budget dust

budget dust

A small and/or inconsequential amount of money, often as remains after a larger budgeted amount is spent. To most people, $2,000 is a lot to spend on anything, but to the country's mega rich, it is merely budget dust. After paying for all of those repairs, only budget dust is left over.
See also: budget, dust
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

budget dust

n. a minor amount of money considering the size of the entire budget; money left over at the end of the budget year. The amount is just budget dust, chump change! What’s the big deal?
See also: budget, dust
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • in the order of (some amount)
  • in/of the order of
  • of the order of (some amount)
  • lay out (an amount of money) on (someone or something)
  • lay out on
  • if that
  • region
  • in the region of
  • in the region of (some amount)
  • one step forward and two steps back
References in periodicals archive
"That's really budget dust, but who the hell knows what's going to happen," he says.
Charity case: state budget cuts threaten to debilitate--or worse, shut down--local LGBT organizations
When the budget dust finally settled, the Legal Services Corporation was funded at $305 million for 1999-2000 -- $5 million more than LSC received last year for legal aid programs
LSC gets slight funding boost -- with strings attached
The National Institutes of Health provides nearly $19 million in grants and awards for fetal-tissue research, an amount that many in the scientific community consider budget dust compared with the $15.6 billion total 1999 appropriations.
Harvesting Fetal Body Parts
That is budget dust," Martinez Fischer told his colleagues.
School Funding, Incentive Programs Are Hot Topics in House Budget Debate
671 cost is "budget dust" in the greater scheme of federal expenditures.
AMHCA renews Medicare eligibility fight
A little item like the fire departments is "budget dust" - an amount so small in the overall scheme of things that lawmakers don't devote much attention to it.
For Fire Departments, More to State Budget Than Numbers