tighten the purse strings
Cut back spending
To tighten the purse strings is to spend less or become more restrictive with money.
The image is of a drawstring purse pulled closed to prevent coins from escaping.
Governments tighten the purse strings during recessions; parents tighten them when kids overspend: After the audit, the company tightened the purse strings on travel expenses.
The opposite is to loosen the purse strings.
- saveProtect from loss
- cut backReduce or curtail
- cut cornersReduce effort or cost improperly
- budgetingAllocating funds systematically
- prudenceCareful, wise judgment
parsimonious · reduce · thrifty · economy · make ends meet · retrench · frugality · penny-pinching · nickel and dime · savings · rainy day fund · austerity · trade-offs · cost-cutting · conservation · prioritization · downsizing · bare bones
tighten the purse stringsloosen the purse strings
Begin spending more liberally
splurge · throw money around · spare no expense · splash out · live large
tighten, tightly, tightness, tighter, tightest, tightened, tightening, purses, pursed