getting by
Making ends meet
Getting by means managing to survive or cope, usually with limited resources or under difficult circumstances.
It implies adequacy without comfort—meeting basic needs but not thriving: We're not rich, but we're getting by.
The phrase suggests modest success against challenges: She's getting by on unemployment until she finds work.
- tryingCausing strain or frustration
- copingManaging under strain
- managingDirecting or controlling something
- scraping byBarely having enough
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
just surviving · adaptation · inventiveness · ingenuity · frugality · fortitude · improvisation · grit · resilience · adjustment · acceptance · making ends meet · making do · shifting · patience · poverty · hand-to-mouth · cleverness
- money troublesdebt relief, bad debt, bankruptcy filing, paycheck to paycheck, struggling
- financially afloatafloat, solvent, debt-free, in the black, breaking even
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
- bare minimumbasics, essentials, necessities, needs, requirements
getting bythriving
Succeeding vigorously
flourishing · prospering · living large · rolling in it · succeeding
getting byexcelling
Performing exceptionally well
succeeding · making it · killing it · crushing it · going places