Managing your budget
Vocabulary
- 预算budget
- 花费expense / spending
- 节省to save / economize
- 收入income
- 支出expenditure / outgoing
- 月租monthly rent
- 账户余额account balance
- 信用卡credit card
- 还款repayment
- 理财financial planning
Managing a Budget: Talking About Money
Use 把 to describe what you do with money:
- 我把工资分成三部分。(wǒ bǎ gōngzī fēn chéng sān bùfen) — I divide my salary into three parts.
- 我把多余的钱存起来了。(wǒ bǎ duōyú de qián cún qǐlái le) — I saved the extra money.
越来越 (yuè lái yuè) — more and more:
- 生活费越来越贵了。(shēnghuó fèi yuè lái yuè guì le) — The cost of living is getting more and more expensive.
除了…以外 (chúle…yǐwài) — apart from / besides:
- 除了房租以外，我还要付水电费。(chúle fángzū yǐwài, wǒ hái yào fù shuǐdiànfèi) — Apart from rent, I also have to pay utilities.
Key expressions:
- 我的预算不够用。(wǒ de yùsuàn bù gòu yòng) — My budget is not enough.
- 我正在努力节省开支。(wǒ zhèngzài nǔlì jiéshěng kāizhī) — I am trying hard to cut expenses.
Expressions
- 我每个月存一点钱I save a little money each month
- 这个月花费超支了This month I overspent my budget
- 我要制定一个预算计划I want to make a budget plan
- 少买点不必要的东西Buy fewer unnecessary things
- 我正在还信用卡的债I am paying off my credit card debt
Common mistakes
我花了太多钱的。我花了太多钱。No 的 is needed at the end of a simple past statement — 花了太多钱 is complete on its own.
我每月节省我的钱。我每个月存一些钱。节省 means to economize, not to save money into an account. 存钱 is the correct word for putting money aside.
这个月我的开销超过了预算的钱。这个月我的开销超出了预算。超出了预算 means exceeded the budget — no need to add 的钱 after 预算.
我想要做理财计划的。我想制定一个理财计划。想要 + verb is fine but 的 at the end is wrong. Also 制定 (to formulate) is the correct verb for making a plan.
信用卡费用我每月还一次。我每个月还一次信用卡费用。Standard word order: Subject + time + verb + object. Move 信用卡费用 to the end.
Quick quiz
Question 1 of 5
How do you say “financial planning” in Chinese?
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