Summit 1 Video Script
UNIT 3
On-the-Street Interviews:
I’m a little better about saving . . .
Interviewer: So tell me a little bit about you and
money—whether you are good at saving, or can
you save for something special. Do you just
blow all your money as soon as you have it?
Deepti: Well, when I was growing up in India, my
parents were, you know, very open and free with
money. So if I wanted something, they would say,
“OK, you can go ahead and take this.” And I
think that spoiled me a little bit, because I would
just, whatever I wanted, I’d take the money and
go buy it, and I didn’t really realize the
importance of saving money. So when I grew up,
I was twenty-two, and I left India to go to
Singapore, and I was on my own, and I had a
scholarship, and my father would, on the phone,
he would ask me, “So, how much money have
you saved?” And I was like, “What are you
talking about? I’m not saving any money.” And
he got worried, and he wanted me to start saving
money. It was very hard for me to save money
because I would go out and walk past a shop that
had clothes and I would look at the clothes and
go, “Oh, I want that,” and I would go in, get it,
and be really happy. It made me happy, you
know. But, I think after a year or so when I
realized that I had to take care of myself, not only
now, but let’s say a year from now, and a year
from now I might not have the money that I’m
getting now, so I have to start saving so that I’m
not, you know, on the streets without any money.
So I started saving, but I still had a hard time with
it. My sister is very good. She is very stingy with
money, you know. And when I was in India, I
would tell her, “Oh come on, go on, spend the
money. You know, if you want something, go get
it.” And she would always tell me, “You should
think about our parents. They’re making all this
money for us, but we shouldn’t spend it just like
that.” I think now I am a little better about saving,
but not very good. Not as good as I could be.
Joe: I think I’m very good at handling money. I
save when I need to; I spend when I would like
to. I try to keep control of my funds so that I
don’t end up in situations where I don’t have
money to pay for basic necessities. But I do feel
that you should spend money that you have
while you have it and while you’re here, as
opposed to saving it for a rainy day that never
comes.
Interviewer: And saving, what are you trying to
do to save? Have you made a plan?
Lisa: I have made a plan. I, what I do now is just
take out a certain amount of money at the
beginning and save it. I just put it away before I
even really see it. So that way I can like build up
and spend whatever else I have.
Interviewer: And is that working?
Lisa: It’s going pretty well. It’s going pretty well. I
have a little bit of something saved up.
Summit 1, Second Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.