Since most of us are probably pretty broke after holiday expenses, here are some money expressions in German that are good to know!

Ich hätte zweihundert Schlösser und wär' nie mehr pleite [Umgangssprache].

I would have two hundred castles and would never again be broke.

Caption 19, Rio Reiser - König von Deutschland

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The word pleite is slang, but if you are seriously pleite, you wind up thus:

Jetzt sind wir bankrott,

Now we are bankrupt,

obwohl, äh, wir zehn Jahre lang [Geld] gespart haben.

even though, uh, we've saved money for ten years.

Caption 2, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Weil oder obwohl?

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The holidays aren't getting cheaper every year, that's for sure. At some point they always start costing money (ins Geld gehen):

Sollte es länger dauern,

Should it take longer,

dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.

Captions 28-29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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And on this, we can all agree:

Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut.

Time is money and money is good.

Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf

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Not forgetting, of course, that:

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Since after all, the holidays should remind us not to forget that love is the most important thing of all!

Zeigt die Liebe allen Wesen, die da atmen.

Show the love to all beings that breathe there.

Caption 18, Cosma Shiva Hagen - So trägt man Pelz

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Further Learning:

Do a search on Yabla German for financial expressions in English and see in what context they are used in German. For a bit of cheer, see what kind of expressions a search for die Liebe brings up. Happy New Year from all of us at Yabla!

Many German expressions having to do with money are very similar to those in English, in fact the expressions may have been derived from and adapted by one or the other of the two languages. Some examples are: Geld waschen (to launder money), Das Geld zum Fenster hinauswerfen (to throw money out the window) and nach Geld stinken (to be filthy rich). Some expressions are not quite so direct, however, such as: Geld regiert die Welt (money makes the world go round, literally "money rules the world"), Im Geld schwimmen (to roll in money, literally "to swim in money"), and Das Geld liegt nicht auf der Straße (money doesn't grow on trees, literally "money doesn't lie on the street"). Here are some more examples from Yabla videos:

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This one is pretty obvious:

Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut

Time is money and money is good

Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf

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Here the expression Es geht ins Geld means it will get expensive:

Dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

Then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.

Caption 29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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But this is the most important thing of all to remember about money:

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Learning Suggestions:

See if you can understand the correct English meanings for the following German money-related expressions without resorting to a search engine or online dictionary by just using the vocabulary you already have: Geld allein macht nicht glücklich; Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert (a hint on this one: a Taler is an old-fashioned currency like the dollar or euro); Sie haben Geld wie Heu; Es geht nur ums Geld; and last of all, the most difficult one: Unrecht Gut gedeihet nicht.