📙 Part 2: Describe a person who likes to buy goods at low prices

You should say: who this person is, what this person likes to buy, where this person likes to buy things, and explain why this person likes cheap goods.

This episode's vocabulary

• Bargain (noun) - something that is sold for less than its usual price or its real value.
• To get/lay your hands on sth (phrase) - to find something.
• Defect (noun) - a fault or problem with someone or something.
• To sew (verb) - to join things together with a needle and thread.
• To mend (verb) - to repair something that is broken, torn, or not working correctly.
• More bang for your buck(s) - the best result for the smallest effort.
• Deal (noun) - the price you pay for something, and what you get for your money.
• To go to great lengths (idiom) - to try very hard to achieve something.
• Detrimental (adj.) - causing harm or damage.
• Consumerism (noun) - the situation in which too much attention is given to buying and owning things.
• Immediate (adj.) - used to refer to something or someone that is close to, or is a cause of or an effect of, something or someone else.
• Vocal (adj.) - relating to or produced by the voice, either in singing or speaking.
• Frugality (noun) - the quality of being careful when using money or food.

Questions and Answers

R: Well, my mother loves a bargain. And it doesn't seem to matter at all what it is she's buying. Though, she's a huge fan of different clothes and shoes in particular. So this comes up with regards to them more often or not. As for the places she goes, it doesn't seem to matter where it is, she always gets her hands on the best deals, whether it's a discount store, a regular supermarket or even a designer clothing store. Since she often finds goods with defects and then get them much cheaper because of the issues with them. And since you can sew and mend the clothes, it means it's not such a big deal if they have some issues. I think she's so good at it, because she grew up in a family without much, or at least without much money, and so focused on making the most of what they had, or getting the biggest bang for their buck if you will. As a result, she can smell a deal a mile off and goes to great lengths to make sure she gets the best price. And since her friends have a similar mindset, they also show off to each other what they got and how little it cost them. This is whenever they get together for dinner or something. It's not a specific event. Given how detrimental consumerism can be, it's actually quite wholesome since everyone seems to be getting a decent deal out of the whole thing. The shops get rid of their defective clothing or seemingly defective clothing, and people pay a lower price for it. It's a good thing she does this too, since if she didn't, I'd have had very few people to talk about... At least in my immediate family. They're less vocal about how thrifty they are, or indeed, they're less vocal about their spending habits in general. So thank God for my mum's frugality and a nose for a good deal. I definitely think that's helped out a great deal right now.

M: And do you often see this person?

R: Well, she's my mother, so I should see her quite often. Yes.

Discussion

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your story! If you don't know Rory's mum, you should go to YouTube and watch our episode about bags. Rory shows his mother's beautiful bags, and his mother's bag collection is outstanding, dear listener because she has all sorts of bags of interesting shapes and colours. Go to YouTube, IELTS Speaking for Success, bags. Like bags, like a bag, okay?

R: It's great, though. I've talked about how my mom likes to shop for these things and then, like these really expensive bags. And now here we are having an episode about how good the deals are, how low the prices are that she gets. So maybe not so much with bags, but with shoes and clothes. Yes.

M: Interesting. So the topic is, describe a person who likes to buy goods, goods, like products, things, at low prices. So like a person who enjoys a good bargain. A bargain is like a good deal. Who loves discounts? So do you have this person in your life? I have my parents. They are kind of, they're crazy. They go to museums on a free day. They kind of, know where to buy things very cheaply. So they are very good at this, and even if they have the money, they still enjoy this, oh, I've bought it for this much. And you can start with my friend loves a bargain, or my mother loves a bargain. What is a bargain?

R: It's just getting a good deal for something. But usually for a lower price.

M: It doesn't matter what she's buying. Like a bargain is important. She always gets her hands on the best deals. Okay? So such people who love bargains get their hands on the best deals. The best deals meaning the best prices, the lowest prices. It could be a discount store or a regular supermarket. So they always look for good discounts, or it could be a designer clothing store. So designer clothes, like Gucci clothes, Dolce & Gabbana clothes. Designer clothing store. She often finds products or goods with defects. What is a defect?

R: A defect is just an issue with the clothes. It could be a small tear or maybe some of the seam is burst, but either way, there's a problem with it, and so it gets a lower price because it's not as good as it should be.

M: Yeah. So defects, actually, this word is C1, advanced.

R: Ooh...

M: So a fault or a problem in something or someone that spoils that thing or a person, people can have defects, character deals.

R: I was gonna say, please, please clarify.

M: Oh, I've got this character defect. You know, I love everything expensive. It's my character defect.

R: I love the tone as you said that as well.

M: Yeah. So like defects, defects in our education system, defects in clothes. And Rory's mom is very good at finding these defects, and she gets clothes much cheaper, because normally, well, in some stores, if they see that it does have a defect, they lower the price. But it's not always the case, they kind of say, okay, so what? You just wash it off. You know? Wash it yourself. But Rory's mom can sew and mend clothes. So what does it mean to mend clothes?

R: It just means to repair them.

M: Yeah, so she buys clothes with defects at a lower price, and then she mends them. She mends clothes. And she can sew. So the pronunciation is sew. And what do we say? Like she knows how to sew. She sews clothes.

R: Yeah.

M: And then we can say a couple of things about why she does this. So she grew up in a family without much. So not much money. And she was taught to make the most of what you had. So if you make the most of what you have, well, you kind of, what do you do?

R: Well, you use the resources you have in the maximum way possible to get the maximum or the best results.

M: You get the biggest bang for your buck. Ooh...

R: Which means exactly the same thing. But that's about money.

M: Could you give us another example with this?

R: Well, anytime that you get a lot of things for a small amount of money. So for example, if you shop at a store with low prices, you get more items of clothing. So you get a bigger bang for your buck. That just means that you get more for the money that you paid.

M: More bang for your buck or bucks. It's an idiom. It's informal.

R: Singular buck.

M: Ah, buck. The Cambridge online dictionary says bucks as well.

R: Oh, really? Oh, okay.

M: So more bang for your buck. It's informal, it's an idiom. If you get more bang for your buck, you get a better result for the amount of effort or money that you have put into something. Another good phrase is she can smell a deal from a mile away, so she can smell a good price from far away. And she goes to great lengths to make sure she gets the best price. So she does a lot of things. She puts in a lot of effort. To get the best price she goes to great lengths. Length, lengths. To get the best deal. And then she shows it off to her friends. Her friends have a similar mindset, so they also search for bargains, for low prices, and they show off to each other what they got. Oh, look, I had this, I got this bag, and it was this much, and I bought it for just one pound.

R: Yeah. So if you show it off, then you make a big deal out of it, because you're proud of it.

M: She enjoys getting a decent deal out of her shopping experience, for example. Again, like to get a decent deal, to get a low price, to get a good price. Some people don't speak about how much money they pay for certain things.

R: So they don't show off.

M: They don't show off, and they are less vocal about how much money they spend on things. So to be vocal about something is kind of like to speak about it. And Rory's mom is vocal about how much money she spends on things.

R: Yes, she's very, very vocal. She tells everybody.

M: What does it mean to be thrifty?

R: Oh, thrifty just means that you don't spend a lot of money, and you try and get the best deal that you can.

M: So you can say that she is thrifty, or, like my friend is thrifty, showing a careful use of money, especially by avoiding waste. So you don't waste your money. You are very careful with your money. So they... For example, she has a lot of money, but she tends to be thrifty. She doesn't waste money. Another good adjective to use is frugal. Frugal. Be careful when using money or food. For example, a frugal lifestyle so you don't waste money, you don't buy lots of expensive things. Could you give us another example of frugal?

R: Well, anytime we want to talk about people who don't spend a lot of money. So, I mean, I'm pretty frugal because I don't spend lots of money on clothes or things like that.

M: I'm not frugal because I do spend a lot of money on clothes and other things I don't need. No, but, oh, I need all of them, dear listener. I need clothes and bags and hats and shoes and everything. So you can say that other people are less vocal about how thrifty they are and about their shopping habits or spending habits. And Rory, tell us, thrifty, is it positive or negative?

R: Well, I think it's a positive thing. It depends on how you feel about saving money. I think it's a good quality to have, but other people disagree.

M: But some words are negative, so it's kind of neutral, right? Thrifty. And also frugal, it's kind of, it's a neutral word. It's not like negative, like you are stingy or you are greedy. So it's not like this. Frugal, and thrifty are neutral words, right?

R: Well, if they can go one way or the other, yeah, it depends on how you feel about being, about saving money.

M: So they don't have any negative connotations?

R: I don't think so. No.

M: Sweet. Excellent, dear listener. So make your choice. Who are you gonna be talking about? Do you have this person? Or you can talk about Rory's mom? Imagine that Rory's mom is your friend. What's her name, Rory?

R: My mother's name?

M: Yes.

R: It's Irene, which is Greek for peace. Or actually, is it Greek, or is it Latin? I can't remember.

M: Right, dear listener, thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode. Okay? Bye!

R: Bye!

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