cost, fee, and expenditure

Another common point of confusion: cost vs. fee vs. expenditure

A fee is a charge of payment for services or a privilege, close to 요금 in Korean.

• It is absurd that airline passengers have to pay hefty fees to check their bags.

A cost is the expenditure of something, such as time or labor (note that it is not just about monetary expenditure), necessary for the attainment of a goal. It is close to 대가/비용 in Korean.

• “Freedom to advocate unpopular causes does not require that such advocacy be without cost" (Milton Friedman).
• The cost of living in the city is nearly twice the national average.
  

An expenditure is an act of expending something, especially monetary funds. It is close to “consumption” or “expense,” 지출 in Korean.

• With government expenditure soon to account for almost half the UK economy and one in five Britons working in the public sector, politicians are vying to fight the next election on the size and boundaries of the state (Financial Times, Mar 30, 2010)