Example 1:
Ronald is such a penny-pincher. He will only buy something if he has a coupon or if it is on sale.
Meaning: a penny-pincher is someone who is very careful with money. In the example, Ron makes sure he never pays full price for anything.
Example 2:
Our budget is tight this month. We have to pinch our pennies until my next paycheck.
Meaning: to pinch pennies means to be careful with all your money, even small coins like pennies (1 cent coins). You can insert a possessive adjective when talking about a specific person’s money.
She should pinch her pennies. We must pinch our pennies. I didn’t pinch my pennies, now I’m broke.
This idiom is from LSI’s 1st edition of “Reading Horizons,” which was used in the Level 6 Reading classes. For more information, please visit https://www.languagesystems.com/
