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]

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Example Sentences

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

"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

You might want to scrimp and save, but this isn’t the time for that.

From Salon

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

From Salon

“There are plenty of families at these schools who don’t go on foreign holidays, who scrimp and save to pay for children go to them because they feel it is the right thing for them – and that choice is now under threat.”

From BBC