1. low on cash 缺钱花

eg：OK, you got me. I'm low on cash this month!好吧。你猜对了。我这个月正缺钱呢!

2. poor as a church mouse 像教堂里的耗子那么穷，一贫如洗

eg：Nobody could imagine that he was as poor as a church mouse when he first came to Hong Kong.没人能想象到当初他刚来到香港的时候是一贫如洗的。

3. dirt-poor 非常穷困的;极贫困的

eg：Where would this dirt-poor Jack get a hundred dollars?杰克这个穷光蛋到哪儿弄一百美元去?

4. working poor 穷忙族(在低报酬职务工作的人)

eg：Now, more and more people are involved in "working poor".现在，越来越多的人们被卷入了“穷忙族”的圈子。

5. live from paycheck to paycheck 月光族

eg：We stress about the fact that we live from paycheck to paycheck but we don't change our spending habits.我们强调我们靠薪水过日子，常常不够花，但从来不改变自己的消费习惯。

6. max out (credit card) 刷爆信用卡

eg：A good way to become penniless is to max out your credit cards and keep borrowing more until the repayments overwhelm you.想变得一贫如洗的好办法就是最大限度地透支你的信用卡，并不断地借更多的钱，直到债务把你压垮。

7. be broke 破产了，身无分文了

eg：If you keep spending money like this, you're going be broke.如果你继续这样花钱，你很快会身无分文的。

8. live from hand to mouth 勉强糊口

eg：When I had no job last winter, I had to live from hand to mouth.去年冬天没找到工作，我不得不过着勉强糊口的生活。