30 Money Words in English You Need for Daily Life [2026]

Money vocabulary in English splits neatly into two registers, and using the wrong one sounds odd in a way that is hard to explain but easy to notice. The formal banking terms belong in letters, forms and serious conversations; the informal everyday words belong in shops and among friends. Knowing both, and knowing which fits where, is what keeps you sounding natural whether you are at a cash machine or chatting about a bargain.

This guide covers 30 money words grouped into banking, spending and saving, with the informal alternatives flagged along the way.

Banking

The formal words you meet at the bank and on official forms.

1. account: where your money is held at the bank. I opened a savings account.
2. balance: how much you have. I checked my balance.
3. deposit: money paid in. She made a deposit on Monday.
4. withdraw: take money out. I need to withdraw some cash.
5. transfer: move money between accounts. Transfer it to my current account.
6. statement: a record of transactions. My statement arrives monthly.
7. overdrawn: below zero, owing the bank. I went overdrawn this month.
8. interest: money the bank pays you, or charges you. The account earns little interest.
9. direct debit: an automatic regular payment. The bill goes out by direct debit.
10. current account: an everyday account for spending. My salary goes into my current account.
11. cash machine: a machine that dispenses cash, also called an ATM. The cash machine was empty.
12. sort code: the number identifying your bank branch. Give them your sort code.

Spending

The words for parting with money, formal and informal side by side.

13. afford: to have enough money for. I cannot afford it this month.
14. expensive: costing a lot. London is expensive.
15. cheap: costing little. The market is cheap.
16. bargain: a good deal. That was a bargain.
17. broke: informal for having no money. I am broke until payday.
18. skint: very informal British for broke. I am totally skint.
19. quid: informal for a pound. It cost twenty quid.
20. fiver: informal for five pounds. Lend me a fiver.
21. tenner: informal for ten pounds. It was only a tenner.
22. splash out: spend freely on a treat. We splashed out on dinner.
23. rip-off: something overpriced. Ten pounds for a coffee is a rip-off.

Notice the jump in register between afford and skint: both are about spending, but one belongs in a mortgage application and the other among friends. That instinct for register runs through everyday life, from the till, covered in our shopping words in English guide, to the kitchen, in our cooking words in English list.

Saving

The words for holding onto money.

24. save: keep money for later. I save a little each month.
25. savings: the money you have kept. She spent her savings.
26. budget: a plan for spending. Stick to the budget.
27. afford: return here as the hinge word between spending and saving. Can we afford to save more?
28. pension: money saved for retirement. He pays into a pension.
29. rainy day: an imagined future time of need. Keep something for a rainy day.
30. tight: informal for short of money, or careful with it. Money is tight this month.

With these 30 words, and a sense of which are formal and which are casual, you can talk about money without slipping into the wrong tone. That control of register, choosing skint with a friend and overdrawn on a form, is one of the surer signals of an advanced ear, and a free English level test will show you whether your English is already operating at that level of nuance.