Money and Cash

raise money

We’re organizing a concert to raise money for charity.

pay money

I paid a lot of money for that car. It cost me over £20,000.

refund money

If you’re unhappy with the product, just bring it back and we’ll refund your money.

lend or borrow money

Could you lend me £5? I’m flat broke.

> You already owe me £10, so borrow it from somebody else!

inherit money

When her father dies, she’s going to inherit a lot of money!

run out of money

Building has stopped because the construction company has run out of money.

earn money

What’s your salary? How much money do you earn?

save money

I try to save some money each week. I usually manage about £20.

spending money

How much spending money are you taking with you on holiday?

extra money

I’m paid badly, so I work in a bar in the evening to make a bit of extra money.

pocket money

How much pocket money did your parents use to give you?

missing money

All bank employees are being questioned by police about the missing money.

accept/take cash

The shops only accept cash. You won’t be able to use your credit card.

have cash on (you)

Do you have any spare cash on you? I’ve left my wallet at home.

carry cash

I never carry much cash with me, just enough to pay for lunch and my bus fare.

pay cash

Customers are offered a 20% discount on all products if they pay cash.

Notes   

Note the following ways of talking about a lot of money:

• He’s making good/loads of/fantastic amounts of money.

Note the expression:

• The council spent £1,000,000 on Queen’s visit. What a waste of public money!

Note the following expressions with ‘cash’:

• I’m short of cash / strapped for cash just now. (don’t have enough money)
• Do you wish to be paid in cash or by cheque?
• The plumber says he wants cash in advance.
• You can make a withdrawal from most cash machines /cash dispensers with this card.

 

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Saving, Fortune, and Debt

spend your savings

We spent all our savings on an expensive holiday.

fall back on your savings

When she lost her job she had to fall back on her savings to get by.

cheat somebody out of

He was jailed for cheating thousands of investors out of their life savings.

build up your savings

I’ve decided to build up my savings by putting 20% of my salary in the bank.

put your savings into (the bank)

He won’t put his savings into the bank. He says his money is safer at home!

cost a fortune

Her dress must have cost an absolute fortune.

come into a fortune

He came into a considerable fortune when his uncle passed away.

lose a fortune

My grandfather was a millionaire, but he lost his fortune when the stock market crashed in 1929.

save a fortune

If you install double glazing, you’ll save a fortune on heating bills.

make a fortune

The Rolling Stones have made a fortune from sales of their music.

spend a fortune

My sister spends a fortune on clothes. I don’t know where she gets all the money from.

pay off your debts

He tried to borrow money from me to pay off his gambling debts.

get into debts

It’s very easy to get into serious debt by using a credit card.

run up debts

She’s run up debts of nearly £6,000 on her credit card.

be faced with debts

Faced with mounting debts, they were forced to sell their house.

write off debts

I think that the World Bank should write off the debts of poor countries.

Notes   

Note these expressions with ‘savings’:

• I paid for the car out of my savings.
• With this account you have instant access to your savings.
• Repair bills can make a big hole in your savings. (use up a lot of your savings)

Note these expressions with ‘fortune’:

• I thought the painting would be worth a fortune, but they only offered me £100.
• A lot of young people come to the city in search of fame and fortune.

Note the following ways of describing a lot of debt:

• Many students are heavily/deeply in debt by the time they finish university.
• She’s up to her ears up her neck in debt.

 

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Price

prices rise or fall

The price of oil has risen steeply this year.

the price includes (postage and packing)

The price includes flights and two weeks’ accommodation. Please note that the price excludes local taxes.

haggle over the price

It’s customary in many countries to negotiate how much you pay for things at the market, so it is important that you learn how to haggle over prices.

agree on a price

We didn’t buy the house. It was impossible to agree on a price with the owners.

afford the price

Few people can afford the prices they’re asking. £55 is far too much for a ticket.

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These sentences mean an increase in the price:

There’s a shortage of housing in the area, so house prices are expected to rise.

Prices shot up last year. They are nearly three times as expensive now.

The government has put up the price of cigarettes again. I’ll have to stop smoking.

These sentences mean a decrease in the price:

The theatre is hoping to increase its audience by cutting the price of tickets.

>Yes. They’ve slashed their prices by almost 50%.

It’s amazing how much computers have come down in price over the past few years.

>Yes. Prices have dropped quite a bit since I bought my first computer 15 years ago.

Oil prices fell to $5 a barrel – the lowest for ten years.

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half price

The table was slightly damaged, so he only charged me half price for it.

the full price

I’m sorry – children over five must pay the full entry price to the show.

competitive prices

Our prices are very competitive. They’re as low as any other shop in the area.

a fixed price

Unlike the prices in the market, our prices are fixed and not negotiable.

extortionate prices

It’s a good hotel, but their prices are extortionate. It cost me £15 for cup of coffee! How can they get away with charging such high prices?

Notes   

Note the adverbs we use to describe a big increase or decrease in price:

• The price of materials has risen sharply, so we have been forced to increase our charges.
• The price of our shares on the stock market has fallen dramatically.
• Due to a shortage of flour, the price of bread has risen alarmingly.
• House prices in the city rose steeply last year.

Note the following expressions:

• They can do the work for you, at a price. (it will cost a lot of money)
• The people now want peace at any price. (willing to do anything to get it)
• You can’t put a price on friendship. (impossible to say how valuable it is)

 

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Fee and Charge

pay a fee

If you have a television in Britain, you have to pay an annual license fee.

charge a fee

The bank will charge you a small fee for setting up the account.

waive the fee

Tuition fees are waived for the unemployed, who get the course free.

increase/raise the fee

They are thinking of increasing/raising the annual fee to £ 500 a year. I don’t see how they can do that when the fees went up by over £100 last year.

a nominal fee

For a nominal fee of £2, hotel guests can use the facilities at the leisure center.

a flat fee

We charge a flat fee of £25 per hour – the same for all our customers.

the normal fee

We only charge £500 per year. This is a considerable saving on the normal fee.

a reasonable fee

I think £ 20 for a check-up is a very reasonable fee! Pete paid over £50!

a high fee

Tom Cruise commands one of the highest fees in Hollywood.

a record fee

Zidane was transferred from Juventus for a record fee of $76 million.

an additional fee

Once you’ve paid the annual £350 subscription, there are no additional fees.

an extra charge

The room’s £30, and breakfast is provided at no extra charge.

add a service charge

In Britain, some restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill.

free of charge

Buy a dishwasher and you get a toaster free of charge.

waive charges

The bank will waive the charges as the mistake was partly ours.

Notes   

Note this expression:

• The singer wanted half his fee paid up front.

Note how we describe a charge which covers administration costs:

• Your monthly payments include a handling charge of 50p per month.
• Please note that there’s a £1 booking charge for each ticket.

 

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Expense

save the expense

When I went to university, I decided to stay with my parents as it would save me the expense of renting a flat.

be worth the expense

Buying a bigger house was certainly worth the expense. Life is so much more comfortable now.

spare no expenses

No expense was spared to make the film a success. Million of pounds were spent on advertising alone.

go to the expense of

Why go to the expense of buying new clothes when you never go out!

justify the expense

We don’t need another car. The one we’ve got is fine. I don’t see how we can justify the expense of a second car.

medical expenses

Your insurance policy will cover all medical expenses incurred during your time in hospital.

extra expense

I try to fly business class if it’s a long flight. I think it’s worth the extra expense.

living expenses

They just manage to get by on his salary. It’s just enough to meet the family’s living expenses.

operating expenses

The obvious way to reduce the company’s high operating expenses is to cut staff.

traveling expenses

Make sure you fill out a form to claim your traveling expenses after you have finished the interview.

at your own expense

We had to repair the damage to our house at our own expense.

at great expense

The old lifts were replaced at great expense to the college.

at no extra expense

The price includes full use of the leisure facilities at no extra expense.

Notes   

‘Expenses’ are the extra costs involved in your job. For example, hotels, traveling, meals which you need while away from home. You ‘incur’ expenses. You ‘claim them back’. They are then ‘reimbursed’ to you.

• Your salary will be £40,000 a year, plus expenses.
• Don’t worry about the cost of dinner – it’s on expenses.

Note these expressions:

• I’m on an expense account.
• I get all my out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed.

Some people ‘cheat’ or ‘fiddle’ their expenses when they claim money which they did not spend.