ESL Podcast 424 - Being in Debt

to be behind on (something) - to be behind schedule; to be doing things later than one should be doing them; to not be able to do things on time when they need to be done

How did you get so far behind on your math homework?

exorbitant - a number or an amount of money that is much higher than it should be

Next year, it will cost more than $30,000 to study at that university. That's exorbitant!

interest - the amount of additional money that must be paid when one borrows money; the amount of money that one pays to be able to borrow money

How much interest have you paid on your car loan?

debt - the amount of money that a person, business, or organization needs to pay to another person, business, or organization

She has almost $45,000 in debt, including a $30,000 student loan and a $10,000 car loan.

to speak from experience - to give someone advice or tell someone how something works based on the knowledge that one got while going through a similar experience in one's own life

Harold never went to college, so he speaks from experience when he tells people how difficult it is to find a good job without a university degree.

loan - the amount of money that one borrows from a bank or person, with an agreement to pay it back along with additional money (interest)

Do you think we can get a home loan to buy a larger house?

to default - to not make the loan payments that one agreed to make; to not be able to pay off a loan

If you default on your loan, you might lose your house and your bank might become the new owner of it.

to run up (something) - to spend a lot of money or to use a lot of something so that one has to pay a lot

Hitashi ran up her phone bill by making too many international phone calls.

to borrow - to take and use someone's money or another thing with an agreement to pay it back or give it back after a certain period of time

I forgot to bring a pen. Can I please borrow one of yours? I'll give it back at the end of the meeting.

loan shark - a person who lets other people borrow money but charges very high interest and, when those people are not able to pay the money back, might use violence or threaten to hurt the other people to get his or her money back

Some loan sharks charge as much as 40% interest, so it's better to get a loan from a bank if you can.

to lend - to give someone money or another thing with an agreement that he or she will pay it back or give it back after a certain period of time

Would you ever consider lending money to a co-worker?

credit counselor - a person who helps people with bad credit learn what they can do to fix the situation and pay off their debt

They met with a credit counselor who suggested that they stop using their credit cards until they can pay off all their old debt.

creditor - a person or organization to whom one owes money; a person or organization that has loaned money to oneself but that one has not yet paid back

My uncle has a lot of financial trouble. At least one creditor calls him every day, asking him to make payments.

to defer payment - to agree to make payments later than they would normally be made, usually because one does not have enough money to make the payment right away.

When Shawn called the credit card company and explained that he had lost his job and wouldn't be able to pay his bill for a few months, the company agreed to defer his payments.

to raise money - to get money for a specific purpose, usually from many different sources

The church members made cookies and cakes and sold them to raise money for their work in other countries.

to pay off (something) - to pay all of a debt so that one no longer owes anything

Vicky was finally able to pay off her credit card debt last week, but she celebrated by going shopping!

debt collector - a person whose job is to get people to pay their debt to the people who gave them the money originally

When Ulag couldn't pay his bills, he moved to the other side of the country to try to hide and start over, but the debt collectors found him and continued asking him to make the payments.

restraint - control; behavior that is calm and rational, especially in a difficult situation where it would be easy to act in inappropriate ways

I really admire your restraint! If my son had done what your son did, I would have been really mad.