Money and Finance

1.Profit is money you gain from selling something, which is more than the money you paid for it. Loss is money you have spent and not got back.

2.Extravagant¹ describes somebody who spends a lot of money. Frugal² or economical describes somebody who is careful with money.

3.A current account is a bank account from which you can take money at any time. A deposit account is a bank account which pays you interest if you leave money in it for some time (we can also use the expression savings³ account or notice account).

4.A loan is money which you borrow to buy something. A mortgage is a special kind of loan used to buy a house over a period of time.

5.To deposit money is to put money into a bank account. To withdraw money is to take money out of a bank account.

6.A wage and a salary are money you receive for doing a job, but wage is usually paid daily or weekly and a salary is usually paid monthly.

7.If you are broke, you have no money. It is an informal expression. If you are bankrupt, you are not able to pay back money you have borrowed. It is a very serious financial situation for somebody to be in.

8.In the UK, shares are one of the many equal parts into which a company’s capital is divided. People who buy them are called shareholders⁴. Stocks are shares which are issued by the government. Dividends⁵ are parts of a company’s profit shared out among the shareholders.

9.Income tax is a tax on money earned as wages or salary. Excise⁶ duty is a tax on certain goods produced in a country, such as cigarettes or alcohol.

10.To credit somebody’s bank account is to put money into the account. To debit⁷ somebody’s bank account is to take money out. In the UK, many people pay for bills, etc… using a system called “direct debit”, where money is taken directly from their account by the company providing the goods or service.

11.Traditionally a bank is a business organization which keeps money for customers and pays it out on demand or lends them money, and a building society is more usually associated with saving money or lending people money to buy houses.

12.A discount is the percentage by which a full price is reduced to a buyer by the seller. A refund⁸ is money paid back when, for example, returning something to a shop.

13.A bargain is something bought more cheaply than usual. Something which is overpriced is too expensive. Something which is exorbitant⁹ costs much more than its true value.

14.A worthless object is something which has no value. A priceless object is an extremely valuable object.

15.If you save money, you put it to one side so that you can use it later. If you invest money, you put it into property, shares, etc…so that it will increase in value.

16.Inflation is a state of economy where prices and wages increase. Deflation is a reduction of economic activity.

17.Income is the money you receive. Expenditure¹⁰ is the money you spend.

18.If you lend money, you let someone use your money for a certain period of time. If you borrow money from someone, you take money for a time, usually paying interest.