节衣缩食

jié yī suō shí

to scrimp and save

Character by character

节jié
save on

衣yī
clothes

缩suō
cut

食shí
food

为了供儿子上大学，父母节衣缩食了好几年。

To put their son through university, his parents scrimped and saved for years.

Tone: neutral.

Saving out of hardship or for something important, often of parents or the old days. Near synonym of 省吃俭用; 节衣缩食 is a little more written.

Learn this in Lesson 119 · HSK 7–9: 光盘不该是一阵风 (Editorial: clearing your plate)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.