As a guy, a girl saying that just disconnects me from her, unless she does it very attractively for whatsoever reason.If he accepts my frame of “Hey, this isn’t a date or anything, I can pay for myself”, then I know he’s not interested.
Rule #1: insecure men can't handle you saying you can pay for yourself.
They want to feel they have you on the hook and otherwise start pulling away
Rule #2: provider type men don't like you saying that, because they want to feel proud of themselves when they pay for you
Rule #3: role-playing guys don't like you saying that because it may feel like a shit-test and anti-feminine
Rule #4: guys that love femininity as a concept and define it as submissiveness OR entitledment, can think such a direct approach is not desirable in a girl.
Rule #5: cocky men can go two ways with this statement: first one is: ok nice, she can pay for herself, i don't need to pay; second one is the outcome you want, but it's very culture dependent and also on their own ego dependent.
Don't forget in the beginning it's a game of attraction and a play.
Rule #6: a good partner is someone that knows when to allow someone else to take care of him or her; that's a hard one though.
Rule #7: if you risk coming across as having a tad of masculine energy, not letting a guy pay is not going to help it at all! Letting a guy pay can also signal a high value woman to some not PUA guys. Don't allow what guys at this forum like be the only example of what to accept from men.