省钱(shěng qián) - to save money; economical in Mandarin

省钱 (shěngqián) is a verb-object compound: 省 (shěng) means "to save, to economise" and 钱 (qián) is "money", so the two together mean "to save money". Like many verb-object words in Mandarin, you can split it: 省了一点钱 (shěng le yìdiǎn qián), "saved a bit of money", slots the aspect marker and quantity in between the two halves.

The same word also works as a stative adjective meaning "economical" or "money-saving", describing a product or method rather than a person's action: 这个方法很省钱 (zhège fāngfǎ hěn shěngqián), "this method is economical". AQA's gloss "save money/economical" is really capturing both these uses in one entry.

English speakers sometimes reach for 存钱 (cúnqián) instead, but that means "to save up money" in the sense of putting it aside in a bank account, not "to spend less". 省钱 (shěngqián) is about not spending; 存钱 (cúnqián) is about accumulating. The two are related but not interchangeable.