The Money Issue

Hello everybody!

Money is not only an obvious part of our everyday practices, challenges or dreams, but it is also very present in language by means of metaphores, idioms, sayings...
"A penny for your thoughts" is being said since the 1500's. This popular phrase in the English language is used to comment you would like to know someone's ideas. Another old saying: "See a penny, pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck."
There are also pennies - cents in the US - as well as dimes or quarters, that we toss in a fountain to make a wish or that someone flips in the air to determine your luck by calling heads or tails. The side of the coin usually with a face would be the "head", and the other side with a number, phrase, or the like would be the "tail".
Have you also heard that..? "The best things in life are free" , and "Money doesn't grow on trees." They express different points of view. Do you agree with any of them?
Today, we are watching a video clip interview to a Nobel Prize winner, mulling over the future of wallets, working with vocabulary on personal finances and money idioms, and reading about the concept of downsizing.
I hope you enjoy this issue!

Verónica de la Vega

Four ways to spend money - Milton Fridman - The Money Issue

Video Activity – 2.40 minutes

Watch the interview with Milton Friedman, a well-known economist, Nobel Prize, and complete the notes below.

a) When you spend money on yourself you try to....

b) When you spend money on other people you don't worry much about .....

c) You can also spend other people's money...

d)People are not careful when they spend.....

e) To make the most of money you have to spend .....

f) According to Milton Friedman people can't make the most ....

Answers here!

What's In Your Wallet? Wait, You Don't Need One - The Money Issue

Listening activity - NPR News -  

 3 min 56 sec

Vocabulary Warm-up: 

Match the following terms to the dictionary entries below.

purchase     -     cash register     merchant       trend   -    apps     -   plastic

1.____________________   :  n. credit card payment.

2.____________________   :  n. what you buy or something which has been bought.

3.____________________   :  n. software for mobile devices.

4.____________________   :  n. machine at a store where cash is stored and sales transactions are made.

5.____________________   :  n. seller, marketer; trader, retailer.

6.____________________   :  n. a general direction in which something tends to move.

 

Listening:

Listen to the report from National Public Radio. Open this LINK

Are the following statements TRUE, FALSE or NOT MENTIONED?

1. Most Americans do not pay with plastic or cash for their purchases. 
2. A growing number of large companies are trying to change the way people pay for purchases. 

3. Wallets and cash registers will soon be replaced.

4. Even Girls Scouts started accepting payment thanks to a small attachment for smartphones.

5. Accepting credit cards has always been easy for merchants / businesses. 
6.Several companies are trying to access the mobile payment trend. 
7. A high percentage of the American public is already familiar with such apps. 

8. Companies can see payment costs reduced with these apps.

Answers here!

Personal Finance - The Money Issue

Vocabulary activity

1.Match the terms on the right with the definitions on the left:

1.Savings	A)The opposite of “lend”.
2.Account	B) A loan to buy a house or property.
3.Withdraw (Verb)	C) Obtain money from a job.
4.Afford (Verb)	D) The opposite of “save”.
5.Notes and coins	E) To be able to pay for goods, services, etc.
6.Cashier	F) A record of money a person deposits into a bank
7.Currency	G) The opposite of “deposit”.
8.Borrow (Verb)	H) Use money inappropriately.
9.Mortgage	I) The money you obtain from work or capital.
10.Earn (Verb)	J) Dollars, Euros, Yens, etc.
11.Piggy bank	K) Paper and metal money
12.Spend (Verb)	L) Have a money debt.
13.ATM	M) An employee of a bank or building society who receives and pays out money.
14.Income	N) A container for coins saved.
15.Waste	0) Money that you have.
16. Owe (Verb)	P) A cash machine

2.Read the following story and use some of the terms above to complete the blanks.

Bob and Jimmy are twin brothers. Bob works in a bakery and (1) .....................................$25,000 a year. His brother Jimmy is a business man and makes over $75,000 a year. Bob (2).................................... most of his income and only (3)......................................  some on food, transportation, and some inexpensive hobbies that he can  (4).................................., such as music and books.  He is also paying a (5)...................................  for his apartment too but he manages very well. He always has some funds left when he wants to (6)................................... cash from an (7)......................................... However, Jimmy was never the kind of kid that saved his coins in a (8)....................................... He’s not very careful with his  (9)...................................... and he spends it all.  He loves luxury cars, dining at expensive restaurants, and weekend trips to the mountains or to the beach. And he (10) ................................... most of the money he has left on gambling at the casinos in Las Vegas. Even though Jimmy has a higher salary, he often (11).................................... money from Bob because his (12)................................. is usually empty. Bob always has some (13).................................. at home or in the bank. The bad thing is that  Jimmy usually forgets to pay him back so he (14).............................. him a fortune.

Answers here!

Consumer society - The Money Issue

Reading activity

 

Pre-reading & discussion

Rearrange the following list and put the items you think we most need in order of importance, from top to bottom:

A coat Levi’s jeans Paper A restaurant meal A telephone pants Jewellery Food Paracetamol Shampoo An iPod Wine Toothpaste A packet of M&Ms Cushion covers

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

ARTICLE

If we only bought things we needed, there would be enough for everybody. What you need and buy depends on how old you are and your way of life. If we don’t need to buy so much, we don’t need to work so much. We can take part-time jobs or reduce our working day from 8 hours to 6 hours. Some people are leaving very well-paid jobs to live a healthier life in the countryside or a more exciting life abroad. This is called ‘downshifting’. Parents can spend more time with their children and the unemployed are given more opportunities to work. If we start to respect saving the earth more than spending money, we will become ‘conservers’. When we are conservers, we try to choose environmentally friendly products which are durable and last a long time. We may find growing our own vegetables or making our own clothes more rewarding than buying them. Next time you go shopping, think about what you really need to buy. Don’t deprive yourself of things you like, but decide what you should buy before you go out, so that you won’t be influenced by advertisements or promotions. If you can choose to work less, decide which things you would like to make, do or grow yourself. Even though you have less money, your life will become richer!

Adapted from an article by J. Bray

(A) Find the terms in the text.

1. To take away or deny.
2. The ability to live with less.
3. Area outside of the city, rural area.
4. Designed as not to damage the planet; using and maintaining natural materials.
5. People who do not overspend and usually choose natural products.
6. Forms of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience

(B) Read the statements below and decide whether they are TRUE or FALSE.

1. Age is a factor in the way we spend our money.
2. The hours we need to work can be reduced if we increase our expenses.
3. Downshifting can be considered as a change of life.
4. Environmentally friendly products usually cost more.
5. Promotions influence people to buy more.
6. You can live a rich life with less money.

Answers here!

Money Idioms - The Money Issue

Vocabulary Activity

·        a nest egg:  money put away for the future. ·        cost an arm and a leg : to be very expensive. ·        deep pockets:  to have lots of money. ·        easy money: money obtained without much effort. ·        flat broke : without any money left. ·        go from rags to riches:  start out very poor and become very rich. ·        the goose that lays the golden eggs: a money maker. ·        in the black:  having more assets/capital than debts. ·        in the red: having more debts than assets/capital. ·        make ends meet: to earn just enough to pay for your daily expenses. ·        on a shoestring: having a very tight budget. ·        tighten your belt: try to spend less money. ·        splurge: to spend large amounts of money. ·        your bread and butter:   your livelihood or the source of your income.

Test your knowledge of money idioms and complete the statements below. Use each idiom once only.

1. Our new cake shop needs to stay ...............................   at least for the first 6 months if we want to survive.

2. My uncle has very ..............................., I’m thinking about asking him for a small loan.

3. My parents worked hard all of their life to ................................ We never needed anything.

4. This job is my ..............................., so I really need it

5. I ended up being ...............................  for the rest of the month after I spent a fortune on a ticket for a concert.

6. Everybody was excited because the company had decided to ...............................  on  the end of the year's party and hired a famous band.

7. I traveled to Europe ............................... after graduation and stayed at hostels like everybody.

8. Many experts say green businesses, organics and natural food is the new ................................ The question is for how long, after everybody follows the trend.

9. Baby sitting is a way to make ............................... for many students.

10. My neighbor seems to have gone ................................ Last year he drove a bicycle and now he has a couple of luxury cars and a Harley-Davidson.

11. The company has been ............................... for a couple of months due to the financial crisis.

12. My friends went to the new French restaurant last weekend and they said you need to be filthy rich to eat there because it ................................

13. My roommate had to ............................... after he quit his weekend job.

14. Bobby  wants ............................... for the future, so she's saving as much as she can now that she is still young.

Answers here!

The Money Issue - Answers

Four ways to spend money - Milton Fridman

a).... get as much as possible out of that money.
b)....the gifts you buy.
c)... on the best things for you.
d)...other people's money on somebody else.
e)... your money on yourself.
f)..of the money they spend.

What's In Your Wallet? Wait, You Don't Need One

Vocabulary Warm-up

1.plastic   2.purchase   3.apps   4.cash register   5.merchant   6.trend

Listening

1. F   2. T     3. NM    4. T    5. F (it has always been a hassle)

6.T    7. F  (only 10%)    8. T

Personal  Finance

Exercise 1:     1.O    2.F    3.G   4.E    5.K   6.M   7.J   8.A   9.B   10.C    11.N   12.D     13.P     14.I   15. H  16.L

Exercise 2:    1. earns   2. saves   3. spends  4. afford  5. mortgage  6. withdraw  7. ATM   8. piggy bank   9. income  10. wastes  11. borrows   12.  account 13.savings  14. owes

Consumer society

(A) Find the terms in the text.

1.deprive    2.downshifting   3.countryside   4.environentally friendly  

5. conservers  6.advertisements

(B) Read the statements below and decide whether they are TRUE or FALSE.

       1.T  2.F  3.T  4.F  5.T 6.T

Money Idioms

1.in the black    2. deep pockets   3.make ends meet   4.bread and butter

5. flat broke    6. splurge    7.  on a shoestring   8.goose that lays the golden eggs.     9.easy money    10.from rags to riches. 11.in the red    12.cost an arm and a leg.   13. tighten his belt    14. a nest egg