make ends meet
Cover basic expenses
To make ends meet is to earn just enough money to cover basic expenses.
The phrase implies financial strain—getting by without surplus: Working two jobs just to make ends meet.
Someone who can't make ends meet falls short of paying for necessities.
Labored effort against resistance
- scrimpSpend very sparingly
- overdraftSpending past zero
- debtsSums owed to others
- strainExcessive stretching force
juggle · hardship · underemployment · cutbacks · arrears · deficit · financial stress · shortfall
Compensation for labor
- wagesPayment for work
- salaryFixed periodic employment payment
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- jobPaid position of employment
employment · work · breadwinner · earner · side hustle · gig work · second job · overtime
Careful use of resources
- economizingReducing expenditures deliberately
- savingsAccumulated money kept
- prudenceCareful, wise judgment
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
stretching · bargain hunting · DIY · secondhand · discount · bulk buying · meal planning · conservation
Plan for spending
- expensesMoney spent on things
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- cash flowMoney entering and exiting
- financial planningOrganizing future monetary goals
bills · money management · spreadsheet · ledger · accounts · allocation · outgoings · expenditure
Price of basic necessities
- inflationSustained price level increase
- wagesPayment for work
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
housing costs · rent · utilities · groceries · gas prices · rising costs · economic pressure · wage gap
Minimal means of living
- hand-to-mouthConsuming resources immediately
- barebonesReduced to essentials
- necessitiesWhat you cannot lack
- essentialsIndispensable items or elements
basics · staples · getting by · scraping by · treading water · just enough
struggle
Labored effort against resistance
strain · juggle · hardship · underemployment · cutbacks · arrears · deficit · financial stress · shortfall · falling behind
paycheck
Compensation for labor
job · employment · work · breadwinner · earner · side hustle · gig work · second job · overtime · moonlighting
thrift
Careful use of resources
- economizingReducing expenditures deliberately
- savingsAccumulated money kept
- prudenceCareful, wise judgment
resourcefulness · stretching · bargain hunting · DIY · secondhand · discount · bulk buying · meal planning · conservation · repurposing
budget
Plan for spending
bills · financial planning · money management · spreadsheet · ledger · accounts · allocation · outgoings · expenditure · cost-cutting
cost of living
Price of basic necessities
unemployment · housing costs · rent · utilities · groceries · gas prices · rising costs · economic pressure · wage gap
subsistence
Minimal means of living
- hand-to-mouthConsuming resources immediately
- barebonesReduced to essentials
- necessitiesWhat you cannot lack
essentials · basics · staples · getting by · scraping by · treading water · just enough
- frugalityfrugality, thrift, frugal, penny-pinching, economize
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- thrift sayingspenny saved, penny wise, pinch pennies, penny pincher, live within means
- labor idiomsnose to the grindstone, burning the midnight oil, pull your weight, crunch time, work like a dog
make ends meetprosper
Succeed and flourish
thrive · strike it rich · flourish · live like a king · have it made
make, meet, meeting, ending, ended, maker, making, ends, remake