A. Cash, cheques and cards

I was broke/skint at the end of last month. [had no money left] (broke = informal; skint = very informal)

I’m rolling in it this month; I got a payment of £3,000 for some work I did. [have a lot of money; informal]

It’s sometimes difficult to make ends meet with three children and only one parent working. [to survive financially]

Things are a bit tight at the moment. [my finances are not good; informal]

I was strapped for cash and had to borrow money from my parents. [needed cash and had very little; informal]

She gave me a cheque for what she owed me but it bounced. [the bank refused to pay it]

Who shall I make this cheque out to / payable to? [What name shall I put on it? (payable to = slightly more formal)]

The easiest way to pay your household bills is by direct debit or by electronic transfer. [a regular automatic payment, e.g. every month]

Shall we put/stick this meal on my credit card? Then we can forget it. [informal]

Could you charge it to my credit card, please? [formal]

The APR for this credit card is 23%, which is 2% lower than my other card. [annual percentage rate of interest]

My card expires in 05/19. The expiry date is 05/19. [is not valid after]

Credit card fraud has increased in recent years. [illegal use of someone’s card or account]

A: Is this a credit card or a debit card? [card where the money is taken directly from your bank account]
B: Actually, it’s a store card. [credit card issued by a store/shop]

I went to withdraw some money / get some money out but I forgot my PIN and the ATM swallowed my card after three wrong attempts. [take money from my account; get money out = informal] [personal identification number] [automated teller machine, often just called a ‘cash machine’ or ‘cashpoint’]

A lot of people don’t like using contactless cards because they think they are more vulnerable to fraud. They prefer to use their phones to make contactless payments.

• ¹ single, large payment
• ² large payment to someone on leaving a job
• ³ combination of investments (portfolios)
• ⁴ organisation which controls the buying or selling of company shares
• ⁵ parts of ownership people buy hoping for profit
• ⁶ money saved over many years
• ⁷ official statement of what a person has decided should be done with money/property after death
• ⁸ enough money to pay for it
• ⁹ borrow money, e.g. from a bank

B. Savings, pensions, etc.

• ¹ single, large payment
• ² large payment to someone on leaving a job
• ³ combination of investments of diff erent kinds
• ⁴ organisation which controls the buying or selling of parts of the ownership of companies
• ⁵ parts of the ownership of companies which people buy as investments in the hope of making a profit
• ⁶ money saved over many years
• ⁷ off icial statement of what a person has decided should be done with their money and property aft er their death
• ⁸ be enough money to pay for it
• ⁹ borrow money, e.g. from a bank (used without an object)