make ends meet
Formsmakes ends meet, making ends meet, made ends meet
- 1To have enough money to cover one's expenses and get by financially until the next payday.
Like pulling a short blanket from both sides so it just barely covers you: income reaching expenses with nothing to spare.
With rent rising every year, many families can barely make ends meet.
She took on freelance work to make ends meet between paychecks.
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Origin
The origin is unknown. It perhaps first referred to the ends of a rope meeting, signifying continuity and stability, and perhaps later shifted to making money last from one pay period to the next with no gap in funds. Compare French "joindre les deux bouts" (literally "join the two ends"), with the same meaning; the form "make both ends meet" is attested from the 17th century and was the more common form until the early-to-mid 20th century.