In order to achieve a high score on the IELTS examination, a wide range of vocabulary is essential. You do not have to use complicated words, but being able to use more specific professional terms accurately when discussing finance and money will stand you in good stead when it comes to the IELTS speaking and writing sections. The money and finance vocabulary has been split into different sections and there are some exercises for you to practice using the words in context.
Table of Contents
1. Vocabulary for Giving, Receiving and Using Money
- Bill – An amount of money owed for goods or services. For example, a hotel bill or a gas bill
- Expenditure – The action of spending money
- Expense – The cost required for something
- Fee – A payment made for something. Usually services rather than products. For example, legal fees, and hospital fees.
- Income – Money received either from work or investments
- Making a payment – The process of paying for something
- Mortgage – A legal agreement where a creditor lends money to help people buy property. The money is paid back in instalments and with interest.
- Passive income – Money received from investments. Typical work is not required for passive income
- Make a profit – The financial gain remaining after the cost of producing or selling something is subtracted from income/revenue
- Make a loss – When the cost of producing/selling something is more than the cost received for selling it
- Revenue – The money/income received by a business or company for the sale of goods or provision or a service
- Salary – A regular payment made from an employer to an employee
- To allocate / allocation – To assign or distribute money for a specific purpose
- To borrow – To take money from a person or company with the intention of paying it back later.
- To earn – To engage in a work-related activity that leads to obtaining money.
- To invest – Spend money with the expectation of making a profit. For example, investing in the stock market
- To lend – To give someone money on the condition it will be returned
- To pay back – To repay a loan
- To pay off – To pay a debt
- To spend – To pay money for goods or services
- To save up / set aside – To accumulate money over time to be used for a specific purpose
- To waste – To use money carelessly, inefficiently, or extravagantly
- To withdraw – To remove money from a bank account
- Wages – A regular payment from an employer to an employee
2. Financial Vocabulary Activity 1
3. General Vocabulary for Money and Finance
- Afford – Have enough money to pay for something
- Bargain – Something that costs less than its normal market value
- Broke/ Penniless – To have little or no money
- Cost of living – The amount of money it costs to pay life’s expenditures. For example, food, rent, transport etc…
- Credit – The ability to obtain goods or services without paying for them immediately.
- Deflation – A general reduction in prices within the economy
- Discount – A reduction from the usual cost of something
- Extravagant – lacking restraint in spending money or something that costs too much money
- Frugal – To use money in a simple, economical, or efficient way
- Funds/ Funding – The amount of money available for a specific purpose
- Inflation – A general increase in prices and drop in the purchasing power of money
- Overpriced – Something being sold for more than it should cost
- Poor – Lacking the money to live comfortably
- Priceless – Something that is so special or unique it is difficult to assign a price
- Refund – Money returned for returned goods or unsatisfactory service
- Tight/Stingy – To dislike spending money, especially on other people
- Wealth distribution – How money is spread between the different parts of society
- Wealthy – Having plenty of resources or money
- Worthless – Having no real value or use
4. Money and Financial Vocabulary Activity 2
5. Financial/Money Collocations
Collocations – Here are some important collocations that will help you discuss money and finance on the IELTS writing and speaking sections.
- Buy in bulk – To buy something in a large quantity in order to get a discount
- Cash injection – An investment into a business, usually made in cash
- Clear a debt – Finish paying off a debt
- Financial aid – Money borrowed often to pay for school/university / Money sent by one country to another country
- Financially dependent – To rely on someone else for money/survival
- Financially independent – To not rely on anyone else money/survival
- Government funding – Money from the government for a specific purpose. For example, government funding for sports facilities
- Increase/Decrease funding – Raise or lower the amount of money available
- Manage one’s finances – How a person controls their money
- Private funding – Money that comes from individuals rather than banks or financial institutions
- Put down a deposit – Make an initial payment to secure the future purchase of something
- Run up a debt – To accumulate debt
- Tight budget/Shoestring budget – A small amount of money to use for a specific purpose
- To increase/boost funding – To make more money available for something
- To reduce/cut funding – To make less money available for something
