Young Canadians are increasingly turning to TikTok, Reddit and other social media apps to get their personal finance information. A 2019 study from Statistics Canada found that 51 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34 use the internet for financial advice. In the U.S., a 2023 study found that nearly 80 per cent of millennials and Gen Z are getting financial advice from social media.
However, Tsai says that it’s important to be wary of online advice; sometimes it can advise risky “get-rich-quick” behaviours, like investing in meme stocks like GameStop. “Use a dose of caution and talk to experts,” he says. Expert POV: “People make leaps of logic to try to justify purchases and decisions all the time,” Tsai says. But purchases need to be looked at in the bigger picture. Tsai’s advice is to dig deep and think past the rationalization: Think about whether or not girl math is explaining away spending habits that are problematic, like overspending or being underpaid, and don’t let it cloud your judgment.
Sylvia Marie is a PhD student and says that her stipend from school doesn’t cover the cost of living in her city, so loud budgeting is a necessity. “I’m very intentional with my spending and a lot of that involves communicating to other people what my budget is,” she explains. For example, she doesn’t order takeout ever, instead preferring to cook at home and use the money she’s saved from delivery fees for nights out with friends. She’s upfront about her budget with friends and colleagues .
“I look at how much I spent in that category over the last few months and cut it down drastically,” she explains. For example, Gill says she was ordering UberEats multiple times a week, at over $30 per order. Now, she limits herself to one order a week. For shopping, Gill says she’ll cut herself off until certain dates: like, no shopping until Black Friday.