What is TikTok’s viral ‘girl math’ trend?

Girl math is a phenomenon that has taken social media by storm recently, especially on TikTok where it has become its own trend. But what exactly is girl math?

TikTok is a hotspot for a variety of different trends and challenges, with new ones going viral almost every day, and taking over people’s For You Pages across the world.

This summer, numerous girl trends have blown up on the platform, including the viral ‘Girl Dinner’ fad, the ‘lazy girl job’ phenomenon, and Hailey Bieber’s popular ‘strawberry girl’ aesthetic.

The latest one to take off on TikTok is the ‘girl math’ financial trend. Although it only started this month, the hashtag for the phrase has already amassed over 37.8 million views on the app. Here’s everything to know about it.

What is the ‘girl math’ TikTok trend?

‘Girl math’ is about justifying spending habits and believing that certain purchases are free if the money is spent well in advance. As many people were initially confused about this trend, content creator samjamessssss posted a TikTok video explaining it.

“It’s essentially fun logic,” she said. “If you buy something with cash, especially if it was found in a pocket and you didn’t know you had it, it’s free. Girl math. If you return something and the money gets put on a gift card and then you spend the gift card later, also free. Girl math.”

After her clip went viral with 3.2 million views, thousands of users have begun sharing their own videos and explaining how they use this “logic.”

“Anything under $5 is free. Anything I buy with a gift card is free. If I buy something and then I return it, I’ve made money,” TikToker Kenna wrote in her video. “If I paid for it with cash, it was free, it doesn’t count. Nothing came out of my account,” said user Sarah LeMoine in her post.

While the concept’s gone viral on TikTok, according to Elite Daily, the trend began on a radio show in New Zealand called ‘Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley,‘ which discussed using “girl math” to explain why a caller would actually be making money by spending $400 on hair extensions for her wedding.