idiom · informal
pinch pennies
/pɪntʃ ˈpɛniz/PINCH·PEN·nies
to be very careful with money and try to save even small amounts
Examples
“Since the repair costs, they've been pinching pennies to afford the mortgage.”
“If you pinch pennies on groceries, you can gradually build an emergency fund.”
“Grandma has always pinched pennies, so she has a tidy savings account.”
Band 8 sentence
“To afford a down payment in such an expensive city, they had to pinch pennies for several years.”
Collocations
- pinch pennies on
- start to pinch pennies
- a penny-pinching attitude
Word family
Common mistakes
She pinches the pennies to save.→She pinches pennies to save.
He pinch the pennies on food.→He pinches pennies on food.
Say it for a higher band
5save money→6be careful with money→7+pinch pennies
Synonyms
be frugal
cut back
Easily confused
scrimp and save
“They scrimped and saved for five years to buy a small house.”
Related words
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In Hardship
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