Vocabulary

•  pocket money (noun) – money given to children by their parents.
• broke, skint (BrE) (adjectives) – the state of having no money.
• (to save for) a rainy day (noun, idiom) – a time of hardship, trouble, emergency or when money might be needed unexpectedly.
• to cost an arm and a leg (verb, idiom) – describes something very expensive.
• to pour/throw money down the drain (verb, idiom) – to waste money, or to spend it carelessly.
• to live beyond one’s means (verb, idiom) – to spend more money than you earn/have.

Using the vocabulary words above, complete the following sentences 

1. Darren has just bought the latest model BMW; it must have _______________
2. I can’t come out tonight; I’m ________________
3. I don’t know why you keep buying new shoes because you never wear them. You’re just

______________________________________

4. I had to wash the pots every day to get _______________ when I was a kid.
5. If you’re struggling to pay the rent and you put most of your purchases on your credit card,

you’re probably _________________________

6. It’s a good job we had some money for __________________________ put aside; we would never have been able to fix the roof otherwise.

While you watch the video, answer the following questions:

Multiple choice

1. What makes dollar bills valuable?
2. a)  their legal status        b) their quantity             c) the type of paper they are printed on

2. Which of the following commodities was not used to determine the value of money?
3. a)  bronze                     b) silver                         c) gold

3. What gives fiat money its value?
4. a)  gold                          b) the economy               c) government policy

4. How many regional banks make up the Fed?
5. a) 12                            b) 13                            c) 14

Sentence completion

5. The Fed’s board of governors is appointed by the _____________
6. The Fed’s _______________ goes into the US Treasury.
7. The Fed is not under the direct control of any ______________ of government.
8. If the Fed printed money to keep everyone happy, the bills would be ________________ nothing.

Discussing language

Answer the following questions about meaning. You may use the Internet or a dictionary if needed.

1.     You go to a business conference. You are not sure if you should wear the badge with your name on it or not. What do you do? How is this an example of an environmental cue?
2. How much money would someone need to give you to have an impact on your life? Whose life do you have an impact on?
3. How do you imagine your future self?
4. What problems in your life do you need to get a handle on?
5. What frequent purchases do you make that you could do without if needed?
6. If someone told you their business deal su?ered “death by a thousand cuts”, what do you think that means?
7. If your department is $4000 in the hole, what does that mean?

Understanding ideas

Look at these sentences from the script of the video you will watch. Number them in the correct order to form a logical paragraph. The first one has been done for you .

And environmental cues like this have an impact.          

And what we found was that people who saw their income on a weekly basis were able to budget better throughout the month.                        

In another group, we showed people their income on a weekly basis.           

Now, it’s important to know that we didn’t change how much money people were receiving, we just changed the environment in which they understood their income.           

We ran a study in which, in one group, we showed people their income on a monthly basis.      1

Listening for details

Watch the ?rst part of the video (00:00-03:35). Tick the 4 questions that the speaker asks.

• What percentage would you like to save?
• How do we do it?
• How much money do you need?
• Are you ready?
• What is the best way to save?
• Are you ready for retirement?

Listening for understanding

Now watch the video again and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1. Generally, people are saving more and more.
2. The speaker wants to help you by connecting what you want to do with what you actually do.
3. We think of our future self as a perfect version of our present self.
4. You may need to have less today so that your future self has more.
5. At the beginning of a new period of time, your motivation goes down.
6. Making spending more di?cult can change your behaviour.
7. Limiting the number of times you do something is a good way to save money.