Episode 4 • Money
Get by
Save up
Take out (a loan)
Chip in
Pay off
Story
My wife and I used to have relatively good jobs. She was a teacher and I was a salesman for a small local company. We didn’t make a lot of money but it was enough to get by. When we retired we decided to finally do something we had been wanting to do our whole life, buy our own boat. We live very close to the beach and we loved the idea of spending our afternoons out there in the sea. We had saved up some money but, I’m sure you know, boats are really expensive so we couldn’t have made it on our own. The first thing we did was go to the bank to take out a $5000 loan but it still wasn’t enough. Thankfully, we have the sweetest children. When they discovered what we were trying to do, all three of them chipped in and we were able to buy our own boat. We couldn’t be more grateful. And now, three years later, we’ve paid off our debt. This weekend the weather is supposed to be nice, so we have planned a little get-together on the boat with the whole family!
Questions
Get by
'We didn’t make a lot of money but it was enough to get by.'
• If you get by, do you have more money than you need or just enough?
Well, if you get by, you have just enough money to basically survive. Maybe buy something extra, but not too much.
• If you get by, can you spend money on things that are not necessary?
Well, obviously not, because if you get by, you only have the exact amount of money that you need, again, to survive basically.
• Where you live, how much money should you make every month to get by?
Right now, I'm currently located in Spain. I think a good salary to like get by would be €1,000 more or less, I believe. Not entirely sure, but that's what I think. With €1,000 you can get by fine, without a lot of problems.
Save up
'We had saved up some money.'
• If you save up money, do you spend it or keep it?
Nope. You don't spend it. You keep it somewhere. If you save up money, you store it in a separate place.
• Does saving up money happen all at once or gradually?
Saving up, it's something that happens over time, little by little, so it happens gradually.
• Where do you keep the money that you save up?
Well, that really depends. It's up to you. A lot of people keep it in a bank, but you could decide for example, to keep it under a mattress. I don't know if that's just something that you see in the movies or if that's actually what people do
• Is it easy for you to save up?
I've got to say it is really hard for me to save up. I haven't been in a lot of situations in my life where I made a lot more money than I needed and I got to be honest, even when I was making more money than I needed to get by, I still struggled to save up. I like shopping. What can I do?
Take out
'We went to the bank to take out a $5000 loan.'
• If you take out a loan, is it because you have enough money or not enough money?
Well, no, you don't have enough money and that's why you need to take out a loan.
• Where can you go to take out a loan?
Normally you would go to the bank. That's the easiest place. Well, sometimes it's not too easy, but that's usually the place you go to if you want to take out a loan.
• If you take out a loan, can you keep the money or do you have to return it?
Well, unfortunately as good as it would be if you didn't have to, you have to return it.
• What are some of the most common reasons for taking out a loan?
What are some of the most common reasons for taking out a loan? I've never taken out a loan, but a lot of people take out loans, for example buying a car or something expensive, like a TV or some other type of device.
Chip in
'All three of them chipped in.'
• Does chipping involve taking or giving money?
Well, remember the story. You got three children chipping in, so they gave money.
• When chipping in, how many people give money? One or more?
If you chip in, how many people give money? One or more? Usually it's more than one person that chips in.
• When you chip in do you buy something alone or as a group?
When you chip in, you buy something as a group.
• What is the advantage of having many people chipping in to buy something?
Well, that's easy. The more people chip in, the less expensive whatever you're buying is going to be. Well, not in general, I mean whatever you want to buy it's still going to be the same price, but if something costs $50 and I give $10, my sister gives $10, my friend gives $10, until we have five people, then each of us is going to only give $10. At the end of the day it's going to be a lot more convenient for us to chip in and buy something together.
• Have you ever chipped in to buy something?
have. Not many times, but normally when my sisters and I want to get a present for my mom, oftentimes we chip in and we decide together what we're going to buy and we split it into three and each of us gives a little bit of money.
Pay off
'And now, we’ve paid off our debt.'
• If you pay off a debt, do you take or give money?
If you pay off a debt, you give money.
• If you pay off a debt, will you still have to give money back in the future?
No. The good news is if you paid off a debt, that is it. That was the last time that you had to return money and you're officially free. You don't have to give any money to anybody else. Yay.
• Have you ever paid off a debt or a loan? How does it feel?
Like I said, I've never taken out a loan. I've never gone to a bank and taken out a loan, but I have asked sometimes my family or a friend for a little bit of money and I've always paid off my debts up until now, so I don't owe money to anybody and it feels really good. I personally hate having to return money or asking for money and so paying off a debt to me feels really, really good.
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