English, baby!

Cash or Charge?

Date: Dec 02 2004

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

max out

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Do you have any credit cards? If you do, you might understand how hard it is to say ‘no’ to things when you go shopping and don’t have the cash to buy them.
It’s especially hard at Christmas time because we want to buy nice things for our friends and family.
Here’s what John and Steph have to say about credit cards.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Steph

John

Steph: So with Christmas around, ya know, it’s getting pretty tough with the credit cards.

John: I know. I finally got my credit card bill all paid off. And now I’m just gonna charge it up to the max again.

Steph: Isn’t that crazy? We do that every year. We max out our credit cards.

John: I know. I, I’m kinda thinking about just going straight cash this year.

Steph: You should probably do that. Just maybe set a limit on how much you spend.

John: That’s a good idea. And then I don’t have to pay all the interest or the finance charges on the credit card. But, it’s so much easier just to pay with the plastic. And then pay a hundred dollars a month for the next year.

Steph: I know. Especially now that they have these zero interest credit cards.

John: They trick you and then they end up being really high later. But, I dunno. If you have the cash, it’s definitely smarter to use that.

Steph: Yeah. But then if you use cash and you buy a cheap gift, all of your friends and family think that you’re a cheapskate.

John: Yeah. Well, it’s best if you have the cash to buy normal gifts, I guess. But, it all depends on your situation, ya know, how much money you make.

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Discussion

You definitely have to exercise some self-control when it comes to credit cards. If you don’t, you will be paying for it for a long time. I try to only use my card in emergencies.
In case you were wondering, new shoes can be an emergency if they are really cool.
With that in mind, be good and take care of yourselves!
Steph

Comments

kimnga

Viet Nam

I agree with John that it’ll depend on our situation when we buy gifts for somebody. It is not a good idea if because of being afraid to be called a cheapskate that we have to buy a very expensive present while in reality we cannot afford to do that.

ali al-shahri

Oman

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_enigma_

Germany

I prefer pay cash but i do not like to carry a bunch of bulky cash with me. Besides(plus) paying money back, it is funny shopping with plastic(credit card).