live from hand to mouth

live from hand to mouth

To be extremely poor, having only enough money to provide food and shelter each month. I had to live from hand to mouth during most of college, since I could only get part-time jobs that paid minimum wage.
See also: hand, live, mouth
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

live from hand to mouth

Fig. to live in poor circumstances. When both my parents were out of work, we lived from hand to mouth. We lived from hand to mouth during the war. Things were very difficult.
See also: hand, live, mouth
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

live from hand to mouth

or

live hand-to-mouth

COMMON Someone who lives from hand to mouth or lives hand-to-mouth always struggles to afford the things they need. I have a wife and two children and we live from hand to mouth on what I earn. I just can't live hand-to-mouth, it's too frightening. Note: Hand-to-mouth is also used before nouns to describe a situation where someone struggles to afford what they need. Unloved and uncared-for, they live a meaningless hand-to-mouth existence.
See also: hand, live, mouth
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • put words in (one's) mouth
  • put words in mouth
  • put words in someone's mouth
  • put words in/into somebody's mouth
  • put words into (one's) mouth
  • put words into someone's mouth
  • fat lip
  • put words into someone's mouth, to
  • spit in
  • spit in (something)
References in classic literature
We live from hand to mouth, most of us, with a small family of immediate desires; we do little else than snatch a morsel to satisfy the hungry brood, rarely thinking of seed-corn or the next year's crop.
The Mill on the Floss
They live from hand to mouth and can't wait for a month before being paid.
Indian women drive change -- and trains
But since they live from hand to mouth, they cannot afford to supply cooperatives or big private investors, who take months to pay for deliveries.
Proposed milk rules punitive, need review
He was of the view that Batswana are poor and highly indebted, as most 'live from hand to mouth'.
Kgoroba urges government to declare some urban, peri-urban areas as special crime zones
OUR parliamentarians are so poorly paid that after retirement they live from hand to mouth. That is why when they need honey and oil, they ask the servant to go to a kabadia shop to buy old bottles that are washed and cleaned first.
Honey and liquor
Kilonzo's tax deductions is a grim illustration of just how President Uhuru Kenyatta's fundraising measures is forcing the poor and the not so poor to live from hand to mouth, unable to build up any savings.
Jubilee's crushing tax burden sparks outrage
Formerly solid working-class jobs no longer pay enough to make saving possible; people live from hand to mouth and have nothing left over for a nest egg.
Is Hard Work Enough To Buy A House?
Abo Mohammed : "They live from hand to mouth relying on growing some leaves in small gardens created at their homes.
WFP delivers desperately-needed food for over 80,000 people in Syria
We don't save and we live from hand to mouth. Even those of us fortunate enough to have a regular income.
Learning about personal financial matters
And people, who live from hand to mouth, have been also affected.
Militancy making life difficult for Manipuris
They live from hand to mouth and often have a couple of kids at home to feed.
What do Egyptians really want?
Romantic notions of happiness coming from within and the spiritual loftiness to transcend dire, excruciating circumstances have no place in the lives of those who live from hand to mouth, whose very humanity is challenged every single day.
Editorial: Why are Egyptians Miserable?
Especially, the poor classes living in the rural areas and suburban areas of cities who live from hand to mouth can hardly manage to purchase gold and other costly things used in marriages.
No money, forget lavish marriages
Chelsea and Manchester United are world class sides built on money and shrewd planning, while Newcastle live from hand to mouth.
Loyal fans rewarded with team spirit; VOICE OF THE NORTH
We Israelis live from hand to mouth, as in the diaspora.
Israel, a Middle East superpower of wine and cheese