ante up
- pay, produce a necessary amount of money
I had to ante up a lot of money to get my car fixed.

at all costs
- at any expense of time, effort or money
He plans to go to school at all costs.

back on one`s feet
- return to good financial health
My sister is back on her feet after losing her job last year.

bet one`s bottom dollar
- bet all one has on something
I would bet my bottom dollar that the accounting manager will be late again today.

bet on the wrong horse
- base one`s plans on a wrong guess about the results of something
He is betting on the wrong horse if he continues to support the other candidate for mayor.

born with a silver spoon in one`s mouth
- born to wealth and comfort, born rich
The student in our history class was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never worked in his life.

bottom dollar
- one`s last dollar
He spent his bottom dollar on some new clothes to wear for his job interview.

bottom line
- line in a financial statement that shows net income or loss
The bottom line in the company's financial statement was much worse than expected.

bottom line
- final result, main point
The bottom line was that we were unable to attend the conference because of our busy schedule.

break even
- have income equal to expenses
Our company was able to break even after only six months of operation.

break the bank
- win all the money at a casino gambling table
He broke the bank at the casino and walked away with a lot of money.

bring home the bacon
- earn the family living
I have been working hard all month bringing home the bacon for my family.

burn a hole in one`s pocket
- money that one wishes or intends to spend quickly (often for something frivolous)
The money had been burning a hole in his pocket when he decided to go to the casino.

buy off
- give money to someone to stop them from doing their duty
They tried to buy off the politician but he refused to go along with their plan.

cash-and-carry
- selling something for cash only with no delivery
We were able to get a good price on a sofa in a cash-and-carry deal at the furniture store.

cash in
- exchange coupons or bonds for their value in money
I cashed in a large number of my savings bonds in order to get some money to buy a house.

cash in on
- make money from an opportunity
The former football player cashed in on his popularity to open a very successful restaurant.

cash in one`s chips
- exchange or sell something to get some money
I decided to cash in my chips to get some money to go back to school.

cash on the barrelhead
- money paid in cash when something is bought
I had to pay cash on the barrelhead for the used car.

caught short
- not have enough money when you need it
I was caught short and had to borrow some money from my father last week.
cheapskate
- a person who will not spend much money, a stingy person
My friend is a cheapskate and won't even go to a movie with me.

chicken feed
- a small amount of money
His son always wants to borrow money and says that it is only chicken feed but little by little it adds up to a lot of money.

chip in
- contribute money or pay jointly
Everyone in our company chipped in some money to buy a wedding present for our boss.

clean up
- make a lot of money, make a big profit
I cleaned up at the horse races last year and still have some of the money left.

cold hard cash
- cash, coins and bills
I paid for the stereo in cold hard cash.

cook the books
- illegally change information in accounting books in a company
The accountant was cooking the books for over a year before he was caught.
cut-rate
- sell for a price lower than usual
We went to a cut-rate furniture store to buy some new furniture for our apartment.

deadbeat
- person who never pays the money he owes
Recently the government has been making an effort to solve the problem of deadbeat dads who don't support their families.

dime a dozen
- easy to get and therefore of little value
Used computers are a dime a dozen and have very little value.

down and out
- have no money
My friend was down and out for several years before he got a job and started making money.

Dutch treat
- something where each person pays their own share
We went to the movie as a Dutch treat so it didn't cost me much money.

face value
- the worth or price printed on a stamp, bond, note or paper money etc.
The face value of the stamp was very low but in reality it was worth a lot of money.

fast buck
- money earned quickly and easily (and sometimes dishonestly)
The company tried to make a fast buck on the property but they actually lost a lot of money.

feel like a million dollars/bucks
- feel wonderful
Although I have been sick for a few weeks I feel like a million dollars today.

flat broke
- having no money, penniless
I am flat broke and don't even have enough money to pay my rent.

foot the bill
- pay
My sister is footing the bill for her daughter's education so she is making sure that she studies hard.

for a song
- at a low price, cheaply
We bought the car for a song and will try and sell it for a higher price.

fork over
- pay, pay out
I forked over a lot of money for the painting that is hanging on my wall.

for love or money (usually negative)
- for anything, for any price
I would not want to have to do that man's job for love or money.
go broke
- lose all one`s money, have no money
My uncle started a company last year but it quickly went broke.

gravy train
- getting paid more money than the job is worth
The job was a gravy train and I made a lot of money when I was there.

grease one`s palm
- give a tip, pay for a special favor or extra help, bribe
The government official was greasing his palm at his office until he was finally fired.

hand-out
- a gift of money (usually from the government)
After receiving hand-outs from the government for many years they finally had to make money on their own.

hand to mouth
- having only enough money for basic living
My friend has been living from hand to mouth since he lost his job.

hard up
- not have much money
His brother is hard up for money and always wants to borrow some.

have sticky fingers
- be a thief
The new employee has sticky fingers and many things in the store have disappeared.

highway robbery
- charge a high price for something
The amount of money that the company is charging for its services is highway robbery.

hit the jackpot
- make a lot of money suddenly
We hit the jackpot at the casino and came home with a lot of money.

in the black
- profitable, making money
Our company has been in the black since it was first started.

in the hole
- in debt, owing money
I think that we are going in the hole in our attempts to make our business prosper.

in the red
- unprofitable, losing money
The company has been in the red for several months now and will soon have to go bankrupt.

keep books
- keep records of money earned and spent
The accountant has been keeping careful books of all the transactions in the company.

kickback
- money paid illegally for favorable treatment
The politician received several illegal kickbacks and had to resign from his job.

lay away money
- save money
I am trying hard to lay away enough money to buy a house.

lay away plan
- a plan in which one pays some money as a downpayment and then pays a little more when one can and the store holds the article until the full price is paid
We brought our furniture on the layaway plan at the store.

lay out
- spend, pay
I had to lay out a lot of money to get my car fixed so now I don't have any money to go out.

live from hand to mouth
- live on little money
My friend has been living from hand to mouth on his savings from his last job.

ive high off the hog
- have the best of everything, live in great comfort
My mother and father have been living high off the hog since they won the lottery.

loaded
- have lots of money
My uncle is loaded and always has lots of money.

lose one`s shirt
- lose all or most of one`s money
I lost my shirt in a business venture and now I have no money.

make a bundle
- make a lot of money
I made a bundle on the stock market and have since bought a house.

make a killing
- make a large amount of money
My sister made a killing when she worked overseas in the oil industry.

make a living
- earn enough money to live
If you want to make a good living it is necessary to get a good education.

make ends meet
- have enough money to pay one`s bills
I have been having trouble making ends meet because the rent for my apartment is too high.

make money hand over fist
- make money fast and in large amounts
My cousin has been making money hand over fist with her business.

money to burn
- very much money, more money than is needed
My aunt has money to burn and is always travelling somewhere.

nest egg
- money someone has saved up
I made a nice nest egg when I was working and I am now able to go to school.

on a dime
- in a very small space
I had to turn my car on a dime when I entered the parking lot.

on a shoestring
- with little money to spend, on a very low budget
He started his business on a shoestring but now it is very successful.

on the house
- paid for by the owner
We went to the restaurant and all of the refreshments were on the house.

pad the bill
- add false expenses to a bill
The plumber who was fixing our plumbing system was padding the bill so we got another plumber.

pass the buck
- make another person decide something, put the duty or blame on someone else
The foreman is always passing the buck and will never take responsibility for anything that he does.

pay an arm and a leg for something
- pay a high price for something
I paid an arm and a leg for my car but I am not very happy with it.

pay dirt
- a valuable discovery, the dirt in which much gold is found
We hit pay dirt when we got the rights to distribute the new product.

pay off
- pay and discharge from a job
The company paid off their employees and shut down for the winter.

pay-off
- bribe
The mayor received a pay-off and was forced to resign from his position.

pay through the nose
- pay at a very high price, pay too much
I paid through the nose when I had to buy gasoline in the small town.

penny for one`s thoughts
- tell someone what you are thinking about
"I will give you a penny for your thoughts", I said to my friend who was looking out of the window.

penny wise and pound foolish
- wise or careful in small things to the costly neglect of important things
My friend is penny-wise and pound foolish and economizes on small things but wastes all of his money on big things.

pick up the tab
- pay the bill
I picked up the tab for my sister and her three children at the restaurant.

piggy bank
- a small bank, sometimes in the shape of a pig for saving coins
The small boy saved up much money in his piggy bank.

pinch pennies
- be careful with money, be thrifty
My grandmother always pinches pennies and will never spend her money foolishly.

pony up
- pay
I had to pony up a lot of money to pay to get my car repaired.

put in one`s two cents
- give one`s opinion
I stood up in the meeting and put in my two cents before I was asked to sit down.

quick buck
- money earned quickly and easily (and sometimes dishonestly)
The company is only interested in making a quick buck and is not at all interested in quality.

rain check
- a promise to repeat an invitation at a later date
I decided to take a rain check and go to the restaurant another time.

rake in the money
- make a lot of money
We have been raking in the money at our restaurant and will soon be able to go on a long holiday.

red cent
- the smallest coin, a trivial sum of money
I wouldn't give a red cent for my neighbor's car.

salt away
- save money
My father's uncle salted away thousands of dollars before he died.

scrape together
- gather small amounts of money (usually with some difficulty) for something
We scraped together some money and bought a present for my mother.

set one back
- cost
My friend asked me how much my new coat had set me back.

shell out
- pay
My father shelled out a lot of money to get his house painted.

splurge on something
- spend more money than one might ordinarily spend
We decided to splurge and go to a nice restaurant for dinner.

stone broke
- having no money, penniless
His brother is stone broke and won't be able to come to the movie with us.

strapped for cash
- have no money available
I am strapped for cash at the moment so I won't be able to go with you on a holiday.

strike it rich
- become rich or successful suddenly or without expecting to
My grandfather struck it rich searching for gold but when he died he had no money.

take a beating
- lose money (usually a lot)
My friend took a beating on the stock market and has now stopped buying stocks..

tighten one`s belt
- live on less money than usual
We decided to tighten our belt and save up some money for a holiday.

two bits
- twenty-five cents, a quarter of a dollar
The newspaper was only two bits a copy.

(not worth) two cents
- almost nothing, something not important or very small
The car that my friend bought is not worth two cents.

two cents worth
- something one wants to say, opinion
I asked the president for his two cents worth but he didn't want to give us his opinion.

(not) worth a cent
- not worth anything, not of any value
That antique desk is not worth a cent although eveyone thinks it is very valuable.

worth one`s salt
- worth what one is paid
Our secretary is worth her salt and is a great asset to our company.