Word meaning related to money

Updated on March 26, 2018

The words below are some of the most important used when talking about money and finance. Each group of words in related and each word has an example sentence to provide context for learning. Practice using these words in writing in daily discussions concerning money. You can also learn idioms using «money» if these words are too easy. 

Banking

• account — I have a savings and a checking account at the bank.
• bank statement — Most people view bank statements online these days.
• bankrupt — Unfortunately the business went bankrupt three years ago.
• borrow — She borrowed money to purchase a car.
• budget — It’s important to stick to your budget in order to save money.
• cash — Rich prefers to pay with cash rather than by credit card.
• cashier — The cashier can ring this up for you.
• check — Could I pay by check or do you prefer cash?
• credit (card) — I’d like to put this on my credit card and pay it off over three months.
• debit card — Nowadays, most people pay for daily expenses using a debit card.
• currency — I enjoyed living in Europe when there were many different colorful currencies.
• debt — Too much debt can ruin your life.
• deposit — I need to go to the bank and deposit a few checks.
• exchange rate — The exchange rate is very favorable today.
• interest (rate) — You can get a very low interest rate on this loan.
• invest — It’s a good idea to invest some money in real estate.
• investment — Peter made an investment in some stock and did very well.
• lend — Banks lend money to qualified customers. 
• loan — He took out a loan to purchase the car.
• mortgage — Most people have to take out a mortgage to buy a house.
• owe — I still owe $3,000 to the bank.
• pay — The boss paid his employees on the last Friday of each month.
• save — Save money every month and you’ll be happy someday. 
• savings — I keep my savings in a different bank with higher interest.
• withdraw — I’d like to withdraw $500 from my account. 

Buying

• bargain — I got a great bargain on a new car.
• bill — The bill for the repairs came to $250.
• cost — How much did that shirt cost?
• expense — Alice had some extra expenses this month.
• installments — You can pay in ten easy installments of $99.
• price — I’m afraid I can’t lower the price of the car.
• purchase — How much food did you purchase at the supermarket?
• purse — She left her purse at home, so I’ll pay for lunch.
• receipt — Always keep receipts when purchasing electronics.
• reduction — We’re offering a special price reduction today.
• refund — My daughter didn’t like these pants. Can I get a refund?
• spend — How much money do you spend every month?
• wallet — He took $200 out of his wallet to pay for dinner.

Earning

• bonus — Some bosses give a bonus at the end of the year.
• earn — She earns over $100,000 per year. 
• earnings — Our companies earnings were less than expected so the boss didn’t give us a bonus.
• income — Did you have any investment income to declare?
• gross income — Our gross income rose 12% this year.
• net income — We had a lot of costs, so our net income fell.
• raise — Her boss gave her a raise because she’s such a great employee.
• salary — The job has a great salary and a lot of benefits. 
• wage — Part-time jobs tend to pay hourly wages. 

Giving 

• collection — The church took a collection to help the poor family.
• donate — It’s important to donate to charity these days.
• donation — You can make a tax-deductible donation to help us out. 
• fee — There are a few fees that you’ll have to pay.
• fine — I had to pay a fine because I was late with the payment.
• grant — The school received a governmental grant to do the research.
• income tax — Most countries have an income tax, but a few lucky ones don’t.
• inheritance — SHe came into a large inheritance last year, so she doesn’t need to work.
• pension — Many elderly live on a small pension.
• pocket money — It’s important to give your children pocket money.
• rent — Rent is so expensive in this city.
• scholarship — If you’re lucky, you’ll win a scholarship to attend university.
• tip — I always leave a tip unless the service is very bad.
• winnings — She invested her winnings from Las Vegas in a crazy company.

Verbs

• add up — The bookkeeping doesn’t add up correctly. Let’s recalculate.
• go up / down — The price of the stock went up 14%.
• make ends meet — More and more people are finding it difficult to make ends meet these days.
• pay back — Tom paid back the loan in three years.
• pay into — I pay a small amount into a retirement account every month.
• put down — She put down $30,000 towards the purchase of the house.
• run out — Have you ever run out of money before the end of the month?
• save up — I’ve saved up over $10,000 to buy a new car.
• take out — I need to take out a loan.

Other Related Words

• profit — We made a great profit on the deal. 
• property — Property almost always goes up in value if you hold onto it long enough.
• valuable — The painting was very valuable. 
• value — The value of the dollar has decreased greatly over the past ten years. 
• waste of money — Smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and a waste of money.
• wealth — I think people spend too much time focusing on wealth.
• worthless — Unfortunately, that painting is worthless. 

Descriptive Adjectives

• affluent — Affluent people don’t always know how lucky they are.
• broke — As a student, I was always broke.
• generous — THe generous donor gave over $5,000.
• hard-up — I’m afraid Peter is hard-up. He hasn’t been able to find a job.
• mean — She’s very mean. She wouldn’t even buy a baby a present.
• poor — He may be poor, but he’s very friendly.
• prosperous — The prosperous man grew fat and lazy.
• rich — Everyone wants to be rich, but few really are.
• stingy — Don’t be so stingy with your children.
• wealthy — Frank is one of the wealthy people in this town.
• well off — Jennifer is very well off and doesn’t have to work for a living. 

Learn words that go together with the word «money» to expand your vocabulary.