Money idioms

Idioms used in English that involve money.

To cost a lot of money

to break the bank: “I can’t afford a skiing holiday this winter - it would break the bank.”

to cost an arm and a leg: “It costs an arm and a leg to buy all these Christmas presents.”

to pay through the nose: “They had to pay through the nose to get their son insured to drive.”

to splash out on something = to pay a lot for an important event: “They’re splashing out on their anniversary this year.”

To be rich

to be loaded: “He works in the City and he’s loaded!”

to be sitting on a small fortune / goldmine: “She will inherit everything. She’s sitting on a goldmine!”

to have money to burn: “I’ve just received a bonus and I have money to burn!”

To be poor

to not have a bean to rub together: “Those two don’t earn enough money. They don’t have a bean to rub together.”

to be as poor as church mice: “His family have always been as poor as church mice.”

to be skint = British slang that means having no money: “Can you lend me some money until next Friday? I’m skint!”

to be broke: “She’s always broke at the end of the month.”

to scrimp and save = to make as many economies as you can to save money: “His parents scrimped and saved to send him to university.”

To not want to spend money

a scrooge = Scrooge was a Dickens character, famous for being mean: “Why don’t you want to buy her a leaving present? You’re such a scrooge.”

a skinflint = someone who doesn’t want to spend money: “She reuses tea bags - she’s such a skinflint!”

tight-fisted: “One reason he has so much money is that he’s so tight-fisted!”

Other idioms

to have more money than sense = to have a lot of money which you waste rather than spend carefully: “He just bought another camera - he has more money than sense.”

to burn a hole in your pocket = to not be able to stop spending money: “He can’t just go out window-shopping. Money burns a hole in his pocket.”

Money for old rope = an easy source of income: “He sells bunches of flowers he has grown himself. It’s money for old rope.”

make a fast buck = to make money quickly and sometimes dishonestly: “He made a fast buck selling those shares. I wonder if he had insider knowledge.”

Ten a penny = very common: “These scarves are ten a penny in the markets here.”