to cut your cloth to suit your purse
- idiom
- Archaic
:
ajustar el presupuesto
- After losing his job, he had to cut his cloth to suit his purse and make many sacrifices.
Examples
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They were wise enough to cut their cloth to suit their purse when business was slow.
-
It’s important to cut your cloth to suit your purse to avoid getting into debt.
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You need to cut your cloth to suit your purse.
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Don't cut your cloth to suit your purse!
-
After losing his job, he had to cut his cloth to suit his purse and prioritize his spending.
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To ensure financial stability, it’s crucial to cut your cloth to suit your purse when planning your budget.
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They decided to cut their cloth to suit their purse by reducing unnecessary expenses during tough times.
Synonyms
169
2.9
To reduce how much you buy and use to save money and be healthier
30
3.0
To spend less money to save or make more money
8
7.4
Spend very little money by using only what you need
To spend only what you can afford
To cut spending by removing unnecessary costs from a budget
How Economical
- Informal
5
5.8
- Archaic
- Informal
56
3.5
∞
1.0
- Informal
8
6.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
cut + your + cloth + to + suit + your + purse
The components ('cut', 'cloth', 'suit', 'purse') create a clear metaphor of tailoring clothing to the amount of money available, so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer the general idea of adjusting spending to fit resources. However, it is a conventional proverbial/metaphorical expression whose specific idiomatic advice ('live within your means') is not fully predictable from the parts without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cut your cloth to suit your purse likely comes from a simple image: if your purse, your money, is small, you must cut your cloth smaller so it fits. So it means 'to live within your means', to spend or plan only what you can afford.