"Men think of money as a river. As long as the flow coming in covers what is going out, all is okay. Women think of money as a lake. If the levels dips a bit, for any reason, there’s cause for concern."

This is not a male/female thing. It is the difference between the frugal (who want to get value for the money they spend) and the spendthrifts.

It is all about whether a person is embarrassed for being frugal because our society has targeted such people as being "cheap". The spendthrifts - probably over 80% of adults - are terrified about what "people will think" if they don't have something that advertisers tell them they are supposed to have.