keep body and soul together

Idioms  

1. Stay alive, support life, as in He earns barely enough to keep body and soul together. This expression alludes to the belief that the soul gives life to the body, which therefore cannot survive without it. Today it most often is applied to earning a living. [Early 1700s]

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Example Sentences

"It is designed to keep body and soul together, not designed to pay for fodder," he said.

From BBC • Sep. 4, 2018

Older workers can't find jobs that pay what they need to make to keep body and soul together.

From New York Times • Jan. 8, 2016

To keep body and soul together during the Depression, they went on the grueling dance marathon circuit, dancing thousands of hours just to get the free meals provided to contestants.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2010

In contrast to grog, which was simply heated, sometimes diluted, rum meant to keep body and soul together on British ships, toddies contain sugar and various spices.

From Time Magazine Archive

There’s your son, Michael, parading around the world in his new suit which I paid for while I myself have barely a crust to keep body and soul together.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt