Money and finance – B2 English Vocabulary

Money and finance

In this B2 Pre-advanced Vocabulary Lesson about Money and Finance, you will learn a wide range of terms and expressions that are essential for discussing personal and business financial matters effectively. Check the pictures and read the texts and definitions below.

Personal and Business Finances

A 1 bill is a printed statement showing the money you owe for services, goods, or utilities, and a 2 fee is a fixed price you pay a person or organization for their services.

• Our electricity bill was higher than usual last month.
• The lawyer’s fee was much higher than I’d expected it to be.

3 Expenses are the money that a person or company has to pay for goods or services, such as food and bills.

• I generally use cash to pay for my day-to-day expenses.

4 Revenue is the total amount of money made by an organization’s operations over a given period, and 5 income is the money that remains from the revenue after all the taxes and expenses have been deducted.

• The company’s revenue came to over $20,000,000 last year.
• Their income more than doubled in less than a year.

6 Funding is money given to finance a specific project or purpose, which can come from various sources like governments, organizations, or investors. A 7 grant is a type of funding that is typically given by a government or organization for a specific purpose, such as education and does not need to be repaid.

• I received a grant from the government to study for my postgraduate degree.
• We received funding from the government to carry out our research.

Your 8 budget is the amount of money that you have available to spend.

• The project went over budget and required additional funding.
• Our monthly household budget includes expenses for groceries, utilities, and rent.

An 9 installment is one of a number of payments of a fixed amount paid for goods or services over a specific period of time, whereas a 10 lump sum is a single payment that is made at a given time instead of paying in installments.

• I decided to pay for it in installments over a twelve-month period.
• You save a bit more money by paying the lump sum.

A 11 mortgage is a particular kind of loan specifically for purchasing property, such as a house or apartment. The 12 interest rate is the percentage charged by the lender for the loan, which influences the total amount that will be repaid over time.

• We recently took out a mortgage to buy a flat in the center of town.
• The interest rate on our loan has risen by 2%.

The 13 cost of living refers to the amount of money needed for basic necessities like housing, food, taxes, and healthcare. The 14 standard of living, on the other hand, is the general level of wealth and comfort of people in a specific society.

• The cost of living has risen in the past year.
• We have a relatively high standard of living around here.

A 15 bargain is an item offered for sale at a lower price than expected. A 16 rip-off is something that you buy that was too expensive for the quality you got.

• I bought these heels for $10. What a bargain!
• $30 for a pizza is an absolute rip-off!

Adjectives and modifiers

1 Worthless means without value, so something that is worthless is worth nothing. 2 Good value, on the other hand, means something is of good quality or abundant and therefore well worth the money you spend on it.

• This is completely worthless; it’s rusty and doesn’t work.
• This vacuum was good value; it didn’t cost much and it’s an excellent brand.

People who are 3 frugal are careful or economical with money and don’t overspend, and people who are 4 prodigal spend money carelessly on unnecessary things.

• I’m trying to be more frugal and not buy anything I don’t need.
• Joe needs to be less prodigal and stop buying clothes he’s not going to wear.

Someone who is 5 cheap, stingy, or tight-fisted is mean with their money and tries to spend as little as possible.

• Tony was too cheap to buy his girlfriend a birthday present.

6 Affluent and well-off are both adjectives that mean financially comfortable or wealthy. Loaded has a similar meaning, but is much stronger and means extremely rich.

• You’d have to be quite well-off to afford a house in this neighbourhood.
• Peter has homes in four countries; he’s absolutely loaded!

7 Broke, skint, penniless, and bankrupt are all ways of saying someone has no money. Being bankrupt is slightly more serious, however, as it means one is legally recognised as being unable to pay off their debts. If a person is 8 in the red, on the other hand, they have spent more money than was in their account and therefore owe money to the bank.

• By the end of each month, I’m usually broke.
• After a year of poor sales, the company was declared bankrupt.
• After purchasing the sofa, my account was in the red.

Verbs, phrasal verbs and verb phrases

When you 1 invest money in something (e.g., shares, a financial scheme, or a business venture), you put money into it in the hope of making more money from it.

• I invested several hundred euros in shares last month.

When you 2 save up money, you accumulate it for a specific future purpose. 3 Set aside is similar to save up, and when you set money aside, you put money aside for a particular thing.

• James is saving up for a new bicycle.
• I set aside money every month to pay for petrol.

If you 4 put down a deposit, you make an initial basic payment for something, such as a house or a course, with the intention of paying the rest later or in installments.

• We recently put down a deposit on a cottage in Wales.

If you 5 make a profit, you get more money than you invested in something. If you 6 make a loss, however, you make less money from it than you invested.

• We made quite a good profit from our investment in those shares.
• Richard was annoyed when he realised that he’d made a loss from his investment.

If you 7 go broke, you spend all your money and end up without any, and if you go bankrupt, you declare yourself broke in the eyes of the law.

• At the rate I’m spending money, I’ll go broke by the end of the week!
• We were all shocked when we heard that the company had gone bankrupt.

When you 8 live off another person, you depend on them financially.

• He is 35 and still lives off his parents.

If something 9 breaks the bank, you use all or most of your money to get it, so you don’t have any left.

• Buying that engagement ring nearly broke the bank.

A buck is a slang word for a dollar, and if you 10 make a fast buck, you make money quickly, and often unscrupulously, from something.

• Sam tried to make a fast buck by investing in a financial scheme.

If you 11 haggle with someone, you negotiate a lower price for something with a seller.

• I haggled with the carpet vendor and managed to negotiate a lower price.

When you 12 make ends meet, you earn just enough money to live and pay for your basic needs.

• Now that I’ve gone part-time at work, I’m barely making ends meet.

After completing the exercises in this lesson on Money and Finance, you can use the unit’s Vocabulary Flashcards to revise and help you memorize the terms.