beyond one's means

Idioms  

1. Too costly for one, more than one can afford. For example, A second vacation this year is well beyond our means. The noun means here signifies “resources at one's disposal,” a usage current since Shakespeare's time, as in Measure for Measure (2:2): “Let her have needful, but not lavish means.” [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beyond one's means

It remains both taboo and important to perform this often tacky opulence nonetheless: to spend advances on expensive cars, clothes and chains, to live beyond one’s means.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

They are also spooked by the temptation that credit cards offer to spend beyond one’s means.

From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2016

Before the crisis, some families and nations did borrow to finance consumption — a good definition of living beyond one’s means.

From Salon ● May 5, 2013

That's paltry compared to China, where 25% of disposable income is saved, but it appeared as if the American consumer might be turning away from borrowing and living beyond one's means.

From Time ● Feb. 9, 2011

Living beyond one's means became habitual—almost necessary—for every one to keep up with, if not to go beyond, every one else.

From Sesame and Lilies by Ruskin, John