💰 Money & Finance Vocabulary

Part 1: Money Collocations

Collocations are words that naturally go together. Master these to talk about money like a native!

Collocation	Example	Meaning
save money	"I'm trying to save money for a holiday."	Keep money for future use
spend money	"Don't spend all your money at once!"	Use money to buy things
waste money	"You're wasting money on that!"	Spend money foolishly
borrow money	"Can I borrow some money?"	Get money temporarily
lend money	"I'll lend you some money."	Give money temporarily
earn money	"I earn good money at my job."	Get money from work
make money	"He makes a lot of money."	Earn or profit
owe money	"I owe him money."	Need to pay someone back

Collocation	Example
pocket money	"My kids get pocket money every week."
spare money	"I don't have any spare money right now."
easy money	"There's no such thing as easy money!"
hard-earned money	"Don't waste your hard-earned money."
big money	"He's making big money now."

1. I'm trying to money for a car.

2. Can I some money from you?

3. Don't your money on that!

4. I him £50.

5. She good money at her job.

Idioms are expressions with meanings different from the literal words. These money idioms are super common!

Cost an arm and a leg - Very expensive
"That car cost me an arm and a leg!"
Break the bank - Cost too much money
"This holiday will break the bank."
Money doesn't grow on trees - Money is limited
"You can't have everything! Money doesn't grow on trees."
Make ends meet - Have enough money to live
"It's hard to make ends meet these days."
Tighten your belt - Spend less money
"We need to tighten our belts this month."
Pay through the nose - Pay too much
"I paid through the nose for that phone!"
A penny for your thoughts - What are you thinking?
"You look worried. A penny for your thoughts?"
In the red - In debt, losing money
"My account is in the red this month."
In the black - Making profit
"Finally, the business is in the black!"

1. That watch cost an arm and a !

2. Money doesn't grow on .

3. We need to make ends .

4. Let's tighten our this month.

5. My account is in the .

Phrasal verbs are verbs combined with prepositions or adverbs that create new meanings!

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
pay back	Return borrowed money	"I'll pay you back tomorrow."
pay off	Finish paying debt	"I finally paid off my loan!"
save up	Save money for something	"I'm saving up for a new laptop."
put aside	Save money regularly	"Put aside £50 each month."
live on	Survive with certain income	"I can't live on this salary!"
get by	Manage with limited money	"We're getting by, but it's tough."
splash out	Spend a lot on something	"Let's splash out on dinner tonight!"
rip off	Charge too much	"They ripped me off!"

Pay back vs Pay off - "Pay back" = return money to someone. "Pay off" = finish paying completely

Save up vs Put aside - Both mean save money, but "save up" focuses on the goal

Get by vs Live on - "Get by" = barely manage. "Live on" = survive with specific amount

1. I'll you back tomorrow.

2. I'm up for a holiday.

3. Let's out on a nice meal!

4. I finally off my car loan!

5. We're just by this month.

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💰 Excellent! Now you can talk about money like a native speaker!