tighten your belt
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtighten your belttighten your beltinformalSPEND MONEY to try to spend less money than you used to Businesses were tightening their belts and cutting jobs. tightenExamples from the Corpustighten your belt The harsh years of the Depression were causing everyone to tighten their belts. Most people have to tighten their belts a little when they retire. Colleges have tightened their belts and are giving fewer scholarships than before. Others will tighten their belts, downscale their programs, sell more t-shirts and look for local sources of revenue. Governments and companies are forced to tighten their belts during a recession. Let them tighten their belts like we have to.