Phrasal Verbs about Money

Money. We never seem to have enough of it. We're broke when we don't have any and loaded when we have a lot. We can earn it, spend it, save it, lose it, borrow it, win it and more. With so many uses, it's no surprise that he have so many phrasal verbs about it.

English Phrasal Verbs Connected With Money

Beat somebody / something down (to something)

Persuade the seller to accept a lower price: "The man selling souvenirs originally wanted $30 for the bracelet but she managed to beat him down to $10."

Knock something off something

To reduce the price of something by a stated amounted: "$100 is too much. I'll buy it from you if you knock $20 off the price." 

Pick something up

To buy casually or spontaneously i.e. you didn't plan to buy it, you saw it and bought it: "I picked up a really exciting novel at a shop in the airport."

Cough up

To give money to someone especially when you do not want to: "I had to cough up over £1000 to get my car fixed." 

Rip somebody off

To cheat, defraud or try to make someone pay too much for something: "They ripped me off. I paid £50 for this bag, then I saw the same one in another shop for only £15!"

Shop around (for something)

To check the price of an item in different shops before buying. "It's important to shop online before buying an expensive item so you can get it for the lowest possible price."

Snap something up

To buy something eagerly or quickly: "All the tickets for the show were snapped up in minutes."

Fork out (for something)

Similar to 'cough up, it means to reluctantly pay for something: "We had to fork out a lot of money for a new laptop after ours broke."

Stock up (on something)

To get a large quantity of something so that you will have it for later use: "The shop will be closed over the next few days so we should stock up on food now."

Skimp on something

To use too little of something; to save something by using less of it than needed for something. "Don't skimp on fresh fruit. It's important for your health."

Sell out

To sell all of something: "The shop sold out its stock of that video game after just one day!"

Now complete sentences using the correct word. All these sentences are based on the above phrasal verbs. When you are finished see if you can write three example sentences using today's vocabulary:

• 1. He wanted $3000 for his old car, but I managed to ___ him down to $2500.
  
  beat
  sell
  pick
  skimp
  
  
• 2. We're going to have to fork ___ a lot of money this year; the kitchen needs a new floor and the roof needs to be repaired.
  
  in
  up
  on
  out
  
  
• 3. We mustn't ___ on the food and drink for the party. We don't want our friends to think we're poor.
  
  skimp
  cough
  fork
  rip
  
  
• 4. I snapped ___ a nice old stand lamp for my living room at a garage sale. It was only five pounds.
  
  up
  out
  on
  in
  
  
• 5. The tickets for the rock concert are bound to ___ out really quickly. I think we should go to the box office first thing in the morning.
  
  rip
  sell
  snap
  cough
  
  
• 6. We should ___ up on drinks for the party tomorrow. I think everyone is going to very thirsty after the hike.
  
  sell
  beat
  stock
  rip
  
  
• 7. Let's shop ___ a bit. It may be cheaper somewhere else.
  
  down
  around
  off
  up
  
  
• 8. We could get everyone to ___ up a few pounds so that we can buy her some flowers or something.
  
  beat
  pick
  cough
  knock
  
  
• 9. I ___ it up for €70. It was a real bargain.
  
  forked
  beat
  sold
  picked
  
  
• 10. The dealer knocked 10% ___ the price because I offered to pay cash.
  
  up
  on
  off
  in