Money in Spanish beyond the cash register runs on words like gasto (expense), ingresos (income), ahorros (savings), préstamo (loan), and deuda (debt). This is the vocabulary for talking about a budget, a bank account, or a bill you still owe, a different set from the prices and cash words you use at a shop counter. Here are all 17 words from Vocabcord's B1 Spanish money set, with audio, grouped by what you actually do with money: save it, borrow it, plan it, and spend it wisely.
The 17 money words, with audio
This is the personal-finance slice of Vocabcord's B1 Spanish set, the words for budgeting and banking rather than shopping. Tap the play button on any row to hear it.
| Spanish | English | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| gasto | expense | Travel is a big expense. |
| ingresos | income | Her income is high. |
| ahorros | savings | I keep my savings in the bank. |
| préstamo | loan | He took out a loan for the car. |
| deuda | debt | She paid off her debt. |
| presupuestar | budget | I budget for groceries each week. |
| permitirse | afford | I can't afford a new phone. |
| invertir | invest | She invested in a small company. |
| pedir prestado | borrow | Can I borrow your pen? |
| prestar | lend | He lent me his bike. |
| deber | owe | I owe her ten dollars. |
| recibo | receipt | Keep the receipt. |
| moneda | currency | What's the currency in Japan? |
| cambiar | exchange | I need to exchange dollars for euros. |
| ganga | bargain | What a bargain! |
| descuento | discount | They gave me a 20% discount. |
| reembolso | refund | I asked for a refund. |
Borrowing and lending: pedir prestado, prestar, deber
Spanish keeps borrowing and lending as separate verbs, and the corpus's own examples show the direction each one points. Pedir prestado (literally 'to ask for something lent') is to borrow: ¿Te puedo pedir prestado el bolígrafo? (can I borrow your pen?). Prestar is to lend, running the other way: Me prestó su bici (they lent me their bike). Once the money has changed hands, deber (to owe) tracks what is still outstanding: Le debo diez dólares (I owe them ten dollars). A préstamo is the loan itself, and a deuda is the debt that results from not paying one back.
Planning ahead: presupuestar, ahorros, permitirse, invertir
Four verbs and nouns carry the planning side of money. Presupuestar (to budget) shows up in the corpus as a weekly habit: Cada semana presupuesto lo que voy a gastar en comida (every week I budget what I'm going to spend on food). Ahorros (savings) is what is left over: Guardo mis ahorros en el banco (I keep my savings in the bank). Permitirse (to afford) usually appears with a negative, as it does in the corpus: No puedo permitirme un móvil nuevo (I can't afford a new phone). And once there is money to spare, invertir (to invest) is the verb for putting it to work: Invirtió en una pequeña empresa (they invested in a small business).
At the bank or the exchange counter: moneda, cambiar, ingresos, gasto
Moneda means currency, and the corpus example is a natural travel question: ¿Cuál es la moneda de Japón? (what is the currency of Japan?). Cambiar covers exchanging one currency for another: Necesito cambiar dólares por euros (I need to exchange dollars for euros). The two words that frame any budget sit at opposite ends of a ledger: ingresos (income), as in Sus ingresos son altos (their income is high), against gasto (expense), as in Viajar es un gran gasto (traveling is a big expense).
Getting a good deal: ganga, descuento, reembolso, recibo
The last four words are for the moment a purchase goes well, or has to be undone. Ganga (bargain) is what you say when the price surprises you: ¡Qué ganga! A descuento (discount) is a planned reduction, Me hicieron un descuento del 20 % (they gave me a 20% discount), while a reembolso (refund) undoes the purchase entirely: Pedí un reembolso (I asked for a refund). Either way, guarda el recibo (keep the receipt) is the advice that makes both possible. For the everyday shopping words, the prices, the cash, and the cards themselves, see our guide to shopping in Spanish.
Money words that stick without a study session
Financial vocabulary is easy to postpone, since nobody plans a lesson around their own budget. Vocabcord skips the lesson: plug in your phone to charge and one phrase plays out loud, drawn from a corpus graded A1 to C2 and spaced so a word returns before it fades. Get Vocabcord on the App Store and let gasto, ahorros and the rest settle in a charge at a time.
Common questions
How do you say money in Spanish?
Dinero is the word for money itself. The vocabulary around it splits further: ingresos is income, gasto is expense, ahorros is savings, and deuda is debt.
How do you say to borrow and to lend in Spanish?
To borrow is pedir prestado (¿Te puedo pedir prestado el bolígrafo?, can I borrow your pen?), and to lend is prestar (me prestó su bici, they lent me their bike).
How do you say 'I owe you' in Spanish?
Te debo plus what is owed, as in the corpus example Le debo diez dólares (I owe them ten dollars). The verb is deber, to owe.
What is the Spanish word for budget?
As a verb, presupuestar (to budget), as in cada semana presupuesto lo que voy a gastar en comida (every week I budget what I'm going to spend on food); as a noun, presupuesto.
How do you say 'I can't afford it' in Spanish?
No puedo permitírmelo, or with an object named directly, no puedo permitirme un móvil nuevo (I can't afford a new phone).
How do you say discount and refund in Spanish?
A discount is descuento (me hicieron un descuento del 20 %, they gave me a 20% discount) and a refund is reembolso (pedí un reembolso, I asked for a refund).
