend to think more along the lines of marriage, children, and having a home on the prairie. Be it by interest, necessity, or both. These endeavors, I think, do require having a sense of personal finances, no?

Men are interested in such things as well... but not as much I think. I think, if it comes down to it, some of us guys are willing to put up with a run-down shack if it means filling it with our favorite gadgets and toys, and living the party boy life.

Of course, there are always exceptions, and I'm just musing. Still, it is an interesting statistic, isn't it? Hard to believe that, once upon a time, I thought women had no interest in finances while most men did. What a misguided life I led.

Our perceptions are based on our environment, if I remember correctly you come from a very traditional Asian background and you wife was not very financially oriented. Your perceptions were probably correct from your experience. I have found through my experience that almost any pre-conceived notion can be changed by surrounding yourself with others who do not have the same notions. To me this is one of the advantages of the internet and forums like this one, different points of view.

Wow, did I write that? I should be a shrink! LOL