Describe an item on which you spent more than expected.
You should say What it is? How much did you spend on it? Why you bought it? And explain why you think you spent more than expected.
Note: You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.
Model Answers and follow up questions to describe an item on which you spent more than expected IELTS cue card:
Model Answer 1:
Introduction: Well, I must say I am a frugal spender who really do not believe in wasting money and spending it on unnecessary things.
But, lately, for my cousin’s wedding, I ended up spending too much money. The fact is that at this wedding I was going to be the best man and I was super excited about it. And of course, I wanted to look for something special on this day. For that reason, I visited the branded store at the local shopping mall where I could buy some party wears.
What it is? At this store, I was able to found what I was actually looking for. It was a pant coat black in color and elegantly designed; the cost of this suit was 15,000 that was too little high.
How much did you spend on it? and Why you bought it? and Explain why you think you spent more than expected? However, I liked it so much, so I decided to buy it. In fact, the sales guy showed me a white silk shirt that would go really well with this pant coat, and he compelled me to buy it. Finally, I paid 20,000 at this store and came back with these two things, and later in the evening, I tried this attire to check my looks.
At this point, I realized that I did not have matching formal shoes to wear with this dress, so I went to the market to buy a new pair of shoes, and it cost me another 4000 rupees.
Finally, I thought it was all over now, and I was ready for this wedding. One of my friends suggested that this dress is incomplete without some accessories. I must wear a tie or a bow and a brooch to look more classy and elegant. Hence, I had to spend few more thousand rupees to get all these things now it was the wedding evening.
Conclusion: I was beautifully dressed up, and I must say that I received hundreds of compliments from my near and dear ones for looking so handsome in this dress, and I realized that it was worth spending this much money.
Overall it was a time when I spent a lot of money on something.
Model Answer 2:
Introduction:
Well, Customers always want to pay as little as possible.
Customers, like everyone else, want immediate gratification, especially when they’re spending money. If you can satisfy your customer’s desires sooner than the competition, they’ll usually pay a premium.
What it is?
Here I would like to talk about a product for that I paid more than expected.
I mostly do online shopping, and I pay delivery charges for every product. But last month I bought a table.
It is a mirror table which contains two draws.
I purchased it from an online shopping site.
The seller had done special packing that ensured the safe delivery of fragile items.
It is designed in that way, I can easily fit in any place such as dining room, kitchen, living room and bedroom.
Why you bought it?
I bought it because two months ago I changed the colour and interior of my home, so the old table was broken while making all these changes, so that’s why I bought it.
How much did you spend on it?
The price of the product was 15,000, but I paid one thousand extra for its safety.
Explain why you think you spent more than expected? and Conclusion:
I did not regret it; even I felt very happy because the first time I ordered an expensive item from the Internet, and I received the product without any damage.
Model Answer 3:
Introduction:
Recently, my old phone broke down, and I had to buy a new phone.
What it is?
I considered various models, but ultimately, I decided to buy the Apple iPhone.
Why you bought it?
I think I made the purchase because of the brand name and because of friend’s reviews.
How much did you spend on it?
The phone was much costlier than I expected.
It was priced at Rs 70,000.
I still went for it because I wanted to own an iPhone.
Previously, I had a Samsung phone, but all my friends told me that Apple is way above Samsung in quality.
After buying it, I also felt that Apple is better.
The camera quality was better; the response rate was faster, the look was more elegant.
However, deep down, I knew I didn’t care about these things.
I rarely click pictures with the phone, and even if I do, I am fine with a lower resolution.
The response rate was faster, but then I was comparing the response rate of a new Apple iPhone with a 3-year-old Samsung phone, so the comparison was not apt.
Explain why you think you spent more than expected?
And, above all, the price was way higher than the other models in the market.
I bought the mobile phone not because of need but because of impulse.
I know I am not a heavy mobile phone user.
I mainly use the mobile phone to call and to check WhatsApp messages.
Besides that, I use barely 2-3 apps like Zomato for ordering food and Uber for travelling.
I knew I could have that done all that I wanted with a much cheaper version, but I still went for the Apple iPhone.
Finally, because of this decision, I had to postpone the decision of buying a new laptop, which I urgently need.
My old one is about 6 years old, and sometimes it takes nearly half an hour to start up.
A new laptop would have made my life much more comfortable than the iPhone did.
Conclusion:
For all these reasons, I regret buying the iPhone and spending so much on it.
IELTS Speaking Part 3 : Follow up Questions
Here some examples of follow up questions that you may asked during your speaking part 3 by examiner related to cue card “describe an item on which you spent more than expected”.
1. Do you often buy more than you expected? Yes, I often buy more than I expected, but it is normally in case of small household items or grocery items. For example, I would buy 2 pairs of jeans if they are on an offer, even if I need just one. The iPhone was the first time I spent so much more than I should have spent.
2. What do you think young people spend most of their money on? I think young people spend their money on clothes and other fashion accessories like belts, shoes, etc. Also, I think a lot of youth spend their money on gadgets like mobile phones, laptops, and headphones.
3. Do you think it is important to save money? Why? Yes, I think it is crucial as we can never be certain about the future. The recent Corona epidemic has made it even more clear that how uncertain life is. Many people died because they couldn’t afford the costly healthcare. Also, if people didn’t have savings, it would have been impossible to tide over these difficult times.
4. Do people buy things that they don’t need? Yes, all the time. I think we buy things because buying things makes us happy. Even though we know we won’t be using the thing, we buy it for momentary happiness. A common example is an electric drill, which people barely use for 10 mins after buying and then collects dust sitting unused for years.
Describe an item on which you spent more than expected IELTS cue card
Introduction: Well, I must say I am a frugal spender who really do not believe in wasting money and spending it on unnecessary things. But, lately, for my cousin’s wedding, I ended up spending too much money. The fact is that at this wedding I was going to be the best man and I was super excited about it. And of course, I wanted to look for something special on this day. For that reason, I visited the branded store at the local shopping mall where I could buy some party wears. What it is? At this store, I was able to found what I was actually looking for. It was a pant coat black in color and elegantly designed; the cost of this suit was 15,000 that was too little high. How much did you spend on it? and Why you bought it? and Explain why you think you spent more than expected? However, I liked it so much, so I decided to buy it. In fact, the sales guy showed me a white silk shirt that would go really well with this pant coat, and he compelled me to buy it. Finally, I paid 20,000 at this store and came back with these two things, and later in the evening, I tried this attire to check my looks. At this point, I realized that I did not have matching formal shoes to wear with this dress, so I went to the market to buy a new pair of shoes, and it cost me another 4000 rupees. Finally, I thought it was all over now, and I was ready for this wedding. One of my friends suggested that this dress is incomplete without some accessories. I must wear a tie or a bow and a brooch to look more classy and elegant. Hence, I had to spend few more thousand rupees to get all these things now it was the wedding evening. Conclusion: I was beautifully dressed up, and I must say that I received hundreds of compliments from my near and dear ones for looking so handsome in this dress, and I realized that it was worth spending this much money. Overall it was a time when I spent a lot of money on something.
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