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scrimp and save

Idioms  

  1. Economize severely, spend as little as possible, as in For years we had to scrimp and save, but now we can enjoy life more. [Mid-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.

However, I don’t want my son to think that I will take care of everything and that he doesn’t have to work hard and scrimp and save.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

She meets and marries fellow student Jen Chao-Pe, and together they move into a dilapidated walk-up in Washington Heights, where Agnes learns to scrimp and save and paint her own walls.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

"It can be really really hard when you're having to scrimp and save and spend so much time thinking and organising and figuring out where the food is going to come from," she says.

From BBC • Aug. 16, 2025

I was destined to scrimp and save and worry about money for the rest of my life.

From Salon • Oct. 8, 2024

It will mean that you and I will have to scrimp and save.

From Fanny Herself by Ferber, Edna

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.