back-of-the- This expression refers to a quick approximate calculation

envelope done informally, as on the back of an envelope.

calculation I don't need the exact amount. Just give me a back-of-the-
envelope calculation.
Cálculo somero No necesito la cantidad exacta. Solo dame un cálculo
somero.
If someone gives a ballpark figure, they give an approximate
ballpark figure number or a rough estimate of the cost of something.
I don't know exactly how much it will cost, but a ballpark
figure would be around $100 000.

Cifra No sé exactamente cuánto costará, pero una cifra

aproximada aproximada sería de alrededor de $ 100 000.

bet your If you bet your bottom dollar on something, you are
bottom dollar absolutely certain of it.
Jack is very punctual. You can bet your bottom dollar he'll
be here at 9 o'clock on the dot.
Apostar hasta Jack es muy puntual. Puedes apostar hasta el último
el último centavo que él estará aquí a las 9 en punto.
centavo

tighten your
belt If you need to tighten your belt, you must spend your money
carefully because there is less available.
Another bill? I'll have to tighten my belt this month!
Ajustar el
presupuesto ¿Otra factura? Tendré que ajustar mi presupuesto este mes.

born with a A person who is born with a silver spoon in their mouth is
silver spoon in born into a very rich family.
your mouth She never has to worry about money; she was born with a
silver spoon in her mouth.
nacer en cuna
de oro Ella nunca se tiene que preocupar por el dinero; ella nació
en cuna de oro.

People who live on the breadline have a very low income or

barely enough money to survive.
on the Due to the recent crisis, there are more people on the
breadline breadline than
ever before.

en las últimas Debido a la reciente crisis, hay más personas que viven en
las últimas que antes.

burn your If you burn your fingers (or get your fingers burnt), you suffer
fingers financially as a result of foolish behaviour.
Jack got his fingers burnt playing on the stock market.

quemarse los
bolsillos Jack se quemó los bolsillos en el mercado de valores.

A product or service which is a regular source of income for

cash cow a company is called a cash cow.
His latest invention turned out to be a real cash cow.

mina de oro Su último invento resultó ser una mina de oro.

If you cash in your chips, you sell something, especially

shares, either because you need the money or because you
cash in your
think the value is going to fall.
chips
Andy cashed in his chips as soon as business started to
slow down.

Andy se retiró del juego tan pronto como el negocio

retirarse del
comenzó a desacelerarse.
juego
chicken feed An amount of money considered small or unimportant is
calledchicken feed.
I got a job during the holidays but the pay was chicken feed.
una miseria
Obtuve un trabajo durante las vacaciones pero el pago era
una miseria.
other side of When you want to mention a different or contradictory
the coin aspect of a situation, you refer to the other side of the coin.
 The house is lovely and spacious, but the other side of the
coin is that it is far from shops and schools.
el otro lado de
la moneda La casa es hermosa y espaciosa, pero el otro lado de la
moneda es que está lejos de las tiendas y las escuelas.
If something costs an arm and a leg, it is very expensive.
cost an arm The house cost us an arm and a leg, but we have no
and a leg regrets.

costar un ojo de La casa nos costó un ojo de la cara, pero no nos

la cara arrepentimos.

If something costs the earth, it is very expensive indeed.

cost the earth
She wears designer clothes that must cost the earth!
costar un
¡Ella usa ropa de diseñador que debe costarle un dineral!
dineral
at all costs If you are determined to obtain or achieve something at all
costs, you want it regardless of the expense, effort or
sacrifice involved.
The journalist was determined at all costs to get a report
from the war zone.

a toda costa El periodista estada determinado a obtener a toda costa un

informe de la zona de guerra.
If you end or withdraw from something that is already failing,
in order to reduce the loss of money, time or effort invested
cut one's in it,
losses you cut your losses.
The project is heading for failure. Let's cut our losses before
it's too late.

minimizar las El proyecto se dirige hacia el fracaso. Vamos a minimizar

pérdidas nuestras pérdidas antes de que sea demasiado tarde.
deep pockets A person or organisation who has deep pockets has a lot of
money.
Andy's business is not doing well at the moment. He says he
needs a friend with deep pockets!
mucho dinero
El negocio de Andy no está funcionando bien en este
momento. ¡Él dice que necesita un amigo con mucho dinero!

down When someone makes a down payment, they pay part of the
payment total amount agreed when signing a purchase deal or
 contract.
Emma and Paul are excited. They put a down payment on
their first house yesterday.
pago inicial
Emma y Paul están muy emocionados. Ayer pusieron el
pago inicial para su primera casa.
To go Dutch with somebody means to share the cost of
go Dutch something such as a meal or a concert.
Young people today tend to go Dutch when they go out
together.

pagar a Los jóvenes de hoy en día tienden a pagar a medias cuando

medias salen juntos.

If you eat or dip into your savings, you spend part of the
eat/dip into
money you have put aside for future use.
one's savings
I had to dip into my savings to have the car repaired.
gastarse los
Tuve que gastar mis ahorros para reparar el carro.
ahorros
feather your To say of someone that they are feathering their nest means
nest that they are taking advantage of their position in order to
obtain money and enjoy have a comfortable life.

llenarse los
bolsillos

feed the kitty If you feed the kitty, you contribute to a collection of money
called a 'kitty' in order to help a good cause.
Come on! Every little helps. You should feed the kitty for a
colaborar en el good cause!
fondo común

Vamos, hasta lo más mínimo ayuda. Debes colaborar en el

fondo por una buena causa.
feel the pinch When someone feels the pinch, they begin to suffer from a
lack of money.
With the drop in tourism, hotels and restaurants are
pasar beginning to feel the pinch.
necesidad
económica Con la caída del turismo, los hoteles y restaurantes están
empezando a pasar necesidad económica.
gnomes of This is a disparaging term for Swiss bankers who control a lot
Zurich of money, are said to be uninterested in the provenance of
 funds and protect their clients' identity.
The gnomes of Zurich refuse to cooperate with the
investigating officials.
banqueros Los banqueros suizos se niegan a cooperar con los oficiales
suizos de investigación.

The term golden handcuffs refers to a large sum of money or

golden
a generous financial arrangement granted to an executive as
handcuffs
an incentive to stay in their job, or to ensure long-term
cooperation after their departure.

incentivo
económico
golden A golden handshake is a generous sum of money given to a
handshake person when they leave a company or retire (sometimes
given to encourage early retirement).

indemnización
por jubilación
anticipada
gravy train If someone is on the gravy train, they have found an easy
way to make money, one that requires little effort and is
without risk.
Since the village has become fashionable, he charges for
every photograph taken of his house - he's on a gravy train!
ganga Desde que el pueblo se puso de moda, él cobra por cada
fotografía tomada de su casa, ¡es una ganga!
hard up If you are hard up, you have very little money.
We were so hard up that we had to sleep in the car.

sin un quinto Estábamos sin un quinto, tanto así que tuvimos que dormir
en el carro.

If you hit (or strike) pay dirt, you are lucky and suddenly find
yourself in a successful money-making situation.
hit pay dirt
Charlie finally hit pay dirt with his latent invention.

Charlie finalmente dio en clavo la con su invento latente.

dar en el clavo
on the house Something which is on the house is offered free of charge,
usually in a bar or restaurant.
 The new owner offered us a drink on the house.

cortesía de la El nuevo propietario nos ofreció una bebida como cortesía

casa de la casa.

ill-gotten gains Money, profit or benefits that are made in a dishonest or

illegal manner are called ill-gotten gains.
He won money by cheating and is now enjoying his ill-
gotten gains.

ganancias mal Ganó dinero haciendo trampa y ahora está disfrutando

habidas de sus ganancias mal habidas.

itching (itchy) palm Someone who has an itching palm is greedy for money,
for example tips or commission (as if putting money in
the palm of their hand would ease the itch).
He's said to have an itching palm - he does nothing
without payment!
mano codiciosa
Se dice que tiene una mano codiciosa – él no hace
nada si no le pagan.
keep your head To keep one's head above water means to try to survive
above water by staying out of debt, for example a small business.
Business has been slow, but we've managed to keep
our head above water.

Los negocios han estado lentos, pero hemos logrado

mantenerse a flote mantenernos a flote.
keep the wolf from In order to keep the wolf from the door, you need to
the door have enough money to buy food and other essentials.
My grandparents earned barely enough money to keep
the wolf from the door.

Evitar la miseria Mis abuelos ganaban apenas dinero suficiente para

mantenerse lejos de la miseria.
a kickback This expression refers to money paid illegally for
favourable treatment.
The property developers were accused of giving
kickbacks to the local authorities.

soborno Los promotores inmobiliarios fueron acusados de

sobornar a las autoridades locales.
laugh all the way to A person who makes a lot of money easily, especially
the bank through someone else's stupidity, is said to laugh all the
way to the bank.
If we fail to renew the contract, our competitors will be
laughing all the way to the bank.

hacerse rico/a sin Si no logramos renovar el contrato, nuestros

parar de divertirse competidores se harán ricos sin parar de divertirse.
licence to print An officially authorized activity which enables people to
money make a lot of money without much effort is called a
licence to print money.
The contract to supply computers to schools was a
licence to print money.

mina de oro El contrato para suministrar computadoras a las

escuelas era una mina de oro.

live beyond means If someone lives beyond their means, they spend more
money than they earn or can afford.
The cost of living was so much higher in New York that
he was soon living beyond his means.

vivir por encima de El costo de la vida era mucho más alto en Nueva York
sus posibilidades que pronto estuvo viviendo por encima de sus
posibilidades.

live in clover Someone who lives in clover has enough money to lead
a very comfortable life.
I dream of making an enormous amount of money and
living in clover for the rest of my life!

vivir en la gloria ¡Sueño con ganar una enorme cantidad de dinero y

vivir en la gloria por el resto de mi vida!

live from hand to If you live from hand to mouth, you don't have any
mouth money to save because whatever you earn is spent on
food and other essentials.
Most families in that area live from hand to mouth.

vivir con lo justo La mayoría de familias de esa área viven con lo justo
para sobrevivir para sobrevivir
live high off the Someone who lives high off the hog has a lot of money
hog and a very comfortable lifestyle.
Now he's wealthy and living high off the hog.

vivir a cuerpo de rey Ahora él tiene mucho dinero y vive a cuerpo de rey.
loan shark A loan shark is a person who lends money at extremely
high interest rates to people who are unable to obtain a
loan from the bank.
The young immigrant was beaten because he was late
paying back money to a loan shark.

usurero El joven inmigrante fue golpeado porque estaba

retrasado en devolver dinero a un usurero.
look like a million If you look (or feel) like a million dollars, you look/feel
dollars extremely good.
With a tan and a new hairstyle she looked a million
dollars!
lucir mejor que nunca Con un bronceado y un Nuevo corte ella lucía mejor
que nunca.

lose your shirt If you lose your shirt, you lose all your money or
possessions, especially as a result of speculation or
gambling.
He lost his shirt when the bank want bankrupt.
perderlo todo Él lo perdió todo cuando el banco se fue en
bancarrota.
make ends meet If you find it difficult to pay for your everyday needs
because you have very little money, it is hard for you
to make ends meet.
Anne's salary is so low that she finds hard to make
ends meet.

sobrevivir El salario de Anne es tan bajo que se le hace difícil

sobrevivir.
make a killing If you say that someone has made a killing you mean
that they have had great financial success.
He made a killing on the stock market.

hacer una fortuna Hizo una fortuna en el mercado de valores.

make a mint If someone makes a mint, they make a large amount
of money.
They made a mint selling hamburgers outside the
football stadium.
ganar mucho dinero Hicieron mucho dinero vendiendo hamburguesas
afuera del estadio.
made of money A person who is made of money is very rich and can
buy whatever they want.
Hey! I can't afford that much. I'm not made of money!

nada en dinero Hey, no me puedo permitir mucho. No nado en dinero.

money to burn People who have money to burn have so much money
that they can spend it on anything they want.
A leather jacket is no problem for Sarah. She's got
money to burn!

dinero de sobra Una chaqueta de cuero no es un problema para

Sarah. ¡Ella tiene dinero de sobra!
money burns a hole To say that money burns a hole in somebody's
in your pocket pocket means that they are eager to spend it quickly
or extravagantly.
As soon as she's paid she goes shopping. Money
burns a hole in her pocket!

Malgastar el dinero Tan pronto como le den el pago ella irá de compras y
malgastará el dinero.
money doesn't grow To say that money doesn't grow on trees means that it
on trees is not plentiful or easily obtained.
Watch how you spend your money Alex. It doesn't
grow on trees you know!

el dinero no cae del Mira cómo gastas tu dinero Alex. ¡No cae del cielo!
cielo
money for jam A very easy way of earning money is called money for
jam.
All you've got to do is hand out brochures. It's money
for jam!

oro en conserva Todo lo que tienes que hacer es repartir folletos. ¡Es
oro en conserva!
money for old rope Money earned from a task that requires very little effort
is called money for old rope.
Getting paid for watering the garden is money for old
rope!

dinero fácil Que te pagan por regar el jardín es dinero fácil.

money laundering When people launder money, they manage to conceal
the source of illegally-obtained money so that it is
believed to be legitimate.
Certain countries have been accused of facilitating
money laundering.

Lavado de dinero Ciertos países han sido acusados de facilitar el lavado

de dinero.
money spinner If an activity is a money spinner, it is a very successful
way of making money.
Washing cars was quite a money spinner when I was
a student.

buena fuente de Lavar autos era una buena fuente de dinero cuando
dinero era estudiante.

money talks Money talks means that people with a lot of money
have power and influence.
The owner is a millionaire and he's influential - money
talks!

el dinero manda El dueño es millonario y es influyente, ¡el dinero

manda!
more money than If you have more money than sense, you have a lot of
sense money which you waste by spending it in a foolish
manner.
He celebrated the birth of the baby by buying a sports
car. He's got more money than sense!

más dinero que Celebró el nacimiento del bebé comprando un auto

sentido común deportivo. ¡Él tiene más dinero que sentido común!
not for love If you say that you cannot or will not do something for
or money love or money, you mean that you will not do it under
any circumstances.
I would not try bungee jumping for love or money!

ni por todo el oro del ¡No practicaría el bungee jumping ni por todo el oro
mundo del mundo!
put money where If you put your money where your mouth is, not only
mouth is do you express your interest, you give financial
support to causes that you believe in.
If people are really interested in helping the
underprivileged, they should put their money where
 their mouth is.

probar, demostrar Si la gente está realmente interesada en ayudar a los

desfavorecidos, deberían demostrarlo.
rake in the money If you rake in the money, you make money in large
quantities.
Bob's business is so successful, he's raking in the
money.

ganar mucho dinero El negocio de Bob es tan exitoso que está ganando
mucho dinero.
rolling in money Someone who is very wealthy or has access to great
amounts of money is rolling in money.
Steve has no financial problems. His parents are
rolling money.

nadar en dinero Steve no tiene problemas financieros. Sus padres

nadan en dinero.
see colour of If you want to see the colour of somebody's
someone's money money, you want to be sure that the person in
question has enough money to pay you before you
accept to do something.
I want to see the colour of his money before shipping
the goods.

comprobar estabilidad Quiero comprobar su estabilidad financiera antes de

finaciera enviar los bienes.
throw money at If you throw money at something, you try to solve a
problem by spending money on it, without using any
other methods.
The refugee problem cannot be solved just by
throwing money at it.

solucionando todo con El problema de los refugiados no puede resolverse

dinero simplemente con dinero.
throw good money Someone who spends additional money on
after bad something that was already considered a bad
investment is said to throw good money after bad.
Buying a second-hand computer and then spending
money to have it repaired is throwing good money
after bad!

tirar dinero a la basura Comprar una computadora de segunda mano y

 luego gastar dinero para que se repare es tirar el
dinero a la basura.
your money's worth If you get your money's worth, you receive good
value for the amount of money you spend.
We bought a travel pass to use the public transport
system and we really got our money's worth.

conseguir un buen Compramos un pase de viaje para utilizar el sistema

precio de transporte público y realmente conseguimos un
buen precio.
nest egg If you have a nest egg, you have a reserve of money
which you put aside for future needs.
Our parents consider the money from the sale of their
house as a nest egg for their old age.

ahorros Nuestros padres consideran el dinero de la venta de

su casa como un ahorro para su vejez.
out of your own If you pay for something out of your own pocket, you
pocket cover the cost with your own money.
Breakfast is included but you must pay for lunch out
of your own pocket.

de su bolsillo El desayuno está incluido, pero debe pagar el

almuerzo de su bolsillo.
pay over the odds If you pay over the odds, you pay too much or you
pay more for something than it is really worth.
She's willing to pay over the odds for an original Kelly
handbag to add to your collection.

pagar más de la Ella está dispuesta a pagar más de la cuenta por una
cuenta bolsa de Kelly para agregar a su colección.
paid peanuts If you are paid peanuts, you have a very low salary.
Jenny has a very interesting job, but she's paid
peanuts.

pagar una miseria Jenny tiene un trabajo muy interesante, pero le

pagan una miseria.
penny drops When a person has difficulty understanding or
realizing something, and then the penny drops, they
finally understand.
The teasing continued for some time until the penny
dropped and the boy realized it was a joke!
Caer la ficha Las burlas continuaron durante un tiempo hasta que
cayó la ficha y se dio cuenta de que era una broma.
in for a penny, in for This expression means that once you start doing
a pound something, you might just as well do it
wholeheartedly and not stop at half-measures.
Joe finally accepted to be on the committee, then he
accepted to be the chairman. "In for a penny, in for a
pound'." he said!

una vez hecho, no hay Joe finalmente aceptó formar parte del comité, luego
marcha atrás aceptó ser el presidente. "una vez hecho, no hay
marcha atrás". ¡él dijo!
penny for your
This phrase is used to ask someone what they are thinking
thoughts
about.
You look pensive. A penny for your thoughts.
¿en qué
Te ves pensativo, ¿en qué piensas?
piensas?
turn up like a If someone turns up like a bad penny, they appear at a
bad penny place or event where they are not welcome or not wanted.
I try to avoid Jane, but wherever I go she turns up like a
bad penny!

aparecer Intento evitar a Jane, ¡pero donde quiera que vaya

nuevamente aparece nuevamente!
pick up the tab If you pick up the tab, you pay the bill or pay the cost of
something.
There was a celebration lunch for the team and Bill picked
up the tab.

pagar la cuenta Hubo un almuerzo de celebración para el equipo y Bill

pagó la cuenta.
play the market If you play the market, you buy stocks and shares in the
hope of making a profit when you sell them.
It's always tempting to play the market, but it's more risky
at the present time.

apostar en el Siempre es tentador apostar en el mercado, pero es más

mercado riesgoso en este momento.

price oneself If you price yourself out of the market, you charge such a
out of the high price for your goods or services that nobody wants to
market buy them.
 He was so eager to make money that he priced himself out
of the market.

posicionarse Estaba tan ansioso por ganar dinero que se posicionó a sí

fuera del mismo fuera del mercado.
mercado
rags to riches If a person goes from rags to riches, they start off being
very poor and become very rich and successful.
By renovating old houses in the right places, he went from
rags to riches.

De pobre a rico Al renovar casas antiguas en los lugares correctos, pasó

de pobre a rico.
rob Peter to pay If someone robs Peter to pay Paul, they pay one debt with
Paul money borrowed from someone else, thus creating another
debt.
David borrowed from a friend to pay his overdraft, a typical
case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

desvestir a un David pidió prestado a un amigo para pagar su sobregiro,

santo para vestir un caso típico de desvestir a un santo para vestir a otro.
a otro
saddled with If you are saddled with debt, the amount of money that you
debt owe is a financial burden.
Be careful. If you buy a house that is too expensive, you
could be saddled with debt for many years.

agobiarse por las Tenga cuidado. Si compra una casa que es demasiado
deudas cara, podría agobiarse con deudas durante muchos años.

scrimp and If you scrimp and save, you spend as little as possible over
save a certain period of time in order to save money.
The parents scrimped and saved for years so that their
children could have a college education.

escatimar y Los padres escatimaron y ahorraron durante años para

ahorrar que sus hijos pudieran tener una educación universitaria.
set you back The sum of money something sets you back is the amount
it costs you.
Changing the heating system will set us back about $5000.
 Cambiar el sistema de calefacción nos costará
cuanto te cuesta aproximadamente $ 5000.
on a shoestring If you do something on a shoestring, you do it with very
little money.
When I was a student I lived on a shoestring.

con un
presupuesto Cuando era estudiante, vivía con un presupuesto ajustado.
ajustado
(put) skin in the If you put skin in the game, you show your confidence in a
game company by making a considerable investment or
a financial commitment.
I got good news today. Apparently a serious investor is
willing to put skin in the game.

Poner el pie en el Recibí buenas noticias hoy. Aparentemente, un inversor

juego serio está dispuesto a poner pie en el juego.
slice/share of When people feel entitled to a share of the profits or
the cake benefits, they want a (larger) slice of the cake.
Since profits are higher this year, the workers feel they
deserve a bigger slice of the cake.

Dado que las ganancias son más altas este año, los
porción del trabajadores sienten que merecen una porción más
pastel grande del pastel
slush fund A slush fund is an account or fund in politics or business
where money is set aside for various unofficial purposes,
often unethical or even illegal.
A large commission taken from the slush fund ensured the
success of the negotiations.

fondos ilegales Una gran comisión tomada del fondo ilegal aseguró el
éxito de las negociaciones.
splash out If you splash out on something, you spend a lot of money
on it.
Chloe's parents really splashed out on her wedding.

tirar la casa por Los padres de Chloe realmente tiraron la casa por la
la ventana ventana en su boda.
it's a steal If you find something that you want for a very low price,
much lower than what it is worth, you can say 'it's a steal!'.
He's selling it for $20? At that price it's a steal!
es una ganga ¿Lo está vendiendo por $ 20? ¡A ese precio es una ganga!
sting someone If you sting someone for an amount of money, you make
them pay for something, usually in a deceitful manner.
Not only was the lunch boring but I was stung for $25!

estafar ¡No solo fue el almuerzo aburrido, sino que me estafaron

con $ 25!
suit every This term refers to the amount of money you are able to
pocket spend or the price you can afford.
The store offers a wide range of computers at prices to suit
every pocket.

accesible para La tienda ofrece una amplia gama de computadoras a

todo bolsillo precios accesibles para todo bolsillo.

on one's uppers Someone who is on their uppers has very little money or
not enough to cover their needs.
Because he was clearly on his uppers when he was hired,
he was given an advance in salary.

estar en apuros
Debido a que claramente estaba en apuros cuando fue
contratado, se le dio un adelanto de sueldo.