From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishon a shoestringon a shoestringinformalSPEND MONEY if you do something on a shoestring, you do it without spending much moneyrun/operate/do something on a shoestring The program was run on a shoestring. → shoestring
Examples from the Corpus
on a shoestring• a shoestring budget• Adventures on a Shoestring has been offering a variety of 90-minute weekend walking tours of New York City for 34 years.• Nearly all of our research had to be conducted on a shoestring.• The books give all the insider know-how for staying and getting around a country on a shoestring budget.• Like many entrepreneurs on a shoestring, they are attempting to start a business while they continue to work full-time jobs.• He goes barnstorming, first on a shoestring.• The center, which offers psychological services to children, teens and families, runs the grandparent-grandchild support groups on a shoestring.• Appleton was proud of having done much of his own research on a shoestring.• It was run on a shoestring at the best of times and Kelly was merely adding to his problems.• The program was run on a shoestring for years until they found a sponsor.• The paper started on a shoestring, but soon had a circulation of over 100,000 readers. 