Advanced English Phrasal Verbs: Money

Here are the phrasal verbs that may help you speak about having and repaying debts, saving and spending money, buying and selling.

Having Debts

RUN UP smth or RUN smth UP

do things that cause you to owe large amounts of money

Ex. I've run up such a huge bill (debt / overdraft) that I don't know how I'm going to pay it.

Repaying Debts

PAY BACK smth/smb or PAY smth/smb BACK 

 pay someone the money that you owe them.

Ex. Lend me ten pounds and I'll pay you back tomorrow.

SETTLE UP (with)

pay someone the money that you owe them.

Ex. Can you lend me another 20 pounds and I'll settle up with you next week. We settled up and checked out of the hotel.

PAY OFF smth or  PAY smth OFF  

 pay back all the money (mortgage, loan, overdraft) you owe. 

Ex. I won't pay off the mortgage on my house until 2021.

PAY UP 

 (informal) 

 give someone the money that you owe them, especially if you don't want to.

Ex. I owe my friend some money and he says I have to pay up by 30 April.

Getting Money from Banks or People

TAKE OUT smth or TAKE smth OUT

withdraw money from a bank

Ex. I took $ 100 out at the ATM yesterday.

GET smth BACK or GET BACK smth

have somehting returned to you.

Ex. Forget about your money. You won't get it back.

Saving Money / Spending Little Money

SAVE UP (smth) or SAVE (smth) UP

keep money so that you can buy smth with it in the future.

Ex. I'm saving up for a holiday.

SET / PUT ASIDE smth or SET / PUT smth ASIDE

keep smth, especially time or money, for one purpose and no other purpose.

Ex. You should have set aside some cash to pay household expenses.

       The money has been put aside for their retirement.

PUT smth BY 

(especially BrE)

save money so that you can use it later for a particular purpose.

Ex. Why don't you put by a little money each week? That way you'll soon be able to afford a motorcycle.

SAVE ON smth

spend less money on smth than you did before.

Ex. If I cycled to work I could save on petrol.

SKIMP  ON  smth

spend too little money on or use too little of

Ex. We should never skimp on healthy foods.

    

SCRIMP ON smth 

(AmE)

spend too little money for smth or buy smth that is very cheap.

Ex. Builders seem to scrimp on windows to keep costs down.

CUT BACK smth or CUT smth BACK or CUT BACK ON smth

reduce the amount of money that you spend or the amount of smth that you use

Ex. Since the children were born, we've really had to cut back our spendings.

      The government is cutting back on the education budget.

Spending a Lot of Money 

  FORK OUT (smth) 

(informal)

spend a lot of money on smth, esrecially if you don't want to.

Ex. We had to fork out $ 900 to fix our car.

 SPLASH OUT 

(BrE informal)

spend a lot of money on smth which is very pleasant but which you don't need.

Ex. We splashed out on lots of furniture last month. I feel like splashing out a bit.

Shopping and Buying

SHOP AROUND

look at different shops and compare prices.

Ex. - Shall we buy the TV set here? - No, let's shop around a bit. they may be cheaper somewher else.

CLUB TOGETHER

( BrE)

put money together as a group to buy smth.

Ex. We clubbed together to buy her a leaving present.

STOCK UP (on smth)

buy a lot of smth, especially food and drink, for example if it's cheap or in order to keep it for when you need it later.

Ex. We need to stock up on wine  for Christmas.

LOAD UP (on smth)

get or buy a lot of smth that you want or need.

Ex. We should load up on fruit and vegetables not buy so much junk food.

 SNAP UP smth or SNAP smth UP

 (slightly informal)

buy smth quickly because it is very cheap or exactly what you want.

Ex. All the tickets for the game were snapped up in less than two hours. 

PICK UP smth or PICK smth UP

1) buy smth cheaply;

2) buy smth when you have gone to a place to do smth else.

Ex. 1) I picked up the vase for $5. It was a real bargain.

       2) If you are going into town, can you pick up a magazine for me?

Selling

SELL OFF smth or SELL smth OFF

sell smth at a low price because you don't want it or because you need some money.

Ex. They are selling off printers at half price at the computer store.

SELL OUT (of)

have no more of a particular product available to buy.

Ex. Most music stores have already sold out of Ice Cube's new album. The bakery is usually sold out of my favorite cake within two hours.

RIP smb OFF or RIP OFF smb 

(informal)

cheat smb by making them pay too much money for smth.

Ex. A lot of the taxi drivers here will try and rip you off if they think you are a tourist.

A RIP-OFF

(informal)

smth that is far too expensive.

Ex. A lot of those tourist shops are a real rip-off. You can get the same things in ordinary shops for half the price.

Asking for and Offering Discounts

BEAT smb/smth DOWN or BEAT DOWN smb/smth
(BrE)
force someone to reduce the price of smth.

 Ex.  He wants $ 7,000 for his car, but I'm sure I can bit him down a bit.

KNOCK smth OFF (smth) or KNOCK OFF smth

take a particular amount away from smth. especially a price (= deduct).

Ex. The dealer knocked 10 % off the price because I offered to pay cash. 

Sources:
1. M. McCarthy, F. O'Dell. English Phrasal Verbs in Use.
2. Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
3. Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary.