Make ends meet

To make ends meet means to live within one's income, and this meaning dates from the late 1600s in the form of 'making both (or two) ends meet'. The origin is obscure but there are three theories. The first is nautical, from splicing two rope ends together, thus making the rope whole again, and therefore coping with whatever task the rope was performing. The second is from tailoring, where enough cloth is cut so that the ends of the cloth meet to make whatever garment is being tailored. Supporters of this theory claim it is connected to the idiom cut one's cloth according to one's coat. The third theory is that it derives from book keeping or accountancy where income and expenditure are balanced out in the end, to make ends meet. Of these, the most favoured is the nautical origin, but none of the theories is proven, so take your pick.