cut one's cloth to suit one's purse

verb

To settle for less when money or resources are limited.

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Meanings

verbcut one's cloth to suit one's purse (third-person singular simple present cuts one's cloth to suit one's purse, present participle cutting one's cloth to suit one's purse, simple past and past participle cut one's cloth to suit one's purse)

present singular third person cuts one's cloth to suit one's purse · participle present cutting one's cloth to suit one's purse

  1. idiomaticTo settle for less when money or resources are limited.

    We have just got to cut our cloth to suit the purse.

    2019 August 15, “Gisborne Herald chief reporter to stand for council”, in Gisborne Herald
    2 more examples

    A super-educated fish whose purpose seems bent on humiliating us? Or does he cut his cloth to suit-his purse, becoming choosy when the occasion allows, returning to catholic tastes when times are harder?

    2004, Norman Marsh, Trout Stream Insects of New Zealand, page 189

    If I had to go back then I would but I “cut my cloth to suit my purse” as my mum would have said and adjust to what I need and not fritter money away.

    2018 December 1, Amanda Hall-Davis, “I took a huge salary hit so I can make my daughters my priority”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

cut one's cloth to suit one's purse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20cloth%20to%20suit%20one's%20purse

MLA

“cut one's cloth to suit one's purse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20cloth%20to%20suit%20one's%20purse. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cut one's cloth to suit one's purse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20one's%20cloth%20to%20suit%20one's%20purse.

Source: cut one's cloth to suit one's purse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.