Periods Taught Me How Gender Shapes Spending

If you had told me a few years ago that my period would teach me something about economics, I would have laughed. But here I am, a university student, calculating how much my uterus is costing me every month – and realising that it is much more than just an inconvenience. It has become a financial burden that many of us carry quietly, one that my male friends do not have to think about once.

An Unexpected Monthly Expense

When I was younger and learnt about periods, everything really felt quite simple. You bleed, you manage it, and you repeat. But as I’ve grown up and started managing my own money, I’ve realised just how expensive having a period can be.

When you’re on a student budget, every penny counts. I have a particularly heavy period, which means I’m constantly running down to the local Lidl to restock. It is not optional, it is a basic necessity – yet one that comes with a price tag that racks up fast. Shop-bought pain relief, pads, and spare underwear every so often – it’s a massive shopping list that is all just to get through the week.

But that isn’t even the most frustrating part! It really bothers me that my male friends are able to budget for things like food deliveries, an extra coffee, a game, whilst I’m looking for “two-for-one” offers on sanitary products. This is an unspoken issue that keeps quietly widening the gender gap, and it’s about time we started talking about it openly.

The Gender Gap in Everyday Spending

We often talk about the gender pay gap – and rightly so – but we never seem to mention the gender spending gap.

Women are always expected to spend more – whether it’s on period products, beauty products or contraceptives. It is not about luxuries; a lot of the time it is about basic hygiene.

In the UK, period products were subject to VAT – the infamous tampon tax – until fairly recently. Although that is no longer in place, the impact of years of normalised expense still lingers. We have internalised the belief that this monthly cost is ours alone to bear, as if it’s simply part of the deal. But I’ve started to question why we have just accepted it.

A Shift In Thinking – and Spending

Eventually, I hit a point where I was fed up. I couldn’t afford to keep going as I was, especially not twice, maybe three times every month. So, I started looking into more cost-effective ways to manage my period – and to my surprise, I actually had options.

I discovered period pants and menstrual cups, but was, at first, sceptical. Were they hygienic? Were they comfortable? As it turns out, yes. And even better, they saved me much more than I expected.

My first purchase of a period pant was a risky move - £15 felt like a stretch. But since then, I have bought about seven pairs which have lasted me over a year. Apart from the occasional pad here and there, I haven’t had to do monthly top ups of my stash – and, honestly, avoiding panic-buying products is incredible. Just a few pairs of period pants meet my needs – even as someone with a heavy period. Since this, I have started to feel less like I am being taxed for being a woman and more like I have reclaimed some control.

Still a Privilege, Still a Problem

Of course, not everyone has the ability to make that change as it requires quite a bit of upfront money and research time – resources that not many people have.

But this should not be happening. Women shouldn't be put in the situation of deciding between a meal or a pad. We have to remember that period products are a right, not a luxury.

As a university student, I know I’m in a privileged position, which makes me all the more aware of how much more difficult it must be for others. It should be the norm for institutions, public spaces and, eventually, shops, to offer free period products. If we advocate for this, we are not just tackling “period poverty”, we are making a statement: that having a uterus shouldn’t come with a price tag.

What I’ve Learnt

If my time at university has taught me anything, it is that budgeting is not just about rent and food. It is about the subtle ways that gender shapes our spending. Whilst I have learnt to be resourceful, I have also learnt that this is a huge problem. It is a part of a wider injustice affecting too many women around the world, and needs to be stopped.

We need to have more open conversations, not just about our periods but about the cost of our periods. And, most importantly, these conversations can’t be limited to women alone – everyone needs to be included. Only when we stop treating the cost of period products as a basic expense and start seeing it as an extra, can we begin to close the spending gap.

In the end, it is not just about saving money, it is about reducing period poverty and amplifying gender equity around the world.