pay one's own freight

present singular third person pays one's own freight · participle present paying one's own freight · participle past paid one's own freight · past paid one's own freight

1. colloquialdatedSynonym of pay one's own way.

   “I have absolutely no interest in being a wealthy dilettante. I have a job. I pay my own freight. […]

   2013, Cherry Adair, Relentless

   2 more examples

   If any of you want a whacking lot of experience, lots of thrills to the minute and can pay your own freight, sign up for that trip to the land of the Northern Lights.

   1932, Delta Sigma Delta-Desmos, volume 38, page 151

   I missed a real job's stimulation and rested uneasy in depending upon the Royal Family. (A sound presentiment, there.) I had been on my own since the age of eighteen, and I liked how it felt to pay my own freight.

   1997, Jeff Coplon, My Story, page 162

   Synonyms: pay one's own way