A1Beginner199 words · 3 min
Nothing left
At the end of the month, Mariama's wallet is empty. With a little notebook, a neighbour and her son's piggy bank, she takes back control.
The text
Mariama habite à Sherbrooke avec son fils Idris. À la fin du mois, quand elle ouvre son portefeuille, il ne reste plus rien. Elle ne va jamais au restaurant et elle n'achète rien pour elle-même. Un soir, Idris, huit ans, lui montre sa tirelire et lui demande si elle veut ses pièces. Mariama lui répond que non, merci, que ce sont ses pièces.
Un soir, elle parle avec sa voisine Claire et lui dit qu'elle ne sait plus comment y arriver. Claire lui propose de noter chaque dépense dans un petit cahier pendant un mois, pour voir où part l'argent. Mariama trouve l'idée simple et décide d'essayer.
Dès le lendemain, elle note tout : le café du matin, l'autobus, les petites courses. Après quelques semaines, elle comprend où va son argent. Elle ne dépense plus rien d'inutile et elle prépare même des repas pour la semaine. Son fils Idris est fier d'elle et met de côté les pièces de sa tirelire sans rien demander en échange.
À la fin du mois suivant, pour la première fois, il lui reste un peu d'argent. Mariama sourit : elle a repris le contrôle, sans rien changer de grand, juste en regardant ce qu'elle fait.
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Mariama lives in Sherbrooke with her son Idris. At the end of the month, when she opens her wallet, there is nothing left. She never goes to restaurants and she buys nothing for herself. One evening, Idris, who is eight, shows her his piggy bank and asks if she wants his coins. Mariama tells him no, thank you, that they are his coins.
One evening, she talks with her neighbour Claire and tells her she does not know how to make ends meet anymore. Claire suggests she write down every expense in a small notebook for a month, to see where the money goes. Mariama finds the idea simple and decides to try it.
From the very next day, she writes everything down: the morning coffee, the bus, the small errands. After a few weeks, she understands where her money goes. She no longer spends anything useless and even prepares meals for the week. Her son Idris is proud of her and sets aside the coins from his piggy bank without asking for anything in return.
At the end of the following month, for the first time, she has a little money left over. Mariama smiles: she has taken back control, without changing anything big, just by watching what she does.
Underlined words are in the glossary: tap one for its definition.
Comprehension questions 4
1. Que trouve Mariama dans son portefeuille à la fin du mois ?（What does Mariama find in her wallet at the end of the month?）
Answer : Plus rien : le portefeuille est vide.
2. Que lui donne sa voisine Claire ?（What does her neighbour Claire give her?）
Answer : Un petit cahier pour écrire toutes ses dépenses.
3. Que découvre Mariama grâce au cahier ?（What does Mariama discover thanks to the notebook?）
Answer : Le lait et les fruits coûtent cher à l'épicerie du coin, et elle ne compare jamais les prix.
4. Que fait Idris avec son argent de poche maintenant ?（What does Idris do with his pocket money now?）
Answer : Il ne dépense plus tout en bonbons ; il met une pièce dans la tirelire chaque semaine.
Grammar point in this text
Practise speaking
Les finances et le budgetFinances and budgeting
Family budget, accounts, payments — the French of finances.
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The tasks where this French will help
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