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Saving Money

简体
Saving Money
省钱

Date: Sep 17 2010

Themes: Work

Grammar: Zero Conditional

Intro

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When you get a new paycheck each month, it can be tempting to go right out and blow through it all. But when the end of the month comes and the bills start arriving, you’ll wish you’d done a better job of saving. And as much fun as it is to spend money, saving can feel pretty good too, especially if you’re saving up for something specific, like a vacation. Some people try to put a little money aside each month so they can earn interest on it and have more money in the bank whenever they need it in the future. Find out if Beren and Jeff are penny pinchers or penny wasters.

每个月发薪的那一天,总是蠢蠢欲动地想要冲向各大商场,狠狠地挥霍一把;然而月末的时候,各种帐单如雪片纷至,你可能就要后悔了,你一定会希望自己当初可以更节约一点。花钱当然是很一件很快乐的事,但是节约其实更能带给你愉悦的体验,尤其是为了某些特殊的目的而存钱。比如,为一个美好的假期而存钱。有些人每个月都会攒一点钱,一来能挣些利息,二来将来急用的时候,银行账户里能有更多的钱备用。那么现在,让我们来了解一下贝伦(Beren)和杰夫(Jeff)这两位究竟是吝啬鬼还是花钱大手大脚的人吧。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jeff

Jeff

Beren

Beren

Jeff:  Hey Beren, are you good at saving…saving money, or do you blow through your paychecks generally.

Beren:  I guess it depends, like if I have to, you know, save money for something special, I’m pretty good at, you know, putting it away, making sure I take a little out of each paycheck. But generally, I’m not a big…I don’t think about the future in terms of money, which is kind of bad. I’m kind of living in the moment. So like, “Ah, I want this new instrument or some records”...I don’t know, I blow through a lot of money.

Jeff:  Yeah I think I’m in the same boat. I try to live pretty conservative. Under $5.00 a day is my goal. But I can’t say I make that all the time.

Beren:  That is super…under $5.00, that’s impressive. I mean do you have a nest egg you’re working on or are you just saving for…

Jeff:  Not really.

Beren:  You just like to save money, or you’re just hoarding?

Jeff:  Trying to pay the bills, and maybe go out to eat every now and again. I think that’s what gets me.

Beren:  Yeah, totally. I mean if I have cash in my pocket, I’ll usually spend it.

 

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Discussion

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Beren likes to live in the moment. That means she doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the future. So she isn’t very good at saving. If she does save, it is usually so she can buy something specific, like a new instrument.

Jeff lives very conservatively. He doesn’t spend a lot of money, but he doesn’t save a lot either. He just wants to be able to pay all his bills and have enough money left over to go out to eat.

Do you like to spend money, or do you prefer to live in the moment? Is there anything special you are saving for now?

 

Comments

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tomenjoy

tomenjoy

China

THe man who can spent money is the one who can earn more.

09:46 AM Oct 28 2012 |

1 person likes this

DarknessLight

Germany

I’m actually in between, I like spending money on stuff I love to have, BUT I hate being broke so I have to save a little bit now and then. ummm, I’m not saving for something specific, I’m just saving for what might come in the future, like if I needed money urgently.

05:34 PM Oct 27 2012 |

La Princesse de la vie

Egypt

Well, I’m still take my pocket money from dad.. I don’t spend much unless I have something specific in my mind to buy..Smile


I prefer to save money if there’s no necessity to spend it on, but I’m not a penny pincher..Laughing


at the present time I’m saving for a lap top…

10:44 AM Aug 20 2012 |

mojtaba

mojtaba

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

saving money for future is so wiselyWink

07:01 AM Aug 19 2012 |

Vadim_Kiev

Vadim_Kiev

Ukraine

Money makes money, but money is not the goal. Money is the facility to reach goal. I try not to get caught in an endless loop…)

01:21 PM Oct 20 2010 |

ebruas

ebruasSuper Member!

Turkey

If you don't happy with your money, why do you earn it? Dress nice outfits, eat well with your friends and DONATE some amount every month! don't try to be harsh on yourself. carpe diem!

03:41 AM Oct 01 2010 |

elkyhcy

elkyhcy

Hong Kong

I'm so ecstatic to get the new phone today even thought it's kind like being a penny waster, but I have always been lived pretty conservative without brow through my paycheck generally….. :P

01:14 PM Sep 30 2010 |

elkyhcy

elkyhcy

Hong Kong

I'm so ecstatic to get the new phone today even thought it's kind like being a penny waster, but I was always been lived pretty conservative without brow through my paycheck generally….. :P

01:13 PM Sep 30 2010 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Hummm certainly is pretty good spending money when you have it! hehe But I think that when I have little money I hold it to finish the month at least :P

In fact I really like spending money but in the same time I'm very quiet about it 'cause when I'm in a mall,for instance,I see many cool things to buy and in the end I just "see" all of it and I go home and I didn't buy anything :P

Nowadays I'm saving money to change my car ;)

11:12 PM Sep 29 2010 |

zoebaby

zoebaby

China

don't know if it counts to a saving,,but i have a great budget sense,i know how to spend money after weighting all of those options. 

12:57 AM Sep 24 2010 |

elkyhcy

elkyhcy

Hong Kong

I was a penny waster when I was young, I used to brow through it without think about if that was worth or not….

But now I become a penny pincher! I'll take half of it to put away in each month.

04:35 PM Sep 21 2010 |

Abai

Abai

Kazakhstan

 I prefer to save / hoard money, cuz you don't know what happened tomorrow (i mean if in the future will be an accident with u  so u need operation then u need money immidiately).So we must  think about future.

04:31 PM Sep 21 2010 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

andee1, I guess he misused the word,because "hit the pocket" means something not very good. I bet he should say "whenever coins get to my pocket"

IMHO

08:00 AM Sep 21 2010 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

I like spending money just like most of women, but I do try to save as much as possible. I feel like something bad can happen at any time and most often bad things take plce when you don't expect it. So, I just want to be kind of prepared for a situation like a long disease or a job lost.

07:51 AM Sep 21 2010 |

amrosha

amrosha

Egypt

i always try to save some money for the future, but i unfortunatly can't :(, because it so hard to see something you like and not to buy it :S 

07:12 AM Sep 21 2010 |

amrosha

amrosha

Egypt

i always try to save some money for the future, but i unfortunatly can't :(, because it so hard to see something you like and not to buy it :S 

07:11 AM Sep 21 2010 |

rosendo

rosendo

Mexico

Cool

12:12 AM Sep 21 2010 |

andee1

andee1

China

to Theben could you tell me what does "whenever it hits my pocket " mean? i really wanna know the answer. thank you.

04:29 PM Sep 20 2010 |

andee1

andee1

China

yes of course, but i must save tons of money for my family. i feel that i am a penny pincher usually, and yet will becom a penny waster when meet loving stuff.

04:25 PM Sep 20 2010 |

theben

Poland

My saving method is quite simple… A big jar with a narrow hole in a lid to put some coins there especially the biggest one 5 PLN /which is round about 1.6$/ whenever it hits my pocket /like a change after some shopping…/

 It really works for me!

03:53 PM Sep 20 2010 |

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