What this is about
Here are 20 money words you might hear grown-ups use. Each one has a short, simple meaning. Read them with a grown-up. Don't try to learn them all at once — come back and look up new ones when you hear them.
Words about coins and notes
- Coin — a round piece of metal money. You can have lots in your pocket.
- Note — a paper-like rectangle of money. Bigger value than coins.
- Penny / pence — the smallest UK money. Written as "p". 1p, 2p, 5p.
- Pound — bigger than pence. Written with the £ sign. 100 pennies = £1.
- Cash — another word for coins and notes you can hold.
Words about buying and shops
- Buy — to give money in exchange for something.
- Sell — what a shopkeeper does. Give you something for your money.
- Price — the number that tells you how much something costs.
- Change — the money the shopkeeper gives you back if you paid more than the price.
- Shop — a place that sells things.
Words about saving and spending
- Spend — to use money to buy something now.
- Save — to keep money for later instead of spending it.
- Share — to give some of your money to someone else.
- Pocket money — the small amount of money a child gets from grown-ups.
- Treat — a special, nice thing you don't buy every day.
Words about banks and grown-up money
- Bank — a place that keeps money safe and helps people send money to each other.
- Card — a small piece of plastic that grown-ups use to pay in shops instead of cash.
- Wage — the money a grown-up gets paid for doing their job.
- Work — a job that helps people, where you get paid.
- Charity — a group of people who collect money and use it to help others.
A word-spotting game
Over the next week, see how many of these 20 words you can hear or read in real life:
- At the supermarket — listen for "price", "change", "card", "cash"
- At home — listen for "save", "spend", "pocket money", "bank"
- On TV — listen for "buy", "sell", "shop", "charity"
- At school — you might hear "coin", "note", "penny", "pound" in Maths
Tick them off as you hear them. By the end of the week you'll have spotted most of them. By then they won't feel new any more.
Want to know more words?
Once you know these 20 words, you can read most stories and conversations about money.
If you hear a new word and don't know what it means, ask a grown-up. Most grown-ups will be happy to explain. There are no silly money questions.
When you're a bit older (age 8 or 9), you'll start meeting words like:
- Interest — the small extra money a bank pays you for keeping your money there
- Tax — money grown-ups pay to the government for shared things like schools and the NHS
- Bills — what grown-ups have to pay for gas, water, and lots of other things
Don't worry about those yet. The 20 above are plenty for now.
For teachers: curriculum links
- England — PSHE Association KS1 L7 (introducing money)
- England — English KS1 (vocabulary development)
- England — Maths Y1/Y2 Money (vocabulary of money)
- Wales — Curriculum for Wales Progression Step 1-2 (Languages AoLE, Maths & Numeracy AoLE)
- Scotland — Curriculum for Excellence MNU 1-09a
- NI — Mathematics KS1, Language and Literacy KS1
Full mapping in the curriculum map.
UK Tax Drag (2026). Money words to know — the 20 most important. Ages 5–7 guide. Available at: https://kids.uktaxdrag.co.uk/ages-5-7-money-words.html
Curriculum mapping: see UK Financial Education Curriculum Map (Version 1.0).