Money & Finance

Phrasal verbs for financial matters

Introduction

Money makes the world go round, and phrasal verbs help us talk about it. We "save up" for big purchases, "pay off" debts, hope not to "run out" of funds, and occasionally get "ripped off" by bad deals.

This chapter covers the phrasal verbs of personal finance: earning, spending, saving, and the various ways money comes and goes in our lives.

Themes

All Phrasal Verbs in This Chapter (97)

• pay off To finish paying a debt or to be successful
• save up To accumulate money over time
• rip off To charge too much or cheat someone
• fork out To pay reluctantly for something
• cough up To reluctantly pay money
• splash out To spend money extravagantly
• cut down on To reduce spending or consumption
• shell out To pay money, often reluctantly
• come into To inherit money or property
• live off To survive using a particular source of income
• run up To accumulate debts or bills
• dip into To use part of a sum of money saved
• bail out To rescue someone financially
• set aside To save money for a particular purpose
• fork over To hand over money reluctantly
• add up To calculate a total; to make sense
• scrape by To manage with very little money
• chip in To contribute money; to interrupt with a comment
• cash in To exchange for money; to take advantage
• eat into To gradually reduce savings or resources
• snap up To buy something quickly before others can
• tide over To help someone through a difficult financial period
• rack up To accumulate large amounts
• buy out To purchase someone's share of a business
• write off To cancel a debt; to damage beyond repair
• fall behind To fail to make payments on time
• pay back To return money owed; to get revenge
• put by To save money for the future
• come to To amount to a total
• take out To obtain a loan or insurance
• owe back To be in debt to someone
• run up To accumulate bills or debt
• scrape together To gather with difficulty
• set back To cost someone money
• pay up To pay what is owed
• stump up To pay money required
• put aside To save for the future
• pay out To distribute money
• pay in To deposit money
• pay into To contribute to a fund
• dish out To distribute money
• hand out To give money freely
• hand over To give up money
• cough up To pay reluctantly
• blow To waste money
• throw away To waste money
• pour into To invest heavily
• plough into To invest heavily
• put into To invest
• sink into To invest (often losing)
• lay out To spend money
• pile up To accumulate bills
• mount up For costs to increase
• add up To total an amount
• come to To amount to
• work out To calculate a total
• put away To save money
• set aside To reserve money
• squirrel away To hide savings
• salt away To save secretly
• sock away To save money
• cut back To reduce spending
• cut down To reduce expenses
• scale back To reduce budget
• live on To survive with limited income
• get by To manage financially
• scrape by To barely manage financially
• make do To manage with less
• eke out To make money last
• bail out To rescue financially
• pitch in To contribute
• club together To pool resources
• split up To divide costs
• divvy up To divide money
• settle up To pay final amount
• square up To settle accounts
• cash out To withdraw
• sell off To sell assets
• buy up To purchase all available
• pick up To pay the bill
• take on To accept debt
• write off To cancel debt
• wipe out To eliminate financially
• clean out To take all money
• mark up To increase price
• mark down To reduce price
• knock down To reduce price
• bring down To reduce price
• jack up To increase price sharply
• bump up To increase slightly
• come down For price to reduce
• come in To cost a total
• splash out To spend a lot of money on something
• shell out To pay money, often reluctantly
• rack up To accumulate debts or costs
• chip in To contribute money to a group purchase
• fork out To pay money reluctantly