Shoestring

Metaphorically speaking, shoestring is a meagre amount of money or meagre resources, as in expressions like ‘on a shoestring, ‘shoestring budget’ etc, and dates from the late 19th century. Shoestrings were long ago replaced by shoelaces in Britain but lingered on in America where this metaphor originates. A shoestring or shoelace is very slender and this may have prompted the metaphoric usage. Some sources point to the fact that shoestrings or shoelaces were sold by the very poor on street corners in US towns and cities.