cut one's cloth to suit one's purse en · VERB
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To settle for less when money or resources are limited.
If I had to go back then I would but I “cut my cloth to suit my purse” as my mum would have said and adjust to what I need and not fritter money away.
2018 December 1, Amanda Hall-Davis, “I took a huge salary hit so I can make my daughters my priority”, in The Guardian:A super-educated fish whose purpose seems bent on humiliating us? Or does he cut his cloth to suit-his purse, becoming choosy when the occasion allows, returning to catholic tastes when times are harder?
2004, Norman Marsh, Trout Stream Insects of New Zealand, page 189:We have just got to cut our cloth to suit the purse.
2019 August 15, “Gisborne Herald chief reporter to stand for council”, in Gisborne Herald:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cutting one's cloth to suit one's purse | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| cuts one's cloth to suit one's purse | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| cut one's cloth to suit one's purse | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| cut one's cloth to suit one's purse | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
cut one's coat according to one's cloth · tighten one's belt