on a shoestring

Idioms

With very limited financial means, as in The newlyweds were living on a shoestring. The precise allusion in this term is unclear. One fanciful theory is that debtors in British prisons would lower a shoe by its laces from a window so as to collect funds from visitors or passers-by. A more likely theory is that it alludes to the slender shape of a shoelace, likening it to slender resources. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He finally got some funding from Norman Lear himself and shot the movie on a shoestring budget.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

Most lower-division soccer clubs are run on a shoestring budget.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 16, 2024

"Council staff are working hard every day to deliver for their local communities while facing the stress of government funding cuts and having to operate on a shoestring."

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2024

That low overhead allowed presses that run on a shoestring to have their books available in independent bookstores and Amazon.

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2024

Started on a shoestring in 1898 by a former slave, the life insurance company grew vigorously, spinning off a black-owned bank and a fire insurance company.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023