Podcast 88 - B2 Money expressions

Hello, and welcome back to Practising English. And I have a question for you to start off. Are you in the money? That means, do you have lots of money? Well, that's what I'm going to be talking about today. This is a B2 session about money and all the words and expressions related to that subject. So here we go....

Money words for children and teenager life

B2 level money expressions - piggy bank

Okay, so first of all, I'm going to talk about money for students and a student way of life. One difference perhaps, between students and adults is that a student won't have a bank account. In the UK and many European countries, you can't have a bank account until you are 18. So as a student, if you are under 18, well then, where do you put your money? Well, I used to put my money in a piggy bank, which was a little ceramic pig with a slot at the top and you put your coins in there. And then traditionally when it was full up and you had saved lots of money, well then you would hit it with a hammer and break it open! Or perhaps it's got a little hole in the bottom with a lid on there and you can pull off the lid and take your money out.

So that's one thing you can do with your savings. Savings is the money that you save up. So that's the phrasal verb. You save up for something, maybe a special gift you want to buy somebody or maybe you are saving up for yourself and that is to put money aside so that you have the amount that you need to buy whatever it is.

If you are a student, you know, still living at home, you may get an allowance - an allowance is something that our parents give us every week. So we can spend it on things like meeting up with friends, or hanging out with friends. You know, so you can buy yourself a hamburger or a pizza or maybe you have a hobby. Perhaps you like reading and you want to buy a book. So you need an allowance for that. I remember we used to call that pocket money when we were children. Pocket money was the money that our parents gave us every week. And that money can be perhaps earned by doing jobs.

In some countries like the UK, it was quite common for children or teenagers at school to do part-time jobs. Yes, I mean, even before we went to school [I mean early in the morning before we started school] I can remember I had a paper round and that was a job where you go around the houses of your neighbourhood, distributing newspapers. You've probably seen that in the films, especially the American films where they ride along with their bicycle and throw the newspapers towards the houses as they ride by. Well in my day. It was different. We had to get off our bicycle and take the newspaper, push it through the letterbox at every house. And if there was a bad-tempered dog there, well, we would have to run pretty quick to get away from it!

So we had a part-time job, and we used to save money that way. So where do you keep your money? Well, as I said, I used to have a piggy bank. But you may just have a wallet. And a wallet is that leather or plastic thing that you keep in your pocket. And it's usually for putting notes in - so the bank notes are the paper money. That's the paper money and you put that in your wallet or a purse. A purse usually has a zip on it, which you open and that is usually for keeping coins in - that's the metallic money, metal money.

Okay, so if you are a child or if you are a teenager, you will probably have a budget and that is really the limit of the amount of money that you can spend on things for yourself or presents for other people. And that's a budget. In fact, we always have a budget - even as adults too. There's always a limit to how much we can spend, isn't there? S

Spending money is the word we use when we pay for things - when we buy things. And it's important not to waste money. Waste is spending money on things that we don't really need. And afterwards we regret having bought that thing. You know something like a phone cover for your mobile phone, which you buy and then you decide you don't like it [and you] go and buy another one. And then there are two other verbs that we use regarding money which are to lend money and to borrow money. So it's interesting in English, you have to lend, which is to give some money to somebody for a limited time, maybe for two weeks. So you say, here's 10 euros. Give it back to me in two weeks time. So the person who takes that money borrows the money. So you have lend and borrow. And if you borrow money, well then you owe money. And to owe means that you must pay that money back. Whether you're a teenager or an adult, that's something which is going to be part of our lives - owing money. Okay, so a quick test on some of those words. I'll give you a definition and you have to answer when you hear the tone.

So the first one is... - [test on 4 words]

Money words for adults who earn a living

B2 language for money - atm

Right. Let's go on then. I'm going to talk now, about money from the perspective of adults. So when you're 18 or over, you can have a bank account. So you open a bank account. And that means then that you can take out money or withdraw money from a cashpoint also called an ATM. And you will have a card usually a debit card. A debit card is a card which takes money directly out of your bank account. Or you may have a credit card. A credit card is that you can have money for a limited time, which is perhaps more than the money you have in your bank account. Or rather it's not money from your bank account, but it's the money that the bank loans you. Then you must pay that back. And perhaps when you pay it back. You have to pay with interest.

So you take out money and well, the money you take out is money that you have earned, usually, in your job because now you'll be financially independent - hopefully. So the money you get from your job or you earn is your earnings or your income. And that income will be paid into your bank account usually. But, of course, during the month we have expenses. We have to pay electricity. We have to pay for the water. We have to pay the mortgage. The mortgage is a loan that you pay on the house that you buy and it's important not to be overdrawn. Overdrawn, is when you take out more money from your bank account than you have. And so you get into debt. And that's something we want to avoid! Well, you can check all that anyway by looking at your bank balance or your bank statement. And those words mean the piece of paper, perhaps, or by looking into a mobile phone which is connected to your bank account, you can see exactly how much you have in your bank. And that is the balance or statement.

So the things that we need to buy, we may have a bill for or an invoice and the invoice or bill is the amount that we have to pay. Or if you go to a restaurant, for example you have a meal, they will give you a bill and that will say how much you owe for the food that you have eaten. So bill is usually quite a colloquial word I suppose. And invoice is a more formal word.

Okay, so going on then we've got the word to purchase. And to purchase is just a formal word for 'to buy'. And we can buy with our credit card or by debit card, or you can pay for something in cash. For example, when we go shopping, and when you pay for something in cash, you will get the change back. So if something costs 30 euros and you give a banknote of 50 euros, you will get 20 euros change.

Finally, of course if we want to save money, it's best to buy things in the sales. Because in the sales we get a lot of discounts and discounts means reduced prices on products that usually are perhaps more expensive. A quick test on those words (or some of them) what is another word for to buy?

[Test on four words...]

All right then. So what's important then in life is to get by - we may not be the wealthiest people in the world but it's important to at least get by. To be able to pay the bills. And if you can do that, well you're a very fortunate person!

Until next time, goodbye for now!

Play a hangman game with these money words and expressions...