入不敷出

rùbùfūchū

idiom #29,875

Meanings

1 income does not cover expenditure
2 unable to make ends meet
3 spending more than one earns

Characters

to enter; income

to be sufficient; to cover; to spread

to exit; expenditure; output

Examples

他每个月都入不敷出，只能靠信用卡度日。

Tā měi gè yuè dōu rùbùfūchū, zhǐ néng kào xìnyòngkǎ dùrì.

Every month he spends more than he earns and can only get by on credit cards.

这家小店生意不好，长期入不敷出。

Zhè jiā xiǎo diàn shēngyì bù hǎo, cháng qī rùbùfūchū.

This small shop does poor business and has long been unable to make ends meet.

Tips

memory

入 (income coming in) + 不 (not) + 敷 (enough to cover) + 出 (expenditure going out). What comes in is not enough to cover what goes out — a vivid picture of a leaking financial bucket.

Stroke Order

入 rù

不 bù

敷 fū

出 chū