Jan 12, 2026
An Indianapolis couple in their 20s seem like they’ve cracked the code on financial harmony with one household, two similar incomes, and a neat 50/50 split when it comes to spending.
But when wife Alexis insisted she should get more spending money because “it is more expensive to be a woman,” her husband Matt wrote to financial advisor, author, and podcast host Suze Orman to ask for advice — and Orman had some choice words for the couple. [1]
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For women, the cost of simply existing, whether it’s dressing for work, maintaining hair and skin, or buying basic hygiene products, is higher — often referred to as the “pink tax.”
Research says women really are charged more than their male counterparts for products that are marketed to women, so does that mean they should get a bigger slice of the household budget?
Required expenses versus wants
Matt told Orman that he and Alexis have worked hard to pay off credit card debt, track their spending, and have been working on getting their financial act together.
Alexis pointed out that she likes to maintain certain grooming standards to keep a professional appearance, including regular haircuts and coloring, manicures, business suits and proper undergarments. “A lot of people agree, it is just more expensive to be a woman,” she told Orman. She even suggested a one-third/two-thirds split might be more equitable.
The couple had already bumped up Alexis’ budget by 10% for six months, but Alexis felt it still wasn’t enough.
Orman acknowledged the reality: “Sometimes I go into the men’s department and their shirts are less… our dry cleaning is more… so she’s right there.” But she didn’t let Alexis off the hook either.
Orman asked whether Alexis’s “required expenses” were truly required or whether she could compromise. She mentioned that her current haircuts cost $150 a month, so Orman asked could she find a cheaper place? Does she actually need enough undergarments to last a month without doing laundry and two weeks’ worth of business suits?
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Orman said she had a feeling that no matter what amount of money she budgeted, that Alexis would spend it.
Even though it does cost more to be a woman, a couple still has to operate within the budget they actually have and her final words of wisdom were that, “It doesn’t matter if you think you should spend more; you don’t have the money to spend more. The two of you are in this together… protect this money.” (1)
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The ‘pink tax’ and your household budget
Research on the pink tax includes a blockbuster report from New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. Their 2015 analysis, From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer, compared nearly 800 items across 35 categories. The result was that women pay an average of 7% more than men for comparable products (2).
Some of the examples included:
- 13% more for women’s personal-care products
- 8% more for adult women’s clothing
- 4% more for children’s clothing
A 2022 Cato Institute brief found women’s personal-care goods cost about 11% more than men’s versions — even when made by the same manufacturer (3). So that fancy razor “designed for her curves”? It’s often the same as the men’s version, just pricier and, often, pink.
There’s also the cousin of the pink tax: pink tariffs. These are higher import taxes on women’s items versus men’s. As The Guardian reported (4), these tariffs are written straight into the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule and cost American women at least $2.5 billion a year.
Some eye-opening examples are:
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- Men’s silk underwear tariff: 0.9%
- Women’s silk underwear tariff: 2.1%
- Women’s wool coat tariff: nearly double the rate applied to men’s
- Unisex clothing gets taxed at the women’s rate
Sheng Lu, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware, told The Guardian these are “the results of decades-old negotiations influenced by simple misogyny.”
“Men dominated these discussions, and women were not fully considered in these negotiations, and that’s a very important reason for the impact and legacy of the pink tariffs.”
So, Alexis has a point: being a woman does cost more. The pink tax and pink tariffs are real, with research proving that women face higher prices on everything from razors to blazers. That means couples need to talk honestly about the fact that equal doesn’t always mean fair.
Social inequity doesn’t mean a free pass to overspend. Instead, consider some tips to make sure your household budget makes sense for you and your family, regardless of gender:
- A budget that accounts for real cost differences, but still respects the household’s actual income.
- A wants-versus-needs reality check for both partners.
- Transparency and open communication, because shame, secrecy, and resentment can blow up budgets and relationships.
The system may be stacked against women, but a good partnership means working together to make sure the household budget works for everyone.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Suze Orman (1); ReadKong (2); Cato Institute (3); The Guardian (4).
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Jessica is a freelance writer with a professional background in economic development and small business consulting. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Sociology and is completing her Publishing Certificate.
