Money makes the world go round!

"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is"

Oscar Wilde

 

 Managing your finances

Read this leaflet on personal financial management given out by a university to its students. Note the collocations in bold, study them and try to use them during your next conversation class.

"Keeping afloat - how to manage your finances"

While you’re doing your degree, your main source of income may be a student loan or, if you’re lucky, a grant or scholarship. But you may well still need to supplement your income by getting some kind of part-time work. Here are some tips for avoiding financial problems: 

Open a current account (cuenta corriente) at the campus bank – they have a team there which specializes in helping students with their financial matters.

If you get into debt, try to clear your debts as soon as possible.
If things are difficult, you may have to economise by, say, cutting down on

luxuries (reducir en lujos). This is far better than running up huge debts (acumular deudas)
if you have a credit-card debt, try to make a payment every month, however

small. Never exceed your agreed credit limit1.

It’s a bad idea to borrow heavily (endeudarse fuertemente) to repay your debts. Always seek advice from your bank about how to clear outstanding debts and pay back loans. Keep an ey on the bank statements your bank will regularly send you, which contain special information regarding possible overdrawns (números rojos).

Never run up an overdraft (descubierto) if you can avoid it. If you do need one, remember that most banks will offer students an interest-free overdraft. 

Business expressions

  Complete the expressions with the correct words from the box. 

1. Something worth buying-a_________buy
2. Compare goods or services before buying – to shop__________
3. Make neither a profit or a loss – to break ___________
4. Buy large quantities at a cheap price–to buy in___________ 

5. Not available at the moment – out of __________

6. Whenabusinessfails–itgoes___________  

7. To delay payment of goods by agreement – to buy on __________ 

 

Money collocations

 
Match words from each box to form collocations and use them to complete the

sentences below. 

borrow; make; spend;  stay; supplement

afloat;  a fortune ; heavily;  my income ; a payment

1. I___________of €500 every month to my credit-card account.
   
2. When I was a student I got a job in a fast-food outlet to___________.
   
3. I used to ___________ on books when I was at university.
   
4. I had no grant or scholarship, so I had to ___________ to finance my studies.
   
5. Small firms find it difficult to ___________ when costs and interest rates are high.
   

Public finance

 
Read the article paying close attention to words in bold. 

The government collects money from citizens through taxes. Income tax is the tax collected on wages and salaries. Inheritance tax is collected on what people inherit from others. Customs have to be paid on goods imported from other countries. VAT or value added tax is a tax paid on most goods and services when they are bought or purchased. 

The government also sometimes pays out money to people in need, e.g. unemployment benefit (also known informally as the dole), disability allowances and student grants (to help pay for studying). 

The money that you pay for services, e.g. to a school or a lawyer, is usually called a fee; the money paid for a journey is a fare. 

Words in the news. 

Take a look at the headlines and answer the following question: Is the ordinary ‘person-in-the-street’ pleased to see these newspaper headlines or not? 

Mortgage rate goes up

Waves to be fronzen

Pension are raised

Interest rates down

Vat to be reduced

Number on dole rises

Match the beginning of each sentence with its ending. 
 

1. The government is finding it very difficult to curb                       exclusion
   
2. The country is suffering because of the current economic            interest
   
3. Although heavy industry is in decline, service industries are       inflation
   
4. The CEO is anxious to safeguard his company’s                          climate
   
5. New machinery has enabled the factory to increase its                 resources
   
6. The tax authorities plan to tackle the issue of undeclared             output (producción)
   
7. The budget plan explains how we intend to allocate our various  thriving (próspero)
   
8. We must tackle and solve the problems caused by social              earnings
   

Match the words on the left with their definitions. 

1. Interest
2. Mortgage
3. An overdrawn account
4. Savings account
5. Current account
6. Pension
7. Disability allowance
8. Child benefit
9. Grant

a. a bank account with minus money in it
b. money paid towards the cost of raising family
c. money given by the government for education, welfare, etc. d. an account that is used mainly for keeping money
e. money paid to people after a certain age
f. an account that cheques are drawn on for day-to-day use
g. money chargeable on a loan
h. money paid to people with a handicap
i. a loan to purchase property 

Follow-up: To improve your financial vocabulary, read articles on business in any English magazine or newspaper. Write any new words or expressions that you come across. 

Can money buy the happiness?

CRITICAL CONSUMERISM 

It is estimated that the average 20-year-old American has seen one million commercial messages throughout his or her life. This number is sure to rise, as teens are the fastest growing consumer demographic, spending billions ($150 billion to be exact) of dollars each year, and thus commanding the rapt attention of many companies and advertisers. These compelling statistics raise some vital questions to any concerned teacher, parent or citizen: what is the effect of advertising on our teenagers? Is there a connection between the increase in advertising and social unrest? Do cases of depression, self-mutilation, and eating disorders reflect plummeting self-esteem as children feel they can never be as happy, thin or beautiful as the people portrayed in ads? Would as many people want to divorce their partner if ads did not glorify casual trysts and sex appeal as the highest measure of worth?

ANSWER KEY

Business expressions

1. A good buy
   
2. To shop around
   
3. To break even
   
4. To buy in bulk
   5. Out o fstock
   6. It goes bankrupt 
   7. To buy on credit 
   
   
   

Money collocations

1. Make a payment
   
2. Supplement my income
   
3. Spend a fortune
   
4. Borrow heavily
   
5. Stay afloat
   

Words in the news 

Mortgage rate goes up (bad)
Wages to be frozen (bad) 
Pension age raised (bad)
Interest rates down (good)
VAT to be reduced (good) 
Number on dole rises (bad)

Match the beginning of each sentence with its ending.

1. The government is finding it very difficult to curb     INFLATION.
   
2. The country is suffering because of the current economic     CLIMATE.
   
3. Although heavy industry is in decline, servicei ndustries are     THRIVING.
   
4. The CEO is anxious to safe guard his company’s     INTERESTS.
   
5. New machinery has enabled the factory to increase its     OUTPUT.
   
6. The tax authorities plan to tackle the issue of undeclared     EARNINGS.
   
7. The budget plan explains how we intend to allocate our various     RESOURCES.
   
8. We must tackle and solve the problems caused by social EXCLUSION.
   

Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right. 
     

1. G 2. I 3. A 4. D 5. F

6. E 7. H 8. B 9. C