📙 Part 2: Describe an item on which you spent more than expected

This episode's vocabulary

Stand out in my mind (idiom) – to be very memorable. → Example sentence: The day I graduated is one that will always stand out in my mind.

Pay over the odds (idiom) – to pay more than the usual or fair price for something. → Example sentence: We had to pay over the odds for the concert tickets because we bought them from a reseller.

Second-hand (adjective) – not new; owned by someone else before. → Example sentence: I prefer buying second-hand books because it's cheaper and more sustainable.

As it turned out (phrase) – used to say what happened in the end. → Example sentence: I was worried about the exam, but as it turned out, it was quite easy.

Pricey (adjective) – expensive. → Example sentence: The restaurants in the city center are a bit pricey for my budget.

Break the bank (idiom) – to use all of your money or to cost more than you can afford. → Example sentence: A simple lunch out won't break the bank.

Overspend (verb) – to spend more money than you planned or can afford. → Example sentence: It's easy to overspend during the holiday season if you don't make a budget.

Go ahead (phrasal verb) – to proceed with a course of action, especially after hesitation. → Example sentence: Even though it was expensive, I went ahead and bought the coat.

Shouldn't have (modal phrase) – used to express regret about a past action. → Example sentence: I ate the whole cake, but I really shouldn't have.

Pay through the nose (idiom) – to pay an excessive amount for something. → Example sentence: If you want a hotel room during the festival, you'll have to pay through the nose.

In a timely manner (phrase) – done quickly and without any delay. → Example sentence: It's important to complete all your assignments in a timely manner.

Postpone (verb) – to decide that something will not be done at the time it was planned, but at a later time. → Example sentence: They decided to postpone the wedding until next year.

Sustainable (adjective) – able to continue over a period of time without causing damage. → Example sentence: Buying fast fashion is not a sustainable practice.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe an item on which you spent more than expected. You should say what it is, how much you spent on it, why you bought it, and explain why you think you spent more than expected.

Rory: Well, normally I'm pretty good with money and anticipating the costs of things, but this one time that does stand out in my mind, it was when I paid over the odds for these books that I wanted. To tell you a bit more about what they were, I wanted to buy this trilogy of science fiction books from one of my favorite authors, and normally when I buy books, I get them second hand for a much lower price. Not only is it cheaper, it's also better for the environment, since they don't have to print new books and I can pass them on to my friends when I'm done with them. As it turned out, even second-hand copies were very expensive this time, and it was actually cheaper just to pay to have a whole new set of books. Even then, it was quite pricey compared to what I'm used to. Like a good five or ten pounds more as it happened. So when it came to how much I spent on them, well, it wasn't enough to break the bank. It certainly did feel like I had overspent quite a great deal. Although with that in mind, you might be wondering why I went ahead and bought them in the first place. And the truth is, I shouldn't have, but I really like the author. I liked him at the time, and I like him now. And I didn't want to wait to get a better price. So I just paid through the nose for them and tried to accept that this was the cost of getting what I wanted when I wanted them. I'm still glad I'd spent the money though. If I hadn't, I'm sure I'd have found something else to read, but I'm still happy that I managed to get the thing that I want and enjoy the story in a timely manner, rather than going to a library or something like this. But in the future, I think I will either just postpone buying them, or I'll go to the library and pick them up there because that's not sustainable just to keep spending lots of money on things when you don't have to.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. So the topic is, describe an item, an item is a thing, something, maybe something physical, that you bought and you spent more than expected. So you thought it was $50, but it turned out to be $100 or $80. So, Rory told us about a book. You can talk about clothes, for example, a ticket, okay? Education. And education is not an item, but okay, possible. A course that you bought online and then you kind of you paid more for it. So, the key phrase is to spend money on something, dear listener, not for, not at, not in, but we spend money on something. So I'm going to tell you about a book I spent more on. Okay? I spent a lot of money on a book. Rory is a super reader. Rory, how many books do you read a year?

Rory: Well, I've not been very good at that lately, but let's imagine that I read one book every month. That's at least 12.

Maria: Wow.

Rory: That's not massive. That's normal.

Maria: No, that's a lot.

Rory: How is that a lot? How many do you read every year?

Maria: Maria's just, I don't read.

Maria: No, I listen, I listen to books. I listen to books. Right. And the story is in the past. So you bought it, you spent money on it. And you can start off with, normally, I'm pretty good with money. So I manage my money well, normally. But this one time that stands out in my mind is when I paid over the odds for these books. Pay over the odds is an idiom, which means that you paid more.

Rory: Than you expected.

Maria: Pay over the odds for something. UK informal to pay more for something.

Rory: See.

Maria: I paid over the odds for this dress.

Rory: Did you?

Maria: Yeah, a couple of times, I think. Yeah, nice dresses are expensive.

Rory: I like that. Yes, I did. And I didn't learn my lesson.

Maria: No, because I like the dress. So I just bought the dress. I paid over the odds, yeah, but I'm happy with the dress. It's vintage, it has horses.

Rory: I thought you were gonna say it has holes.

Maria: Yeah, you can continue, like, to tell you a bit more about what it was, I wanted to buy a dress, shoes, a ticket, right? Rory told us about a trilogy of science fiction books. So, three books from my favorite authors. Or I wanted shoes from my favorite brand. And I wanted a second-hand copy for a much lower price. A much lower price, a much higher price. And yeah, it's nice to get second hand books sometimes, you can get a much lower price and you just then it's better for the environment. As it turned out, second hand copies were very expensive. So, you see, kind of, you expected one price, but then it turned out that it was much more expensive. So, the phrasal verb is turned out. So the dress turned out to be far more expensive or the ticket turned out to be much more expensive. Expensive or can we have a synonym for expensive? Costly?

Rory: Well, much more costly.

Maria: Much more cost, more costly? Really? Okay, much more costly. Pricey, right?

Rory: Ooh, much dearer.

Maria: And then it was quite pricey. There we go. So here Rory uses a synonym. It was expensive, costly, pricey, compared to what I expected. Or it was quite pricey compared to what I was ready to pay. Break the bank. Is an idiom. Rory. Wow.

Rory: So if something breaks the bank, it just means it makes you bankrupt or you lose all of your money or you feel like you've lost all of your money.

Maria: Yeah, to cost too much. Break the bank. So something like, oh, this book is only $10. It won't break the bank. You won't go bankrupt. And it certainly felt like I had overspent. So overspent. You spent more than you expected, you overspent. To overspend is the verb, one word, to spend more money than you should. So for example, this month I overspent on food. Could you give us another sentence with overspend?

Rory: Well, we've all overspent on shopping, probably because we saw something that we wanted but that we did not plan for. So, for example, I overspent on pizza the other day because I saw pizza and I wanted it.

Maria: Pizza with what?

Rory: Oh god. Everything really. There was chicken, peppers, salami. I really want pizza now.

Maria: Oh, deliciousness. I want pizza now. Okay. I went ahead and bought it. Okay? So, even though it was really expensive, I went ahead and bought it. So I just kept going. I just bought it anyway. Maybe I shouldn't have bought it. Oh, C2.

Rory: Definitely.

Maria: Yeah, it wasn't a good idea for me to buy it, but I bought it. I shouldn't have bought it. But I wanted it, and I got it. I rule. I'm the man. I'm champion, or I'm the girl. Girls power. Yeah. And ladies, if you want something, you just, you have to have it. Because all this suffering because you haven't bought this dress or this bag, we don't need all this suffering. It's bad for our, for us, for our heart. Yeah. So we must get things that we want. Definitely.

Rory: Not men, though. Men just have to deal with it.

Maria: I tried to accept that the cost was high. So I kind of I accepted the situation, right? I had to accept that the cost was high, but I wanted the book and I got what I wanted. I'm still glad I spent the money. So I'm glad, I'm happy, I spent the money. Right, dear listener, you can talk about a book or clothes or some item, but choose the thing wisely, something that you can talk about. The easiest option is to talk about a ticket or a book. Don't talk about something strange or something that is difficult to describe, okay? Even shoes are difficult to describe.

Rory: What things do people pay too much for?

Maria: Technology, I think phones.

Rory: Do you think so?

Maria: Yeah, phones are quite expensive, or cameras, like proper cameras. Also clothes, from like Gucci, bags, shoes, outrageously expensive. Makeup, also makeup, or perfume, there we go, perfume. Vintage furniture.

Rory: Ooh, what about holidays or travel? For example, some buses or plane tickets are advertised at a certain price and then when you add things on, it costs much more.

Maria: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Rory: You could complain about the bus ticket you had to buy to go to your IELTS exam.

Maria: Yeah, or a plane ticket, kind of to reserve a seat, and then to add baggage, and then it turned out to be far more expensive. Dear listener, thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in speaking part three. All right? See you there. Bye.

Rory: Bye. Yeah, I really need to order pizza now.