pay for itself

idiom

: to save as much money over a period of time as something costs initially

windows that pay for themselves within five years by saving on heating costs

Examples of pay for itself in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, a too-large system costs more to install and can take a significant amount of time to pay for itself. —Tyler Shepherd, The Arizona Republic, 10 Apr. 2024

Because of the high costs of replacing good workers and the benefits of productivity, a company could make a child care benefit pay for itself by retaining just 1% of workers who would otherwise have left, according to BCG. —Byirina Ivanova, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024

Given that, the system would pay for itself in about 17 years and net more than $14,000 in energy cost savings after a quarter-century, for an annual rate of return of around 2 percent on our initial investment. —Tik Root, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2024

Whether that means hiring a designer for a full plan set or even just hiring a designer for a consult, hiring a professional who is well versed in climate-appropriate gardens will pay for itself. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2024

Its proposition was that spreading dignity, promoting equity, inspiring pride in its residents — all this would pay for itself in the long run. —Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2024

Backed by a coalition of economists and former city officials, the group has argued previously that a reduction in tax revenue would pay for itself by attracting more homeowners and developers to the city. —Emily Opilo, Baltimore Sun, 18 Jan. 2024

Varanasi claims that once at full scale, the approach can be efficient, productive, and able to pay for itself in as little as two years. —IEEE Spectrum, 8 June 2018

After the Dodgers introduced Ohtani at a news conference Thursday, the Dodgers’ president declined to dispel the notion that Ohtani’s contract could pay for itself. —Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023