Idioms about money

Here is the list of idioms about money


Earn a fortune

to earn a lot of money
  • He made a fortune on the stock market.


Tighten your belt

to reduce the amount of money that you normally spend
  • We’ve had to tighten our belts since my mother lost her job.


On/below the breadline

having very little money or a very low income to live properly
  • They are living on the breadline.


Get your fingers burnt 

to suffer loss as the result of doing something risky
  • He got his fingers burnt in foreign markets.


Burn a hole in your pocket

If money is burning a hole in your pocket, you want to spend it as soon as you possibly can

Chicken feed

an amount of money that is so small to be significant
  • It’s a nice job but the pay is chicken feed.


Cost an arm and a leg

to be extremely expensive
  • The fur coat cost her and arm and a leg.


Have deep pockets

to have a lot of money
  • a company that has deep pockets


Feel the pinch

to have financial problems because you are not earning as much as you used to earn
  • When his parents lost their jobs they began to feel the pinch.


Golden handcuffs

a large amount of money paid to employees to persuade them to stay in their company rather than go and work for another company

Hard up

not having enough money
  • I’m too hard up these days.


Ill-gotten gains

money that was not made in a legal or dishonest way
  • He was spending his ill-gotten gainsin casinos.


Keep the wolf from the door

to have just enough money to buy basic necessities such as food and clothing
  • He works part-time to help keep the wolf from the door.


Laugh all the way to the bank

to earn a lot of money easily 
  • If our main competitor win the building contract they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.


Licence to print money

nn opportunity to make a large amount of money with little effort
  • His chain of pubs and restaurants is a licence to print money.


Live/be in clover

to live a comfortable life because you have a lot of money
  • My dream is win the lottery and live in clover forever.


Make a killing

to earn a lot of money quickly and without much effort
  • He made a killing in network marketing.


Easy money

money that you get with little work

Coin it/money

to earn a lot of money easily
  • He is coining money with that software.


In the money

having a lot of money; rich
  • He is in the money now and wants to buy a bigger house. 


Be rolling in it/money

to be very rich
  • He has a Rolls-Royce. He must be rolling in money.


Have money to burn

to have a lot of money to spend
  • He likes to dine at expensive restaurants. He’s got money to burn.


Made of money

very rich
  • I’m not going on an extravagant vacation. I’m not made of money.


Marry money

t marry a wealthy person
  • She married money – her husband is a successful businessman.


Money for jam/old rope

money that is earned with little work; easy money
  • I think house sitting is money for old rope.


Money talks

used for saying that people with money have a strong influence on other people

Broke

having no money
  • Can you lend me some money? I’m flat broke.


Pin money

a small amount of extra money that someone earns to spend on pleasure rather than essentials 
  • He walks the neighbour’s dog to earn pin money.


Pay through the nose

to pay a high price for something
  • She paid through the nose for the leather jacket.


Purse stings


used to refer to the amount of money that is spent by a family, company, or country
  • My wife holds [=controls] the family purse stings.
  • The government decided to tighten the purse stings [=spend less money].


Nest egg

a sum of money that is saved to use it for something in the future
  • Do you have a savings plan for building up a nest egg?

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