BEP 385 – Idioms about Spending Money (Part 1)

Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English
idioms related to spending money.

As a wise person once said: it takes money to make money. In other words, you
need to invest money and spend it in order to make more. On the other hand,
spending money unwisely can eat into your profits. So, from both perspectives,
figuring out how to spend money is one of the keys to business success.

And it should come as no surprise that spending money is a common topic of

conversation in any business. It’s not just the folks in the purchasing department
who think about it. Everyone has an opinion about how their company should and
shouldn’t commit its resources. And for this reason, English has many idioms we
use to describe the different approaches to spending money.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear a conversation between three managers at a tech

company: Shelly, Martin, and Vince. The company has just landed a big new
project, and so they anticipate having more money to spend soon. But the three
aren’t all in agreement about how they should spend that money and they use
many different idioms to express their opinions. Try to pick out some of these
idioms as you listen, and we’ll explain them later in the debrief.

As you listen to the dialog, try to answer the following questions:

1. According to Martin, what approach to spending is now in the past?

2. What does Vince believe about competing in a new and different sector of the
market?
3. How does Martin describe the salaries of the two positions they previously
discussed hiring?

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Vocabulary

Windfall: an unexpected or sudden gain, especially of money; “This windfall of

government support is going to help us with payroll this month.”

To be sitting pretty: to be in a safe or comfortable position; “Since our biggest

competition went out of business, we’ve been sitting pretty!”

Something-wise: related to or regarding something; “Ronald has the right

experience and training, but personality-wise I don’t think he’s a good fit for us.”

Game-changer: something that completely changes a situation or how something is

done; “This new accounting system is a game-changer! There’s so much more we
can do with our data now!”

To tighten your belt: to limit or reduce spending or costs; “With sales down the past
three months, we’re going to have to tighten our belts to save money.”

Money to burn: extra money that can be used for unnecessary things; “Profits are
up, so looks like we’ve got some money to burn on this new office space.”

Penny pincher: someone who’s too careful with money; “I’m so frustrated that the
penny pinchers in finance won’t approve these small work-related expenses.”

To exercise caution: to be very careful; “With so much uncertainty in the economy,

investors are exercising a lot of caution and minimizing their risks.”

On a shoestring: with a very small budget; “Many young entrepreneurs start their
companies on a shoestring, with little more than family savings.”

Decent: good, good enough, or reasonable; “If you’re looking for a decent
restaurant for a cheap lunch, you should try that new Italian place on the corner.”

Workforce: the total number of people working in a company; “With demand

continually increasing, we’ve been able to double our workforce over the past year.”

To loosen the purse strings: to increase the amount of money available for
spending; “I think we should loosen the purse strings on our next fleet of company
vehicles and spend the money on some nice Teslas.”

To build up: to develop by adding to; “With the addition of 3 new designers, we’re
really building up our marketing team this year.”

To go down a path: to pursue a course of action or follow a direction; “As we

venture down the path of luxury goods, we’re launching a new line of leather bags.”

Host: many; “We’ve had a host of complaints about our customer service, so we
need to completely change our approach.”

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Shift: a change from one place or way to another; “Early in its history Twitter
shifted from a podcasting company to a social media company.”

Bread and butter: main sources of income or business; “While Indigo’s bread and
butter has always been books, it has branched out into housewares and home
furnishings.”

Tier one consumer app: computer or mobile applications used be the general
public; “Besides its flagship Facebook site, Meta also runs several other tier one
consumer apps like Instagram and What’s App.”

To cost a pretty penny: to be very expensive; “Colour printers and ink cost a pretty
penny these days, so why don’t we go for a black and white machine?”

To play in the big leagues: to be at the highest level of competition in sports or

business; “We started small, but with several million in investment, our little tech
start-up is getting ready to play in the big leagues.”

The cost of doing business: the normal expenses and costs required to run a
business; “We accept that 1% of customers won’t pay their bill, which we figure is
just the cost of doing business.”

Segment: one part of an industry or market in business; “We’ve built our business
on children’s clothing, but we’re looking at entering other segments like men’s and
women’s activewear.”

To pour money down the drain: to waste money; “I found out we could be getting a
better deal on our Internet service, so we’ve basically been pouring money down
the drain.”

To refresh: to give new life to; “Okay, it’s been a while since we last met, so let’s
just refresh our memories here and summarize what we talked about last time.”

QA: quality assurance, or the job of making sure software is efficient and effective;
“We’ve just hired an amazing new QA professional who can ensure what we’re
doing is consistently good.”

Full-stack developer: a software developer that can deal with multiple aspects and
platforms; “Full-stack developers know a lot of different programming languages,
so they’re in high demand and can earn a lot of money.

Chicken feed: a small or insignificant amount of money; “Compared to the CEO’s

salary, his executive assistant’s salary looks like chicken feed!”

Room: the possibility for more of something; “Besides a redesign of the office, it
looks like we’ve got room in the budget for new furniture as well.

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To bring in: to hire; “With plans to move into the European market, we’re bringing
in a team of consultants to help us plan.”

Topnotch: very high in quality; “These cheap laptops simply aren’t good enough.
We need every employee to have a topnotch machine.”

Front-end developer: a computer programmer who focuses on elements and

features that are seen by the program user; “With our move into mobile apps, we
are hiring a few front-end developers.”

North of: more or higher than, with a number; “You can get cheap office space in
the suburbs, but if you want to be downtown you’re going to be paying north of
200K a year.”

Blank check: the freedom to spend as much as you want; “Our Manager of People
and Culture has given me a blank check to throw a huge Christmas party.”

Contractor: a person who sells services to another business or company; “We’ve

asked for quotes from three different contractors to help us with our new strategy.”

On the hook: responsible for paying for; “I’m sorry, but because you cancelled your
booking with less than a week’s notice, you’re on the hook for 50% of the fees.”

Benefits: extra advantages, such as vacation and healthcare, you get at your job
beyond your regular salary; “My salary doesn’t look that great, but the benefits
here are amazing, including four weeks vacation every year.”

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Dialog

Shelly: …so, all in all, it looks like the windfall from this project has us sitting
pretty, budget-wise at least.

Martin: Yes, this could be a game-changer. The days of tightening our belts
might finally be over.

Vince: Maybe, but it’s not like we have money to burn. Call me a penny
pincher, but we do need to exercise a bit of caution.

Shelly: Caution, yes. But we’re not doing this on a shoestring. I think we’ve a
decent amount to work with. Maybe it’s time to think about expanding our
workforce.

Martin: Precisely. Time to loosen the purse strings and build up the team.

Vince: Build up the team? So you really want to go down this path? That brings
up a host of other issues, not to mention a strategic shift….

Martin: I know what you’re thinking Vince: this is getting away from our bread
and butter.

Vince: Exactly. Tier one consumer apps? It’s going to cost a pretty penny to
compete in that space. I mean, if we really want play in the big leagues…

Shelly: Cost of doing business, isn’t it Vince?

Vince: Of course… but it only makes sense if we’re moving into this segment more
broadly. Otherwise it’s pouring money down the drain. Remember we tried
something similar with the Marketplace app… How did that work out?

Shelly: That was a while ago. And just to refresh some of our previous discussion,
we agreed on two positions that we definitely need to fill: QA and a full-stack
developer.

Martin: At a minimum. But those salaries are chicken feed when it comes to the
overall budget. We’ve got room.

Shelly: So you’re looking for…?

Martin: I think we need to bring in a topnotch front-end developer. And that’ll

cost us north of 120K a year.

Vince: I dunno about that… It’s not like we have a blank check here. We can work
with contractors without being on the hook for benefits, everything else… not to
mention we don’t really have the space for more staff. So I don’t see how this
would work…

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Debrief

Now let’s go through the dialog again and look at the idioms featured in the
conversation. We start off with Shelly and Martin commenting on the potential
benefits of the money they will make from the project.

Shelly: …so, all in all, it looks like the windfall from this project has us sitting
pretty, budget-wise at least.

Martin: Yes, this could be a game-changer. The days of tightening our belts
might finally be over.

Shelly starts out on a positive note by describing the sudden inflow of money as a
“windfall;” saying they’re “sitting pretty,” or in a good position. Martin fully agrees.
He is excited at the change that this will bring, saying that the days of “tightening
their belts” may be over.

This idiom comes from the idea that if you don’t have much money, you don’t have
much food to eat. As a result, your pants are loose and you need to tighten your
belt! Today, people don’t use this expression to mean you don’t have enough to
eat, but simply that you need to decrease your spending. How else can we talk
about “tightening your belt?” Let’s try some more examples.

To tighten your belt – to decrease spending.

§ This downturn means we need to tighten our belts and budget carefully.
§ Since I lost my job, I’ve had to tighten my belt and reduce spending.

While Shelly and Martin appear quite positive about the situation, Vince is more
cautious.

Vince: Maybe, but it’s not like we have money to burn. Call me a penny
pincher, but we do need to exercise a bit of caution.

Firstly, Vince emphasizes that they don’t have “money to burn.” To understand this
idiom, think about having so much money that you don’t care how it’s spent. With
that money, you could do anything you wanted. You could spend it on luxuries or
even burn it!

So, while they might not have to tighten their belts, Vince is reminding them they
don’t have money to burn. Let’s practice some more ways of using this idiom.

Money to burn – extra money to spend.

§ When I got my first bonus, I felt like I had money to burn!

§ With such a small budget, I don’t think we have money to burn.

In explaining his own careful approach, Vince acknowledges that he might be called
a “penny pincher.” A penny is the lowest value coin in the United States. And

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someone who “pinches” a penny holds on to it very tightly or carefully. In other
words, a penny pincher doesn’t like to spend money.

Let’s practice this expression “penny pincher” with a short dialog.

Penny pincher – someone who’s too careful with money.

A: I think we need to find ways to save money on office supplies.

B: Oh, don’t be such a penny pincher. We don’t have to worry about that.

What does Shelly think about Vince’s idea of exercising caution?

Shelly: Caution, yes. But we’re not doing this on a shoestring. I think we’ve a
decent amount to work with. Maybe it’s time to think about expanding our
workforce.

Shelly is looking for a middle way between pinching pennies and burning money.
She says they have a “decent” or reasonable, amount of money to work with. And
for this reason, they don’t need to work “on a shoestring.”

A shoestring has come to mean a very small amount of money. And doing things
“on a shoestring” means only having a small amount of money to work with. If all
you’ve got are the laces on your shoes, you certainly don’t have much. Let’s try
some more ways of using this idiom “on a shoestring.”

On a shoestring – with a very small budget.

§ I started my business on a shoestring as I couldn’t get anyone to invest in it.

§ There’s not much money left, so we’ll have to do this on a shoestring.

Once again, Martin agrees with Shelly’s assessment.

Martin: Precisely. Time to loosen the purse strings and build up the team.

This time the idiom is not about shoestrings but rather purse strings. A purse used
to refer to a bag just for money, and purses were tied up with string. If you loosen
those strings, then you are opening the purse to get the money inside. So loosening
the purse strings means to increase the amount of money available to spend.

What other ways can we talk about loosening purse strings? Let’s run through some
more examples.

To loosen the purse strings – to increase the amount of money available.

§ If finance would loosen the purse strings, then maybe we could hire more staff.
§ I know people are tired of cost-cutting, but we can loosen the purse strings once
sales improve.

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Now, Martin and Shelly have talked about spending money in particular on
developing their workforce and building up the team. Let’s find out what Vince
thinks about this approach.

Vince: Build up the team? So you really want to go down this path? That brings
up a host of other issues, not to mention a strategic shift….

Martin: I know what you’re thinking Vince: this is getting away from our bread
and butter.

Spending more on the workforce in response to this new opportunity would be part
of a bigger “shift,” or change in the company’s strategy. Martin acknowledges that
it’s getting away from their “bread and butter,” an idiom which refers to your main
source of income. Clearly, Vince doesn’t like this idea, as we can hear.

Vince: Exactly. Tier one consumer apps? It’s going to cost a pretty penny to
compete in that space. I mean, if we really want play in the big leagues…

“Tier one consumer apps” are a different market than their company’s bread and
butter, or main type of work. And to enter that part of the market, Vince says it will
“cost a pretty penny.”

All pennies are, of course, the same value. But when we talk about a “pretty
penny,” we’re talking about something unusually precious. And if something “costs
a pretty penny,” it’s very expensive. Let’s practice this idiom with some more
examples.

To cost a pretty penny – to be very expensive.

§ Standing desks for everyone might sound nice, but they cost a pretty penny!
§ Office space downtown costs a pretty penny, so I think we should look elsewhere.

Of course, you can’t develop a business for nothing, as Shelly points out.

Shelly: Cost of doing business, isn’t it Vince?

Vince: Of course… but it only makes sense if we’re moving into this segment more
broadly. Otherwise it’s pouring money down the drain. Remember we tried
something similar with the Marketplace app… How did that work out?!

Vince expands on his idea here by giving another example of a venture that didn’t
work out so well. In his words, building the team for one single project, without a
broader strategic goal, is just “pouring money down the drain.”

A drain is the hole in a sink or shower where the water goes down. Any time we
talk about something going “down the drain,” we are talking about wasting it, or
losing it. So if we “pour money down the drain,” we are wasting money, as you can
hear in the following examples.

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To pour money down the drain – to waste money.

§ If we’re paying for this software but not using it, we’re just pouring money down
the drain.
§ I think we’re just pouring money down the drain flying business class all the time.

At this point, Shelly steers the discussion toward more specific workforce needs.
Let’s listen.

Shelly: That was a while ago. And just to refresh some of our previous discussion,
we agreed on two positions that we definitely need to fill: QA and a full-stack
developer.

Martin: At a minimum. But those salaries are chicken feed when it comes to the
overall budget. We’ve got room.

The positions Shelly mentions are “QA,” or quality assurance, and a “full-stack
developer,” or a software developer that can deal with multiple aspects and platforms.

But Martin is quick to point out that they’ve got more money to spend on people.
And he calls the salaries for the positions Shelly mentions “chicken feed.” “Feed” is
what we call food for farm animals. And chicken feed was traditionally quite cheap.
So the expression has evolved to mean a small or trivial amount of money.

Let’s try this idiom “chicken feed” with a short dialog.

Chicken feed – a small or insignificant amount of money.

A: A 2% pay raise doesn’t sound too bad.

B: Really? 2% is chicken feed compared to inflation these days.

Now let’s get back to the conversation, as Martin gets specific about who he thinks
they should be hiring.

Shelly: So you’re looking for…?

Martin: I think we need to bring in a topnotch front-end developer. And that’ll

cost us north of 120K a year.

In Martin’s opinion, a “topnotch,” or excellent, developer will cost “north of” or

more than, 120 thousand dollars a year. How does Vince feel about this
proposition?

Vince: I dunno about that… It’s not like we have a blank check here.

People don’t write checks very often anymore, but they still use the idiom “blank
check.” A blank check is a check without the amount of money specified on the
check. If you give someone a blank check, you’re allowing them to write in any
amount they want. Basically, this means the freedom to spend as much as you like!

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Let’s run through a couple more examples of using the idiom a “blank check.”

Blank check – the freedom to spend as much as you want.

§ I’ve got a blank check for new equipment, so I think we should get the best
possible.
§ Our salespeople are expected to entertain clients, but it’s not a blank check to
spend carelessly.

So what does Vince think they should do instead of bringing in a topnotch

developer?

Vince: We can work with contractors without being on the hook for benefits,
everything else… not to mention we don’t really have the space for more staff. So I
don’t see how this would work…

Vince’s solution is to hire contractors, or project-based workers, rather than fulltime

staff. This will bring cost savings; in particular, he points out they won’t be “on the
hook” for benefits such as pensions, health insurance, and the other perks of full-
time employment.

If you’re “on the hook” for something, then you’re the one responsible for paying
for it. And if you’re off the hook for something, then you aren’t responsible. Let’s
try some more ways of using this idiom “on the hook.”

On the hook – responsible for paying for something.

§ We’re still on the hook for the design fees even if we cancel the contract.
§ Please check the contract carefully. I don’t want to be on the hook for any
unexpected costs.

The group hasn’t come to an agreement yet on how to spend the money from their
new project. But they’ve introduced the key points of the debate which we’ll hear
more about in the next lesson. Along the way they’ve used lots of useful idioms to
describe spending money.

Now let’s practice some of the idioms from this lesson. In a moment, you’ll hear a
series of sentences. Each sentence will be followed by a beep. After the beep, you
need to restate or rephrase the sentence using one of the idioms we learned today.
When you listen to the sentence, think about which idea can be replaced by one of
the idioms.

For example, if you hear:

Example Cue: Oh come on Dave, don’t be such a careful person with money.

You can say:

Example Answer: Oh come on Dave, don’t be such a penny pincher.

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After each response, we’ll provide the correct answer. Ready? Let’s give it a go.

Cue 1: Producing a video is great, but who’s responsible for paying for it?
Answer:

Cue 2: We hired a great tech support company, but they are very expensive.
Answer:

Cue 3: After such a profitable year, it’s nice to finally have extra money to spend.
Answer:

Cue 4: Prices are going up fast, so we’re going to have to decrease spending.
Answer:

Cue 5: Unfortunately, we will have to do these renovations with a small budget.

Answer:

Answer 1: Producing a video is great, but who’s on the hook for it?
Answer 2: We hired a great tech support company, but they cost a pretty penny.
Answer 3: After such a profitable year, it’s nice to finally have money to burn.
Answer 4: Prices are going up fast, so we’re going to have to tighten our belts.
Answer 5: Unfortunately, we will have to do these renovations on a shoestring.

We’ve reached the end of this lesson, the first in our two-part series on idioms we
use to talk about spending money. In the next lesson we’ll learn more about
everyone’s ideas and preferences, as well as lots more idioms!

Thanks for listening. And see again soon!

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Language Review

A. Identifying Idioms

Make idioms from this lesson by matching words from each column.

1 Blank A Your belt

2 To cost B To burn
3 To tighten C Feed
4 To loosen D A pretty penny
5 Chicken E Check
6 To pour money F Pincher
7 Penny G The purse strings
8 Money H Down the drain

B. Idioms in Use

Fill in the blanks with the words below. Make sure you put verbs in the correct tense.

burn drain hook blank

purse pretty belt feed

1. Could we loosen the _____________ strings just a bit and spend some money
on some better furnishings for this drab office?

2. We won the court case, but now we’re on the _____________ for $50,000 in
legal fees.

3. Do I have a limit on this project or are you giving me a _____________ check

to spend whatever I want?

4. Don’t worry about office supplies Janey. This part of the budget is chicken
_____________ compared to our other expenses.

5. If we don’t use this Adobe subscription we have, then aren’t we just pouring
money down the _____________ every month?

6. Our department has $40,000 to _____________ before the end of the year.

7. Did you see Allan’s extra wide curved monitor? I bet that cost a
_____________ penny.

8. With inflation pushing the cost of goods up, many families are having to tighten
their _____________.

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Answers

Listening Questions

1. According to Martin, the days of tightening their belts may be over.

2. Vince believes its going to cost a pretty penny to compete in a different industry
segment.
3. Martin describes the salaries as chicken feed within the overall budget.

Language Review

A. Identifying Idioms

1. E; 2. D; 3. A; 4. G; 5. C; 6. H; 7. F; 8. B

B. Idioms in Use

1. Could we loosen the purse strings just a bit and spend some money on some
better furnishings for this drab office?
2. We won the court case, but now we’re on the hook for $50,000 in legal fees.
3. Do I have a limit on this project or are you giving me a blank check to spend
whatever I want?
4. Don’t worry about office supplies Janey. This part of the budget is chicken feed
compared to our other expenses.
5. If we don’t use this Adobe subscription we have, then aren’t we just pouring
money down the drain every month?
6. Our department has $40,000 to burn before the end of the year.
7. Did you see Allan’s extra wide curved monitor? I bet that cost a pretty penny.
8. With inflation pushing the cost of goods up, many families are having to tighten
their belts.

Study Strategy

Business is all about profits. And profits are basically what you earn minus what you
spend. But not everyone has the same approach to spending money. Or they don’t
agree on how a company should spend its money.

Imagine you are asked to review the spending in your business, department, or team.
What should you spend more on? What should you spend less on? It’s your job to figure
it out. Make a list of expenses. You don’t have to know exact costs for everything, but
you can think about the company’s general approach to spending in these areas. Now,
imagine you’re discussing the situation with another employee. How might you use the
idioms you’ve learned in this lesson in this kind of conversation? With a partner, try
writing a dialog in which you have to decide how to change how the company spends
money. Try to use as many of today’s idioms as possible.

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