Can't help with your question I'm afraid, but this sentence popped out at me. I have long secretly thought that the ladies in my life tended to spend more money on things I considered unnecessary, while ignoring the fact that although, on a day to day and week to week basis, I keep my spending down, I tend to make a smaller number of discretionary purchases, but on bigger ticket items. In my case, the purchases were mainly ham radio and photography gear.
I wonder if that's a typical difference between the way men and women make their discretionary purchases, as our toys tend to be more expensive? I'm wary of over-generalizing though, as I know both men and women who don't conform to this pattern. I also know someone who is gender-fluid, who seems to spend quite a lot on clothes and make-up, which serves to confuse my hastily-constructed "model" of spending patterns even more