Synonyms of making ends meet

making ends meet

phrase

present participle of make ends meet

as in coping

to meet one's day-to-day needs

The couple's income was just enough to make ends meet each month.

Synonyms & Similar Words

• coping
• doing
• making do
• getting along
• getting on
• getting by
• making out
• managing
• surviving
• making shift
• shifting
• fending for oneself
• carrying on
• scraping (by or through)
• faring
• affording
• scraping (out)
• eking out
• lasting
• scrounging
• contriving
• squeezing
• wringing
• swinging
• wresting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• falling short
• failing
• collapsing
• floundering
• declining
• waning
• giving up
• slumping
• petering (out)
• fizzling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of making ends meet

Many of my patients are having more trouble making ends meet over the past few years, especially as grocery prices have risen roughly 25% in nominal terms since 2022 – a jump that has outpaced wage growth for many low-income households. — Amelia B. Finaret, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026

It was inspired by my partner’s plight in academia, one that mirrored my own plight as a former freelancer barely making ends meet. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026

Fewer Miami-Dade households can make ends meet During the same year, thousands of Miami-Dade households were incapable of making ends meet, according to data provided by United Way. — Sarah Perkel, USA Today, 22 July 2026

His true seasonal arc begins not with Bruce’s (Damon Daunno) death but rather in the Brick & Bacon, a New York City diner where a 20something waitress named Regina (Delainey Hayles) works shifts that don’t get her any closer to making ends meet. — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026